Latest Articles

Sm{art}: Writing Tips from the Experts

March 4, 2010 at 1:37pm

Recently, The Guardian asked several successful fiction writers to come up with a top ten list of their personal writing dos and don’ts. Since we’ve all got a secret novelist lurking within us (don’t pretend you haven’t fantasized about going on a book tour) here are some of the more interesting tips from the likes of Margaret Atwood, Zadie Smith, Jeanette...

Ready or Not, Girl Comics is Out

by Kjerstin Johnson

March 4, 2010 at 8:30am

Girl Comics Issue #1, a collection of comics written, stenciled, and illustrated completely by women, hit stores yesterday. It’s one of three anthologies to be released this year by Marvel Comics. It’s actually part of a year-long project of “Marvel Women,” celebrating female characters and creators alike of one of the top comics publishers. It’s also been wracked with...

Reproductive Writes: Miscarriage Of Justice

by Holly Grigg-Spall

March 3, 2010 at 12:00pm

A bill has been passed by the Utah House and Senate that will criminalize pregnant women who engage in 'reckless' activity that causes a miscarriage or act to induce an abortion without a doctor's supervision.

On the Map: Brazilian Feminists Get Played by a Naughty Blonde

by Mandy Van Deven

March 3, 2010 at 10:21am

American beer commercials may be able to overtly portray women as sexual objects, but as brewer Grupo Schincariol found out yesterday, doing so in Brazil can get your ad banned.

Carolina Chocolate Drops: Good Folk

by Sara Stroo

March 2, 2010 at 5:31pm

Carolina Chocolate Drops will defy, and redefine, your presumptions regarding the pure power of the kazoo.

The trio, comprised of Rhiannon Giddens, Dom Flemons and Justin Robinson, met in 2005 at the Black Banjo Gathering in Boone, North Carolina. The event was dedicated to those who wished to better understand the banjo’s roots in African and African American music and...

Seeking: Dynamic Women Who Don't Need A Hero

by Latoya Peterson

March 2, 2010 at 12:59pm

Confession time: I love me a good low budget fantasy series. If it's on a second rate cable network, and it features magic, medieval times, and roaming adventures, I'm in. I lived for Xena: Warrior Princess and all its chakram throwing, ululating battle crying, lesbian subtext possessing glory.

Later, I started watching Hercules - hell, I even gave Sinbad a try. But for the past...

The Biotic Woman: The Dirty Politics of Coal

by Brittany Shoot

March 2, 2010 at 11:17am

Here's a reality check the next time someone wants to tell you about clean coal: They're still cleaning up the biggest fly ash spill in U.S. history that occurred in December 2008, which occurred at the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) Kingston Fossil Plant. A dam holding back tons of slurry burst in the middle of the night, dumping more than a billion gallons of coal ash slurry into Tennessee...

Adventures in Feministory: Wilma Mankiller

by Kjerstin Johnson

March 1, 2010 at 5:14pm

First of all, Happy Women’s History Month! (Adventures in Feministory is, after all, kind of like Women’s History Month only it’s weekly and year-round).

And this week we’re journeying into the not-so-distant history of Wilma Mankiller, the first female Chief of the Cherokee Nation, who held her title for ten years.

Reproductive Writes: Get With The Program!

by Holly Grigg-Spall

March 1, 2010 at 12:31pm

Slate's DoubleXX recently hosted a discussion entitled 'That Not So Fresh Feeling: Marketing Embarrassing Products To Women' in which they analyzed adverts for tampons and sanitary towels, and the profiteering exploits of the feminine hygiene industry. Target Women writer and performer Sarah Haskins commented, 'Ever since we were borne of Adam's rib we have been flawed, and the only things...

The Biotic Woman: What Natural Disaster Means for Chilean Women