Latest Articles

Tube Tied: Eastwick Has Got Some Seriously Empowerful Witches, Y'all

September 26, 2009 at 1:48pm

I'll admit that I only really tuned into Eastwick out of a sense of national duty - Paul Gross, like me, is Canadian, and I feel he is owed some serious cash for his talents, wasted though they might be on American network television. (Canadian television has no such riches on offer.) Gross was always a tall drink of water of an actor (he may be known to you as a Mountie), and yet he has...

On the Map: Feminism, Essentialism, and the Dalai Lama

by Mandy Van Deven

September 26, 2009 at 1:12am

What does it mean for this spiritual leader of millions to call himself a feminist?

American Girl debuts new marketing strategy....err, doll.

by Kjerstin Johnson

September 25, 2009 at 5:41pm

When I saw the Jezebel headline "The Newest American Girl Doll Has A Secret" I couldn't help but click through.

It turns out the Gwen Thompson, a "companion" doll to Girl-of-the-Year doll Chrissa, is the first American Girl Doll to be living in a homeless shelter. From her American Girl Wiki page:

Gwen and her mother Janine fell on hard times when her father lost his job; they...

Bed, Bitch & Beyond: Is No Sex Still Sex Positive?

by BeckySharper

September 25, 2009 at 4:20pm

A brilliant and counter-intuitive comment from reader jordanb in the "Rear Ended by Porn" comment thread is the inspiration for today's post. Check it out:

Becky I'm interested to know if you've ever thought about abstinence from a sex positive feminist type of perspective. I mean, in some ways it seems like "not having sex" is an option that has been completely co-opted by the...

She Pop: Tweenage Wasteland

by Sady Doyle

September 25, 2009 at 3:03pm

Oh, hey, look at that! It’s the weekend! THE WEEKEND, you guys! And, since it is the weekend, I am going to assume that a fair number of you will be drinking. Me, I like drinking; I can mix a decent cocktail, I’m not averse to beer, and I am nowhere near sophisticated enough to tell good wine from just-OK wine, so THAT usually works out pretty well for everyone involved. In fact, I...

BitchTapes: Lady Punk

by Danny Hayes

September 25, 2009 at 1:55pm

Since my last Bitch Mix was all about country’s feminine side, I decided to give punk the same treatment this time around. I tried to cover the spectrum of old to new, dance-y to hardcore, and personal to political. Enjoy!

The Body Electric-Bodies as Weapons: When the G20 Comes to Your Hometown

by Thomas Page McBee

September 25, 2009 at 10:17am

You know what? I get it. The G20 is a symbol of everything that's wrong with globalized capitalism. Protesting their gatherings makes a lot of sense to me. This year the G20 is in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and we are once again awash in apocalyptic images of police-state riot gear and angry college kids in bandanas getting arrested.

But this year is different for me, at...

Douchebag Decree: Beauty Supplies

by Kelsey Wallace

September 24, 2009 at 1:05pm

Just when you thought there were no more reasons to hate the beauty industrial complex, right? I mean, first they shove the idea down our throats that as women we need painted nails, painted lips, processed hair, perfumed skin, and even chemically enhanced eyelashes, and now beauty products are the next weapons of mass destruction!

You read that right; earlier today in New York a man...

Tube Tied-The Good Wife: She's Actually Pretty Boring So Far

by Michelle Dean

September 24, 2009 at 12:56pm

The psyche of the political wife in the modern era - which is to say, post-defining oneself by one's husband - is the kind of thing I sort of wish feminists talked about more often. And when I say that, I mean talk about in a way that does not ultimately devolve to Hillary, Hillary, and also Hillary, who has become the sine qua non of political wife-fights. In fact, I'd be cooler with these...

She Pop: Fame Kills. So Does Trying To Understand Lady Gaga.

by Sady Doyle

September 23, 2009 at 9:30pm

The forthcoming Kanye West and Lady Gaga tour/collaboration/alliance/bizarro-pop-Voltron makes sense for so many reasons. Primarily: Kanye and Gaga are both famous because they do weird things in public. Do you like their music? Do you not like their music? It doesn’t matter! What did you think of the weird thing? Did you think it was weird? Because, if so, they have succeeded! And even...