Latest Articles

On the Map: About Those Swiss Minarets

November 30, 2009 at 7:35am

At first glance, the ominous poster made by the Swiss People’s Party (SVP) seemed to me to be depicting a burqa-clad woman standing in front of a stockpile of missiles. The starkly dubious message being: Stop Islamic Fundamentalism. After reading the accompanying article on Al Jazeera (and than many, many more elsewhere), the poster took on a new meaning: This is what Islamophobia...

On the Map: Women Around the Globe Say 'No' To Gender-based Violence

by Mandy Van Deven

November 29, 2009 at 6:58am

A decade ago marked the start of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women (IDEVAW), a worldwide awareness raising campaign about the detrimental effects of institutional violence. Here's how the world celebrated on November 25, 2009. Be outraged. Be sad. Be inspired. Then be courageous.

Photo Credit: Rizwan Ali/PPI Photo

Pioneering Trans Sportswriter for <em>Los Angeles Times</em> Has Died

by Anna Clark

November 28, 2009 at 1:33pm

Such sad news today: veteran Los Angeles Times sportswriter Christine Daniels was found dead today in her home. Suicide is the suspected cause. She was 52 years old.

Daniels made national headlines when in 2007 she announced in that she was transitioning from male to female. Then under the byline of Mike Penner, she wrote her groundbreaking sports column:

Transcontinental Disability Choir: The Public Consumption of Britney

by Brandann Hill-Mann

November 27, 2009 at 7:04pm

Britney's entire life was open to the public for consumption. There was one part, however, that should have been left out of the tabloids.

Sm{art}: The People's History series by Just Seeds

by Kjerstin Johnson

November 25, 2009 at 6:12pm

As the American calendar rolls around to another historically-dubious holiday, it’s comforting to know you can celebrate the righteous kind of history year-round with People’s History posters from Just Seeds. At four bucks a pop, you can afford to load up on your favorite activists, or give them as presents to remind folks of the heroes that History-with-a-capital-H (not to...

Hana Hajar: Saudi Arabia's Female Political Cartoonist

by Kjerstin Johnson

November 25, 2009 at 1:21pm

Malika at Muslimah Media Watch has a great write-up and interview on Hana Hajar, who is currently the most prominent female cartoonist in Saudi Arabia.

Open Thread: Thanksgiving

by Kelsey Wallace

November 25, 2009 at 10:55am

Way back when I was but a young feminist in a WGS 101 class, my professor asked the class to describe our Thanksgiving traditions as a way of further explaining the notion of gender norms. As more and more students told tales of men sitting on the couch watching television while women basted turkeys and mashed potatoes, light bulbs turned on around the room. Aha! Gender norms! Men and women...

The Transcontinental Disability Choir: Four Ways To Do It Right

by Anna Pearce

November 25, 2009 at 7:46am

I get asked all the time to evaluate some work or another on whether or not it does disability “right”. This is a bit of a problem, of course - despite having opinions (a lot of them, according to someone in my thesis course), I haven’t always seen the work in question. Also, my tastes don’t run mainstream - if I’ve liked a movie, it probably tanked at the box office, and...

On the Map: Because I am a Girl, I Call Bullshit

by Mandy Van Deven

November 25, 2009 at 1:43am

The 411 Initiative for Change and Plan Canada are touring Canada to screen a new documentary film for students in middle and high school that features exceptional girls and women who have a desire to create social change and inspire others to make a difference as well. But is that all it does?