Culture

Lady Liquor: The rise of the cocktail and the feminization of drink

As for the consumption of spirits per se, it’s true that cocktails became more popular in the 1920s than they had in previous years, and both men and women drank cocktails enthusiastically. In fact, historian Catherine Gilbert Murdock, in her phenomenal book Domesticating Drink, argues that... Read more »

Daddy Issues: How Surprise Single Fatherhood Makes Men's Lives Worth Living

The idea that fatherhood redeems men, turning them into proper grown-ups (and thus acceptable members of society) is an enduring pop cultural preoccupation. In Three Men and A Baby, the... Read more »

BitchTapes: Who's Hungry? (Part III)

For Part III of Who's Hungry?, we're serving up a proper five-course feast. Get ready to dig in as we present some of the best food songs out there. Read more »

Daddy Issues: Blossom and the Trouble with

Brainy, outspoken, and with a fashion sense all her own, Blossom modeled confidence (and oh, so many hats) for a generation of teenage girls. Along with unquashable self-esteem, she also possessed that mixed... Read more »

Lady Liquor: Beer-Loving Ladies - Rare, or Just Overlooked?

I’ve always been perplexed by the stereotype that women just don’t like beer very much. The stat I hear most often – which I quoted in my post about... Read more »

Co-opting the Coop: What's the real cost of homesteading's new hipness?

The last several years have seen an explosion in urban homesteading. According to the American Community Gardening Association, there are currently more than 18,000 community gardens throughout the United States and Canada. This figure alone speaks to the number of people interested in moving... Read more »

Game Changer: Why Gaming Culture Allows Abuse... and How We Can Stop It

You're a Bolshevik feminist jewess that hates white people… and you expect to be taken seriously when you're “critique-ing” video games? Fucking ovendodger.  Like water through a bursting dam, the deluge came first in pinprick spouts and then rushed through in a pitiless... Read more »

Lady Liquor: Race, marketing and uneasy relationships

It doesn’t surprise me that Snoop took the opportunity to engage in a little product placement, though he’s also joked about pot brownies on Martha’s show. What’s more... Read more »

Lady Liquor: Drinking Diaries and Women's Self-Judgment

At least half – if not two-thirds – of the essays in Drinking Diaries (a newly published book spawned by the blog of the same name) are downers. That stands to reason: alcohol is a... 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 »

Where My Girls At: Meet Two of Ferguson's Black Queer Activists

Amid national discussions of police brutality and systemic racism, Black women have been the loudest and most consistent voices demanding change. Read more »

Why You Should Pay for Porn

If you’re a progressive middle-class individual, chances are you think about where your food comes from. Maybe you try to buy shoes that are... Read more »

The Feminist Power of Female Ghosts

The female ghost is an enduringly fascinating figure. Read more »