Culture

“Norman Fucking Rockwell!” Is a Case Study in Political Apathy

Aside from a smattering of references to the counterculture movement of the 1960s and ’70s, Norman Fucking Rockwell! appears to have little to no meaningful connection to its namesake’s work. Read more »

The Teen Girls of “Big Mouth” Are Its Saving Grace

While Big Mouth is a show about teens of all genders, it shines best when it delves into the worlds and inner workings of its teen girl characters.  Read more »

A Depressed Black Teen Takes Center Stage in Morgan Parker’s YA Debut

“It’s unfair to make a book that is only the dark because we know that that’s just not how life happens.” Read more »

“A Little Late with Lilly Singh” Has a Code-switching Problem

Lilly Singh is trailblazing as a South Asian woman on late night TV while also dismantling that good work by continuing to perform a Blackness that isn’t hers. Read more »

Hell Is Older People: Aging as the Ultimate Cinematic Horror

Unlike horror-movie fates such as, say, decapitation by paper cutter, aging is the ultimate fright because viewers recognize that they cannot escape it. Read more »

No Good Deeds: “Succession” Rejects the Redemption Arc for Its Ruthless Characters

HBO’s hourlong drama about a Murdoch-inspired family slyly toys with Americans’ impulse to see the good in the worst people, particularly when those people are white.  Read more »

Backtalk: So Burning Books is Back?

This week, Dahlia and Amy get into the recent campus conflict when white students with hurt feelings thought it’d be a good idea to burn books written by a visiting author. Read more »

Very Online: Gina Rodriguez, Black People Deserve More Than a Notes App Apology

When celebrities want to apologize, their fans deserve more than a half-hearted screenshot from their Notes app. Read more »

Housebound: Why the Dollhouse Metaphor Remains So Indelible

The dollhouses of today are not, then, miniature playgrounds that train girls to believe their future paths go no further than their front door. Read more »

How @EmoBlackThot Infiltrated Black Women’s Safe Spaces

At times, she seemed too good to be true. And now we know she was: @EmoBlackThot was not our dark-skinned digital big sister; in fact, she wasn’t a sister at all. Read more »

Pages

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 »

Mad Science: Deconstructing Bunk Reporting in 5 Easy Steps

British scientists have uncovered the truth behind one of modern culture's greatest mysteries: why little girls play with pink toys. Is it...

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"Moonlight" is an Essential Work of Art for the Current Political Moment

Moonlight displays the kind of empathy and humanity that we desperately need right now. Read more »

The Feminist Power of Female Ghosts

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