Latest Articles

The H-Word: Nafissatou Diallo

by Melissa Petro
October 14, 2011 at 10:16am

Sex (work) sells, but at whose expense?

Bringing Up Baby: Pam on The Office and the Issue of Control in Childbirth

by Katherine Don
October 13, 2011 at 11:04am

During season six of The Office, Pam delivered her baby girl in a two-part episode appropriately deemed “The Delivery.” This episode was notable for handling the issue of control thoroughly and with heart.

Douchebag Decree: Dr. Pepper, Doucheologist and Men-Only Drink Specialist

by Kelsey Wallace
October 13, 2011 at 9:48am

Oh “light” beverages. When will you stop freaking out and shoving your unnecessarily constructed masculinity in our faces? The latest in this long line of I’m-so-manly-it’s-sexist diet drinks (predecessors include Miller Lite, Pepsi Max, and Coke Zero) is none other than Dr. Pepper 10, with a new ad campaign that screams IT’S NOT FOR WOMEN.

What makes a calorie...

Bringing Up Baby: Childbirth as Male Bonding Experience

by Katherine Don
October 12, 2011 at 11:36am

This week on NBC’s drama Parenthood, main character Kristina Braverman (played by Monica Potter) gave birth. The episode was so exactly a precise enactment of pop culture’s “childbirth formula” I wrote about earlier that I was a little creeped out. It also made me think about something else, a trope I’ll call Childbirth as a Male Bonding Experience.

The H-Word: Paper Crane: Antonia Crane Writes About Recession Sex Workers

by Melissa Petro
October 12, 2011 at 10:59am

“It all started with Stephen Elliot. I read his book My Girlfriend Comes to the City and Beats Me Up while in grad school and I started following him. I discovered the Rumpus and submitted an essay. I got rejected until I wrote something they liked.”

Isn't He Lovely: The Ad That Turned Men Into Sex Objects

by Cristen Conger
October 12, 2011 at 10:26am

Advertisers have long used handsome men to hawk their wares. In the 20th century, marketers who realized that women did a majority of the household shopping created dashing spokesmen, such as the Arrow Shirt Man, to appeal more to the ladies than the menfolk. And certainly advertising has played an integral role in the male beauty culture that has skyrocketed in the past 20 years, too. In fact...

B-Sides: Zola Jesus

by Mac Pogue
October 11, 2011 at 1:14pm

Zola Jesus can be hard to pin down. One minute, she smothers listeners with cold blankets of synthesizers, hitting them with some of the most uncomfortable atmospheres since Second Edition by PIL. Then her opera-trained voice (that voice!) bursts through the sludge and you realize “oh my god, it’s a pop song!” Live and on her latest record, Conatus, she drops a...

Preacher's Daughter: A Word About Slutwalk, the Carolina Chocolate Drops, and Who Gets to Reclaim Racist Words and Traditions

by Kristin Rawls
October 11, 2011 at 11:51am

Full disclosure: I have had misgivings about Slutwalk from day one. “Slut” has never been a term used against me. Though the idea of reclaiming the word seems to resonate with many young, white heterosexual women, it is not clear to me that it’s something that can unify all women. It felt alienating and exclusionary to me from the start.

Bringing Up Baby: My Water Broke! And... Action!

by Katherine Don
October 10, 2011 at 12:25pm

This is a movie. This is television. This is the formula:

Jane is going about her business when her water breaks. The time has come! Ready the troops! Jane calls husband or big sister or mom or best friend. “We’ll meet you at the hospital! Go Go Go!” If husband is present: “Where are the bags?! WE FORGOT TO PACK THE BAGS!”

The H-Word: “I'm a Whore”

by Melissa Petro
October 10, 2011 at 11:55am

“I’m a whore, a proud whore. What does this word mean? A whore is a prostitute, sex worker, hustler, degenerate, scum in a female body. I call myself a whore revolutionary. I consider myself a survivor.”

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