Culture

a dark-skinned Black woman with a short, curly fro and big, bold pink earrings smiles on Pose FX

The Category Is “That Bitch”: Angelica Ross on Candy Ferocity’s Fierce Season 2 Turn

by Dr. Jon Paul
July 2, 2019 at 10:45am
This season, Candy still has had a lot to prove to a lot of people—and she’s not shying away from the challenge. Read more »
A photo of Kevin Keller, a gay white male teen character from Riverdale.

Swipe Left: When Marginalized TV Characters Turn to Dating Apps

by Hannah Steinkopf-Frank
June 28, 2019 at 10:26am
For marginalized characters, small-screen depictions of dating apps are more regressive than excitingly futuristic. Read more »
The cover of The Music of What Happens by Bill Konigsberg, which features the two main characters, Max, a gay biracial Mexican baseball player, and Jordan, a gay poet.

A Queerer World: 2019 Is the Year of the LGBTQ YA Novel

by Rachel Charlene Lewis
June 26, 2019 at 2:12pm
This year, LGBTQ young adult novels have finally diversified the queer experience. Read more »
A photo of Quintessa Swindell, Kiana Madeira, Brianna Hildebrand, who play the main characters in the Netflix show Trinkets.

Finding Power: In Netflix’s “Trinkets,” Young Women Steal Their Way to Autonomy

by Rachel Charlene Lewis
June 24, 2019 at 3:10pm
The young women of Netflix’s “Trinkets” break laws, but build each other. Read more »
A photo of author Mason Deaver, who is white and non-binary, in promotion of their book "I Wish You All the Best." Mason wears a pink sweatshirt and is smiling.

Moving the Needle: Mason Deaver on Creating One of YA’s First Nonbinary Protagonists

by Rachel Charlene Lewis
June 21, 2019 at 3:21pm
In YA, nonbinary protagonists are rare. Mason Deaver seeks to change that with their debut, I Wish You All the Best. Read more »
a white teen wears a colorful bike helmet while sitting down

Spasms of Truth: “Sex Education” Disrupts Pop Culture’s Silence around Painful Sex

by Noa Fleischacker
June 21, 2019 at 12:31pm
Sex Education opens the door for women living with vaginismus and other conditions to have honest conversations about their symptoms. Read more »
an Asian couple walks through San Francisco together in Always Be My Maybe

Love, Factually: “Always Be My Maybe” Updates the Rom-Com Formula with Cultural Specificity and Heart

by Aline Dolinh
June 19, 2019 at 1:47pm
The best rom-coms make their predictability feel not like a weakness, but like a giddily essential pleasure. Read more »
Millie Bobby Brown and Sadie Sink smile at each other while holding ice cream cones on a school bus

BitchWatch: 10 TV Shows Feminists Should Watch this Summer

by Marina Watanabe
June 18, 2019 at 1:00pm
While the movie industry’s health remains in question, we can thankfully take refuge in television. Read more »
two white woman and a mixed-race woman hold hands in The Bold Type

Young and Free: “The Bold Type” is the Perfect Summer Show

by Evette Dionne
June 18, 2019 at 12:39pm
Each episode addresses and closes up issues in delightful and fantastical ways that keep rom-com enthusiasts tuning in each week. Read more »

Consumer Retorts: Are Anti-Hauls the Antidote to YouTube’s Cult of Consumerism?

by Andi Zeisler
June 18, 2019 at 9:00am
Swapping “whatever you are will never be enough” for “whatever you have will never be enough” is a lateral move at best. Read more »

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Best of Bitch

Black Girls Hunger for Heroes, Too: A Black Feminist Conversation on Fantasy Fiction for Teens

by Zetta Elliott
December 17, 2013 at 3:19pm
What happens when two great black women fiction writers get together to talk about race in young adult literature? That's exactly what happens... Read more »

It’s Time to End the Long History of Feminism Failing Transgender Women

A transgender woman in business attire in an office looking to the side
by Tina Vasquez
May 20, 2016 at 11:28am
To imply that trans women pose a threat to cisgender women in restrooms is misinformation that preys on unfounded fears. Read more »

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

Elizabeth Gilbert, a white woman wearing a navy blue jumpsuit, leans forward and holds hand with and Oprah Winfrey, a Black woman wearing a gray cardigan and jeans
by Joshunda Sanders
Summer 2010 • Action
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 »

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 »