Culture

Leslie Gray Streeter, a Black woman with short, brown hair, smiles at the camera while posed against a green background

Laugh at My Pain: Finding the Humor in Being a “Black Widow”

by Evette Dionne
April 7, 2020 at 10:37am
Grief is a thing that will live, in some way, in our DNA and our body and be triggered by the wrong song or the wrong turn down the street where you see someone that looks like the person you lost. Read more »
A screenshot of an article: the article shows a cat cuddled up beneath a blanket, and is titled, "This Is the ‘Cozy Catastrophe’ Americans Have Always Wanted"

Fixed It For You!: The COVID-19 Pandemic is Not a “Cozy Catastrophe”

by Rachel Charlene Lewis
April 3, 2020 at 11:30am
Admit it: The coronavirus apocalypse is actually kind of fun for you (if you don’t give a shit about other people). Read more »
An IV bag hangs on a metal pole. There is an eerie blue cast to the photo.

Staying Soft: Megan Giddings Explores the Hypervigilance of Black Women in “Lakewood”

by Rachel Charlene Lewis
April 3, 2020 at 10:26am
The participants—nearly all people of color—break bones and lose teeth to help advance the future of science and healthcare. Read more »
a photo of two campers in wheelchairs at Camp Jened in the 1970s

“Crip Camp” Brings Visibility to the History of Disabled Activists

by Bedatri D. Choudhury
April 3, 2020 at 9:21am
There are no human rights without disability rights, and Camp Jened produced many of the feisty activists that took on this fight. Read more »
A screenshot from Animal Crossing. Two players, both with brown skin, one with pink hair, one with a bun and a pacifier, sit on a rock by the ocean.

Saved by the Bells: “Animal Crossing: New Horizons” Helps Us Cope with Our Mental Health

by Rachel Charlene Lewis
April 2, 2020 at 12:33pm
Animal Crossing provides comfort to those of us who, sometimes, need a little help coping with our mental health. Read more »
an Asian teen wearing a foam green dress and a Black teen wearing a white suit embrace outside in To All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You

Sex Re-Education: Netflix Offers a New Spin on Teen Virginity

by Emily Forney
March 30, 2020 at 10:32am
Though teen dramas claim to empower girls, toxic patterns prevent their characters from fulfilling their potential. Read more »
A wide range of Animal Crossing characters, including human villagers and animal neighbors, on an island surrounded by beach and a boat.

Playing through It: 9 Video Games for Anxious People (That Aren’t “Animal Crossing”)

by Rachel Charlene Lewis
March 27, 2020 at 3:20pm
I reached out to the people of Twitter to gauge the video games anxious people are playing. Read more »
Gwyneth Paltrow, a thin white woman, wears a mask to the farmers market.

Celebrity Pandemic Posts Have Us Wondering—Do We Need Famous People?

by Rachel Charlene Lewis
March 26, 2020 at 3:20pm
Celebrities are really leaning into saccharine nonsense. Read more »
Two white women, one blond, one with dark hair, look at each other on a beach. It is 1770, and they are wearing frilly dresses and have their hair back in wavy buns.

Stories Unmasked: The Two-Pronged Genius of “Portrait of a Lady on Fire’s” Abortion Scene

by Elana Spivack
March 26, 2020 at 10:20am
Céline Sciamma’s work applies warmth and connection to an act made to seem harsh and cold. Read more »
illustration of Kim Kardashian, Kanye West, and family on a grassy lawn, surrounding a fountain sculpture of dolphins, while firefighters fight a huge fire in the background

The Truth about TV News Is Far Scarier Than Fiction

by Diane Shipley
March 25, 2020 at 10:00am
The points these movies are making—that news is selectively curated, hosts can be vapid, and commercial television is motivated more by profit than public service—were perhaps shocking once but are now the least of our problems. Read more »

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

a blue and white illustration of a woman in Amish attire standing next to a fan and a chicken
by Audrey deCoursey
Spring 2014 • Maps & Legends
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 »

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

by Nijla Mu'min
December 5, 2016 at 8:15am
Moonlight displays the kind of empathy and humanity that we desperately need right now. 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 »

Why You Should Pay for Porn

by Casey Quinlan
April 29, 2015 at 7:27pm
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 »