Culture

Douchebag Decree: Reformed Michael Moore Holiday Edition!

Ye Olde Douchebag Decree is going to look a little... Read more »

Pretty Pretty Princess Camp

Ah, a new twist on the classic rags-to-princess-riches tale: An American woman dreams of royalty, moves to London, continues to obsess about royalty, meets the man of her dreams, and... starts a luxury princess camp. Yes, royal enthusiast Jerramy Fine has launched Princess Prep Camp. Now, for just... Read more »

Iconography: Harry Potter and the Girls Who Weren

The series may be barely over, but we all knew from about the fourth book on that Harry Potter is the children's literary icon of its time. Let's take a look at its author, J.K. Rowling, and the young ladies of the series. Read more »

Iconography: Picturing What the Kids are Reading These Days

Gather around, children. It's time for a story. Several, actually. I've been thinking about picture books, and how big an impact a story can have with just a few words. Get thinking about the picture book icons of your childhood while I take you through some of my experiences and what the kids are... Read more »

Adventures in Feministory: Djuna Barnes

Djuna Barnes was a poet, novelist, journalist, and artist whose work was known for its unique prose rhythms, its sexual openness, and its fascination with the bawdy and grotesque. She lived in Greenwich Village in the bohemian 1910s, frequented the artists' salons in 1920s Paris, and late in life... Read more »

Iconography: The Rather Extraordinary Astrid Lindgren and Pippi Longstocking

If any icons loom large, they're those of our formative years. Let's open up some children's books, shall we? With sales numbering at about 145 million copies and, according to UNESCO, as the world's twenty-... Read more »

The Long Goodbye: Michelle Rhee Gets the Winfrey Endorsement

Oprah presents Michelle Rhee as the person to lead education reform.  Does this oversimplify the issue? Read more »

Douchebag Decree: Sepp Blatter

Today's Douchebag Decree goes to (drum-roll please)... Sepp Blatter! The FIFA President has earned this distinction thanks to his cavalier and massively insulting response to the serious question of gay football fans' safety at the 2022 World... Read more »

The Long Goodbye: Oprah, Gayle, and Stedman. Oh My?

Oprah on choosing your own family, and having to address the gay rumors…again. Read more »

Adventures in Feministory: Dolores Jim

Today’s installment of Adventures in Feministory is about a woman who fought for freedom in the Mexican Revolution, reminding her male cohorts that the equal rights they were fighting for should include women as well as men. Meet... Read more »

Pages

Hot Under the Bonnet: The Cooptation of Amish Culture in Mass-Market Fiction

Dubbed “Amish romance novels,” “Amish fiction,” or the more waggish “bonnet rippers,” these novels just one entry point into the varying images of Amish communities in U.S. popular culture. Read more »

She-Hulk, Attorney at Law: She's Mean, She's Green, and She Believes in Due Process

Avenger. Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. Member of the Fantastic Four. 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 »

Sojourner Truth, Unveiled

The leaders of the [women's suffrage] movement trembled on seeing a tall, gaunt black woman in a gray dress and white turban,...

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