Latest Articles

School's Out: Asexy Teens

by Sharday Mosurinjohn
February 20, 2012 at 10:32am

A few posts ago, in Slut Shaming and the Empowered Young Woman, one reader commented on the way that asexuality is written out of a lot of the most visible debates on what it means to be mature, empowered, and sexually self-aware. She also observed that asexual feeling, identity, and relationship practices are so nonexistent in pop culture that it’s almost impossible to know where to...

Required Reading: A ______ of One's Own

February 20, 2012 at 9:47am

In this blog series I want to look into “required reading,” how it’s taught, and what we (should/could) get out of it. Which classics take up the most space in the collective memory? Is there something worth remembering from the dudecentric classics of high school book lists? (I’m looking about you: To Kill a Mockingbird, Hamlet, The Great Gatsby, Great Expectations, Huck Finn...

Bitch Radio: Unravelling the Pink Ribbon

by Kjerstin Johnson
February 17, 2012 at 4:30pm

For this week’s podcast, we screened the new documentary Pink Ribbons, Inc., directed by Léa Pool and produced by Ravida Din. Based on Samantha King’s book Pink Ribbons, Inc: Breast Cancer and the Politics of Philanthropy, the film takes you from Walks for the Cure to an stage IV breast cancer support group, and features input from Nancy G. Brinker (CEO and...

BitchTapes: It's Money, Honey

by Bianca Butler
February 17, 2012 at 2:34pm

It's Money, Honey from BitchTapes on 8tracks.

It's Friday, which means (at least for some of us) that it's payday! Which for most of us also means being able to pay rent, go grocery shopping, and splurge on a microbrew instead of PBR at the bar this weekend. This playlist, inspired by Hall & Oates' “Rich...

On Our Radar

by Morgan Hecht
February 17, 2012 at 2:16pm
Here’s what we’ve been reading this week: 
  • Feministing tackles the media’s coverage of Whitney Houston’s death which showed another successful female artist’s death related to drugs and fame: the age-old “narrative that as a woman, you can’t have it all.” 
  • The Athena Film Festival wrapped up this week: check out Huffington Post...

Project Runway All Stars: Mo' Money, Mo' Problems

by Kelsey Wallace
February 17, 2012 at 12:43pm

Our All Stars took on the Great White Way last night with a Godspell-inspired challenge.

Our posse’s on Broadway!

Double Rainbow: Parent Guides, Part 1

by Caroline Narby
February 17, 2012 at 11:40am

In this post and my next one, I’m taking a look at a selection of four parents’ guides on autism and Asperger syndrome, to see how sex, sexuality, and gender are addressed. This is not a book review, but an overview of how these topics are presented in literature intended for parents of adolescents. Do these texts contribute to the erasure of autistic sexuality? What do the books have to...

Women-Directed Documentaries Screening at the Portland International Film Festival!

by Kjerstin Johnson
February 16, 2012 at 2:29pm

This year at the Portland International Film Festival, there’s a wealth of documentary films directed by women! Check out some of them below (or put them on your Netflix queue for later)!

School's Out: The (Queer) Sleepover Dilemma

by Sharday Mosurinjohn
February 16, 2012 at 1:43pm

For a lot of people, the idea of a sleepover conjures an image of wholesome youthful fun. In a culture that assumes that close friendships are usually same-sex, these occasions represent something platonic. At the same time, from an early age, a disproportionate degree of social anxiety and moral panic manifests around the bedroom, the nighttime, and the ambiguous meanings of the verb “to...

Douchebag Decree: Liz “Women in the Military Should Expect to Get Raped” Trotta

by Kelsey Wallace
February 16, 2012 at 12:35pm

Trigger warning for discussion of rape and sexual assault.

Fox News isn’t exactly known for its nuanced feminist critiques, but when pundit Liz Trotta aired her views on women in the military earlier this week, stating that—among other things—women working in close quarters with men should expect to be raped, things reached a whole new level of douche.

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