Culture

Characters from the animated show Steven Universe from left to right: Amethyst, Garnet, Steven, and Pearl.

The “Steven Universe” Movie Reminds Us That Change is the Only Path to Growth

by Rachel Charlene Lewis
November 13, 2019 at 1:18pm
There are few cartoons—few series as a whole—as impactful as Steven Universe. Read more »
Jenny Slate, a Jewish woman with curly, brown hair, stands on a stage during a stand-up comedy special

Scared Silly: Jenny Slate’s “Stage Fright” Gives New Meaning to the Phrase “Standing up to Fear”

by Noa Azulai
November 13, 2019 at 12:27pm
Stage Fright is a distillation of how we live with and confront fear, and the lifelong process—and joy—of overcoming it. Read more »
Jami Attenberg, a white woman with shaggy brown hair is leaning against a door frame holding a drink in one hand, while she softly smiles

“All This Could Be Yours” Complicates the Narrative of Shitty Men and Forgiveness

by Rachel Charlene Lewis
November 12, 2019 at 1:47pm
By focusing on the women who Victor has harmed, Jami Attenberg offers a fleeting world where even messy, sometimes-bad women deserve justice on their own terms. Read more »
T.I. and his daughter Deyjah, who are both lightskinned Black people wearing formal clothes, attend an awards ceremony together

Father Knows Nothing: Purity Culture Stunts the Sexual Growth of Black Girls

by Natelegé Whaley
November 12, 2019 at 1:42pm
The concept of virginity derives from white-evangelical, patriarchal notions that have been used to control and regulate the bodies of women. Read more »
Digital collage of white women wearing colorful locs

The Devil Wears Cornrows: Could Appropriation Lead to the End of Fashion?

by Lauren Michele Jackson
November 12, 2019 at 10:28am
A true reckoning of fashion’s debt might mean the end of houses, the end of fashion week, the end of “high” and “low,” the end of trend forecasts written by anyone who isn’t a 15-year-old brown girl from Chicago’s West Side. Read more »
FKA twigs, a lightskinned Black woman with black, slicked-back hair, poses as a historical figure on the cover of MAGDALENE

This Woman’s Work: FKA twigs’s “MAGDALENE” Dissects Female Martyrdom

by Vanessa Willoughby
November 11, 2019 at 12:08pm
FKA twigs not only treats her album’s namesake as a source of spiritual strength, but considers how often women are stripped of their agency and their voice—even when they’re the heroine of their own stories. Read more »
photo of a woman and man embracing and kissing in a field with colorful trash bags over their heads

On “90 Day Fiancé,” Love Is a Form of Capital

by Jordan Taliha McDonald
November 11, 2019 at 8:49am
90 Day Fiancé exposes the attitudes and practices that have foreground America’s history of anti-immigrant sentiment, nativism, racism, and xenophobia. Read more »
D'Arcy Carden, a white woman, as Good Janet and Bad Janet in The Good Place

What the Styling of Good Janet on “The Good Place” Shows about Sexist Character Design

by Rachel Charlene Lewis
November 8, 2019 at 1:58pm
With Good Janet versus Bad Janet, The Good Place uses fashion to signify goodness. Read more »
a book cover that features two white women putting their lips together, almost kissing but not quite

Beyond Coming Out: 6 Lesbian Novels That Bring the Romance, and Sex

by Rachel Charlene Lewis
November 8, 2019 at 10:40am
We deserve books that actively center our pleasure, too. Read more »
Rachel Strolle, a white librarian with brown hair and bangs, looks directly at the camera

BitchTapes: Sanctuary

by Rachel Strolle
November 8, 2019 at 10:32am
Who better to create a playlist about sanctuaries than someone who spends the majority of her days surrounded by books? Read more »

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Best of Bitch

In a Bizarre 1976 Comic Book, Spider-Man Fought the Villain of Misleading Sex Education

by Sarah Mirk
April 23, 2014 at 3:52pm
Last week, I came across a very strange comic book: in 1976, Planned Parenthood teamed up with Marvel to publish a one-off comic in which... Read more »

Saying Goodbye to Maria and the End of a Sesame Street Era

by Angely Mercado
August 13, 2015 at 5:52pm
Growing up, Sesame Street's Maria was one of the best Latina role models I had. Read more »

A Look at How Media Writes Women of Color

by Victoria Law
November 17, 2014 at 5:07pm
Nearly every Saturday morning, feminists of color hold Twitter discussions taking a deeper look at issues, such as gender violence. It’s the... Read more »

Dear Bear: My Partner Makes No Money. Is That a Problem?

by S. Bear Bergman
February 2, 2016 at 4:47pm
Our advice columnist offers a lesson in anticapitalist self-care. Read more »