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

It's Time to End the Long History of Feminism Failing Transgender Women

by Tina Vasquez
February 17, 2014 at 1:26pm
The marginalization of transgender women in feminism is not new, but the decades-long debate has taken on new dimension thanks to social media and the ease of finding strangers’ personal information online. 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 »

Politically Correct Language Isn't Just About Being Polite—It's About Survival

by Leela Ginelle
February 10, 2015 at 12:23pm
Photo by Phillipe Leroyer (Creative Commons). Two weeks ago, Jonathan Chait published the lengthy essay “Not a Very P.C.... Read more »

Eat, Pray, Spend: Priv-Lit and the New, Enlightened American Dream

Elizabeth Gilbert, a white woman wearing a navy blue jumpsuit, leans forward and holds hand with and Oprah Winfrey, a Black woman wearing a gray cardigan and jeans
by Joshunda Sanders
Summer 2010 • Action
Even as reports on joblessness, economic recovery, and home foreclosures suggest that no one is immune to risk during this recession, the popularity of women’s wellness media has persisted and, indeed, grown stronger.  Read more »