Culture

Isn't He Lovely: Male Nudity, the Final Frontier

The first time I really paused to consider the naked male body happened circa age 9 while watching Blossom on the floor of my parents’ bedroom, where I ironically snuck in all of my parent-disapproved TV programming. I can’t remember... Read more »

The H-Word: Nafissatou Diallo

Sex (work) sells, but at whose expense? Read more »

Douchebag Decree: Dr. Pepper, Doucheologist and Men-Only Drink Specialist

Oh “light” beverages. When will you stop freaking out and shoving your unnecessarily constructed masculinity in our faces? The latest in this long line of I’m-so-manly-it’s-sexist diet drinks (predecessors include... Read more »

The H-Word: Paper Crane: Antonia Crane Writes About Recession Sex Workers

“It all started with Stephen Elliot. I read his book My Girlfriend Comes to the City and Beats Me Up while in grad school and I started following him. I discovered the Rumpus and submitted an essay. I got rejected... Read more »

Isn't He Lovely: The Ad That Turned Men Into Sex Objects

Advertisers have long used handsome men to hawk their wares. In the 20th century, marketers who realized that women did a majority of the household shopping created dashing spokesmen, such as the Arrow Shirt Man, to appeal more to the... Read more »

Preacher's Daughter: A Word About Slutwalk, the Carolina Chocolate Drops, and Who Gets to Reclaim Racist Words and Traditions

Full disclosure: I have had misgivings about Slutwalk from day one. “Slut” has never been a term used against me. Though the idea of reclaiming the word seems to resonate with many young, white heterosexual women, it is not clear to me that it’s something that can unify all women. It... Read more »

The H-Word: "I'm a Whore"

“I’m a whore, a proud whore. What does this word mean? A whore is a prostitute, sex worker, hustler, degenerate, scum in a female body. I call myself a whore revolutionary. I consider myself a survivor.” Read more »

Celebrate Columbus Day: Call Out Native Appropriation

Well, today’s Columbus Day, a time when we feel weird about getting a day off work because Columbus and the genocide that followed his “discovering” of... Read more »

Isn't He Lovely: The Myth of the Superior Penis

As feminists, I think it’s easy to forget that for all of the misrepresentations and misinformation delivered to us about what vulvas and vaginas “should” look like and how they “should” respond to sexual contact, equally tall tales about penile look and length abound. Read more »

On Our Radar

Another week, another round of excellent reading. A must-read at Crunk Feminist Collective about ongoing racism within feminism (spurred by That Sign at NYC... Read more »

Pages

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 »

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 »

Politically Correct Language Isn't Just About Being Polite—It's About Survival

Photo by Phillipe Leroyer (Creative Commons). Two weeks ago, Jonathan Chait published the lengthy essay “Not a Very P.C.... Read more »