Culture

Stand-up comedian Dave Chappelle speaking into a microphone on stage in a black leather jacket

Punching Down: Why Netflix Deserves Some of the Heat for Dave Chapelle’s Transphobic Comments

by Dr. Jon Paul
October 14, 2021 at 2:28pm
Focusing the blame only on the comedian is no longer enough. Read more »
Still photo of three wary-looking figures in green track suits

Bad Sport: “Squid Game” Exposes the False Rhetoric of “Choice” and “Resilience”

by Jennifer Chang
October 13, 2021 at 12:23pm
Resilience is admirable; challenging the system is intolerable. Read more »
A huge animatronic girl has its back turned against a tree with hundreds of people in green jumpsuits lined up in the distance behind her. The subtitle onscreen reads “Green Light, Red Light”

One-Inch Barrier: How Americans Watch Netflix’s “Squid Game” Matters

by Donald Collins
October 11, 2021 at 12:33pm
Americans really, really don’t like subtitles. Read more »
An illustration of a young Black woman with a shaved head sitting on a blanket inside a large open book. She is reading a book, petting a cat, and has a cup of coffee resting on another book.

BitchReads: 13 Books Feminists Should Read in October

by Rosa Cartagena
October 1, 2021 at 12:29pm
Cozy up with a new title this month. Read more »
An illustration of singer Kacey Musgraves, a white woman with long brown hair flowing in the wind, wearing a strapless white dress and bedazzled eyebrows.

5 Feminist Albums That Got Us Through September

by DeAsia Paige
October 1, 2021 at 9:03am
Kacey Musgraves exposed her failed marriage, Yebba addressed family tragedy, and Lil Nas X released his triumphant debut. Read more »
Doug Judy, left, and Andy Samberg wear matching tiger track suits and sit on the hood of a car that has a bird decal on the hood

Cop Out: “Brooklyn Nine-Nine’s” Finale Fails to Reckon with Its Pro-cop Legacy

by s.e. smith
September 29, 2021 at 11:12am
Brooklyn Nine-Nine was, at heart, copaganda—a show that, in the midst of a growing real-life reckoning, made viewers feel good—or, if not good, better—about American policing. Read more »
Author photo alongside book cover with heart-shaped lollipop

Love Is the Drug: “Crazy For You” Puts a Societal Lens on Love and Sex Addiction

by Oliver Haug
September 21, 2021 at 12:59pm
Reframing the way we think about love and sex can change our lives.  Read more »
Jessie Mei Li as Alina Starkov (left) and Daisy Head as Genya Safin on the set of Shadow and Bone. They are setting at an ornate table opening a letter. Four crew members are holding cameras and boom mics while filming the scene.

The Ends Justify the Screens: Why Onscreen AAPI Representation Simply Isn’t Enough

by Thulasi Seshan
September 15, 2021 at 11:28am
Within a few weeks of each other, scandals regarding racist production practices on both Kim’s Convenience and Shadow and Bone made headlines. Read more »
A frowning, frumpy Linda Tripp stands in a shadowed hallway

All the Ladies in the House: “Impeachment: American Crime Story” Has a Woman Problem

by Cate Young
September 14, 2021 at 2:04pm
A paper-thin portrait of political women leans into the prurient, and assumes the worst. Read more »
Blue book cover with abstract yellow shapes and figures

Socialist Anxiety: Sally Rooney’s New Novel Reveals an Author Trapped By Herself

by Nylah Burton
September 10, 2021 at 3:59pm
The insistent classification of Rooney’s work as Marxist has long felt like a stretch. Read more »

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Best of Bitch

Mock & Awe: Janet Mock on Truth-Telling, Community Building, and Writing the Story She Had Been Waiting for Her Whole Life

Janet Mock, a transgender Hawaiian woman with curly, brown hair, smiles
by Tina Vasquez
Spring 2014 • Maps & Legends
“Redefining Realness” is written with astounding honesty and heart. Read more »

"Moonlight" is an Essential Work of Art for the Current Political Moment

by Nijla Mu'min
December 5, 2016 at 8:15am
Moonlight displays the kind of empathy and humanity that we desperately need right now. Read more »

The Forgotten History of the Women Who Shaped Modern Advertising

a white woman smoking a cigarette walks through an office with a box
by Ciara Lavelle
March 21, 2019 at 9:00am
It's easy to dismiss advertising as an anti-feminist industry. Read more »

One-Sentence Reviews of the Lesbian Netflix Canon

by Sara Century
November 13, 2014 at 10:52am
Lez face it: when you’re a ladygay like myself, cruising the internet for something to watch, you realize very quickly that there are a whole... Read more »