Culture

Douchebag Decree: Liz "Women in the Military Should Expect to Get Raped" Trotta

Trigger warning for discussion of rape and sexual assault. Fox News isn’t exactly known for its nuanced feminist critiques, but when pundit Liz Trotta aired her views... Read more »

Double Rainbow: Autism and Masculinity

I’ve touched upon the construction of autistic masculinity and the construction of autism as inherently masculine a few times already in this series. In this post, I’d like to take a little bit of a closer look at the relationship between autism and masculinity. Read more »

PETA: Enough with the sex and the vegetables and the "shock tactics" already! WE GET IT.

PETA isn’t content to restrict its sex-sells messaging to the porn site, either. The latest campaign features a woman walking down the street in her bra and underwear in a neck brace, a result of rough (like, put your head through the wall and land you in a neck brace rough) sex with her... Read more »

School's Out: Teaching Homosexuality?

After seeing the headline “Catholic School Board Raises Concerns Over Teaching Homosexuality in School” the other day, I got to thinking that there’s still a lot of confusion about “inclusive” education. Teaching homosexuality!? What exactly does that mean? Here’s my take on the... Read more »

School's Out: Tonight, on a Very Special Episode...

So I was watching Glee the other night, waiting desperately to see if Brittany and Santana would show some sign that they were still together. As I tried to peer into the minds of Glee’s creators and discover their subversive intent in having the lesbian character Santana... Read more »

Double Rainbow: Valentine's Day Fluff

Happy Valentine’s Day! I have a pathetic affection for this holiday. Sure, it’s a grossly problematic event dedicated to perpetuating the cultural ideal of heterosexual monogamy via capitalistic consumption. But—thanks to social conditioning too relentless and insidious for me to resist... Read more »

Feministory: Isadora Duncan, Mother of Modern Dance

Isadora Duncan might be the most famous dancer you’ve never seen dance. Often referred to as the “Mother of Modern Dance,” she was a self-made and intensely driven, confident woman who saw personal freedoms, expression, justice, and dance as essentially intertwined. Isadora once said, “For me... Read more »

Double Rainbow: Deconstructing "The Geek Syndrome"

Eleven years ago, an article in Wired magazine helped establish the reputation of Asperger’s as “the geek syndrome.” As the condition has become more prominent in the popular imagination, it has acquired a close... Read more »

Douchebag Decree: Pete Hoekstra's Racist Political Ad

This morning I woke up to the news that the Census Bureau counts dad staying home with the kids as “child care arrangement” (not so much, moms who do the same thing!), and a certain, Gawker-... Read more »

Double Rainbow: Asperger's and Girls Part 2: "Boys, fashion, shopping, movies, and music"

That’s what little girls are made of, apparently. In my last post, I took a look at the book Asperger’s and Girls, a collection of essays that attempt to address the needs and concerns about... Read more »

Pages

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

Growing up, Sesame Street's Maria was one of the best Latina role models I had. Read more »

No Disrespect: Black Women and the Burden of Respectability

Hollywood still filters (and distorts) the lives and histories of minorities through the eyes of the majority. Read more »

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

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 »

Know & Tell: The Literary Renaissance of Trans Women Writers

For so long, the people who wrote about us were not us. Finally, that is beginning to change. Read more »