Latest Articles

The 99%: “The Queen of Versailles”

January 25, 2012 at 11:08am

Lauren Greenfield’s film The Queen of Versailles is both an infuriating and humanizing portrait of the economic collapse from the perspective of one of the country’s richest families.

B-Sides: It's Electric! A New Release from Electronic Pioneer Suzanne Ciani

by Kjerstin Johnson

January 24, 2012 at 3:02pm

Suzanne Ciani basically had the coolest job ever: As a groundbreaking electronic musician in the seventies, Ciani composed sounds for pinball machines, composed Atari and Coca-Cola commercials, did the sound-effects for Meco’s disco Star Wars theme, and scored The Incredible Shrinking Woman (becoming the first woman hired to score a major Hollywood film). And...

The Sky is Blue, Water is Wet, and the Oscar Nominations are a Big Feminist Disappointment

by Kelsey Wallace

January 24, 2012 at 12:33pm

This morning, the nominees for the 84th annual Academy Awards were announced. And this morning, as has happened every Oscar nominee morning for the past 83 years, the roster of hopefuls is filled with white dudes.

Douchebag Decree: Tucson Public School Officials Ban Ethnic Studies Program and Shelve Books

by Mac Pogue

January 23, 2012 at 1:09pm

Straight from the “people still do this?” department, the Governing Board of the Tucson Unified School District responded to pressure from creepy Arizona Tea Party officials by dismantling the district’s Mexican-American Studies program, and last week they announced they were preventing many of the books from being used in school curricula. Among the authors banned are Leslie...

Adventures in Feministory: Assia Djebar

by Bianca Butler

January 23, 2012 at 12:21pm

In the midst of her university years, Djebar published her first two novels, La Soif and Les Impatients (she also took on her pen name, fearing that her father wouldn’t approve of her writing). The novels were much less politicized than her later writing and received criticism for failing to acknowledge the then-current political climate in Algeria; still, these novels—...

Bechdel Test Canon: Me Without You

by Alyx Vesey

January 23, 2012 at 11:27am

Writer-director Sandra Goldbacher’s 2001 feature Me Without You champions the girl who gets overlooked and now serves as further evidence for the kind of actress Michelle Williams was to become. Attempting a British accent, Williams plays mousy intellectual Holly. At first glance, she is no match for her glamorous best friend Marina (Anna Friel). But the film makes clear that...

Bitch Radio: Talking Trans and Queer Embodiment and Imprisonment with the Contributors of Captive Genders

by Kjerstin Johnson

January 20, 2012 at 3:24pm

“Pathologized, terrorized, and confined, trans/gender-non-conforming and queer folks have always struggled against the enormity of the prison industrial complex.” The anthology Captive Genders: Trans Embodiment and the Prison Industrial Complex, which came out this summer from AK Press, addresses trans and queer identity and prison industrial complex. From the disproportionate...

Thursday Night 'Lights: Liz Lemon Needs a Divorce From Tina Fey

by Kirthana Ramisetti

January 20, 2012 at 2:25pm

In this week’s TNL, it’s all about 30 Rock—specifically, the problem that arises from Tina Fey so closely identifying with her character, Liz Lemon. This week’s episode especially magnified the havoc this wreaks on her long-suffering fictional alter-ego, in both her personal and professional life.

Bitchtapes: Stuck in Bed

by Mac Pogue

January 20, 2012 at 1:08pm

Bitchtapes: Stuck in Bed from BitchTapes on 8tracks.

No, this isn't an “in bed” playlist for hanky-panky, this mix is for those rockstars struck down by flu season, reduced to figuring out the best pillow to lean on when eating soup. Judging by inter-office emails, I'm not the only sick one, so let's all...

Bechdel Test Canon: Please Give