If feminists accepted facts as they were written in patriarchal pen, what kind of narratives would we have about women, gender, Native Americans, slavery, or wars? Conversely, what would happen if feminists accepted “alternative facts”? This issue isn’t just about assessing whether or not something is a bona fide fact, but in the cultural good of interrogating and exploring the usage, exploitation, and manipulation of factuality in pop culture and feminism. Because the only fact we can truly endorse is this: Feminism is good for you. Look it up.
FEATURES
EXPENSIVE DENIAL: The rising cost of ignoring climate change. | Joshunda Sanders
BEYOND BINARIES AND CONVENTION: A conversation with Kay Ulanday Barrett. | Zaynab Shahar
UNNATURAL SELECTION: How racism warps scientific truths. | Abaki Beck
BIOPOWER TO THE PEOPLE: Fitness trackers are redefining what it means to be a human subject. | Mailee Hung
THE FRAGILITY OF SILENCE: Unlearning childhood secrecy and breaking the chains of trauma. | Jenn M. Jackson
DISPATCHES
FROM THE WAR ON WOMEN: Securing the future of women is strong foreign policy. | Hilary Matfess
FROM HOGWARTS: Harry Potter’s purity problem. | Melissa Brinks
FROM HAVANA: The female face of Cuban resistance. | Vanessa Garcia
COMICS
DRAWN OUT: On the overconsumption of avocados. | Alejandra Espino
ADVENTURES IN FEMINISTORY: Eugenia Apostol. | Arielle Jovellanos
DEPARTMENT OF EVERYTHING
Four Series for the Feminist Comic-Book Nerd | Naomi Joseph
Keyword: Social Darwinism | Abaki Beck
Reproductive Rights Corner: Pro-Life = Anti-Fact | Caroline Reilly
Fairies and Fake News | Ann Foster
Put on a Zoot Suit | Dahlia Grossman-Heinze
Where Are All the Lesbians? | Ashley Duchemin
BITCHLIST
Rihanna & Lupita & Ava & Issa by Evette Dionne
Lovecraft Country by Dahlia Grossman-Heinze
Alexandra Bell’s “Counternarratives” by Evette Dionne
Esmé Weijun Wang by Lisa Factora-Borchers
Well-Read Black Girl (wellreadblackgirls.com) by Dahlia Grossman-Heinze
On She Goes (onshegoes.com) by Ashley Duchemin
Brown Girls by Amy Lam
Beefcake Swimwear (beefcakeswimwear.com) by Kate Lesniak
REVIEWS
BOOKS
Her Own Hero: The Origins of the Women’s Self-Defense Movement (Wendy L. Rouse) by Britni de la Cretaz
Her Body and Other Parties: Stories (Carmen Maria Machado) by Keah Brown
Heartthrobs: A History of Women and Desire (Carol Dyhouse) by Rachel Vorona Cote
Vibrator Nation: How Feminist Sex-Toy Stores Changed the Business of Pleasure (Lynn Comella) by Suzannah Weiss
Mean (Myriam Gurba) by Kristin Sanders
Ink in Water: An Illustrated Memoir (Or, How I Kicked Anorexia’s Ass and Embraced Body Positivity (Lacy J. Davis and Jim Kettner) by Rachel Anne Jolie
A Suprised Queenhood in the New Black Sun: The Life & Legacy of Gwendolyn Brooks (Angela Jackson) by Dara Mathis
SCREEN
Underground (Directors: Anthony Hemingway, Greg Yaitanes, Salli Richardson-Whitfield, Kate Woods, Christopher Meloni, and Lawrence Trilling) by Veronica Hilbring
Black Girl (Director: Ousmane Sembène) by Allison N. Conner
Their Finest (Director: Lone Scherfig) by Cecilia Nowell
Ask the Sexpert (Director: Vaishali Sinha) by Lauren Wissot
Girlboss (Directors: Christian Ditter, Steven K. Tsuchida, John Riggi, Amanda Brotchie, and Jamie Babbit) by Andi Zeisler
I Love Dick (Director: Andrea Arnold) by Amelia Ayrelan Iuvino
Anne with an E (Directors: Niki Caro, Helen Shaver, Sandra Goldbacher, David Evans, Patricia Rozema, Paul Fox, Amanda Tapping) by Monica Busch
Afternoon Snack (Director: Elly Tier) by Ashley Ray-Harris
MUSIC
Herstory (Young M.A) by Erica Buddington
I Used to Spend So Much Time Alone (Chastity Belt) by Nitzan Pincu
The Order of Time (Valerie June) by Chanelle Adams
New Black Swing (Sassyblack) by Sara Century
A Place I’ll Always Go (Palehound) by Karen Muller
You Must Remember This Podcast (Host: Karina Longworth) by Micaela Marini Higgs
Extra Ordinary (Nappy Nina) by Jamara Mychelle Wakefield
ISON (Sevdaliza) by Atoosa Moinzadeh
ABOUT THE COVER
Design by Kristin Rogers Brown
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