Culture

No Kidding: The Dreaded Overpopulation Conversation

At some point in discussions about being childfree, the inevitable “I don’t contribute to overpopulation” argument shows up. It’s one of the most complicated for an environmentalist like me because taking that stance immediately implies others do not care for the world in the same way... Read more »

Sex and the Fat Girl: Personal Style as Political Resistance

In a previous post about beauty standards/ideals, I suggested that fat women loving their bodies and viewing themselves as beautiful subverts the dominant beauty paradigm. One method of expressing your love for your body... Read more »

Douchebag Decree: Martin Harty, Unabashed Ableist

Remember when Andre Bauer... Read more »

Adventures in Feministory: Women Sing the Blues

To look in the “Blues” section of most record stores, you’d think it was only men who had troubles worth singing about. This week it is my pleasure to prove... Read more »

The Games We Play: Access This

People with disabilities have long had difficulty accessing video games for various reasons and with varying degrees of limited accommodations. Game play details ranging from color schemes in darker settings to story lines and fight scenes that can overwhelm cognitive understanding have left many... Read more »

No Kidding: Academic Style

Last week, a good (lesbian, childfree, professor) friend sent me an article from an issue of the Palgrave MacMillian journal Feminist Review from 2003. I’ve tended to stay away from these sorts of pieces in this series because I don’t assume I’m writing for a specifically... Read more »

Bedsider.org: Sex(y) Education

“Welcome to the free birth-control support network. Find a doctor, find a method, find a happier you in bed.” So reads the tagline of Bedsider.org, a new online resource operated by the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and... Read more »

The Games We Play: Hardcore vs. Casual

The concern that casual games are going to ruin the gaming market plays on a couple of assumptions: 1) That “hardcore” means “difficult,” something that only a veteran gamer of many years should be able to play intuitively, and should only appeal to that certain narrow demographic. 2) That hardcore... Read more »

No Kidding: Are Childfree People Angry?

As a childfree person, I feel like I often have to defend against the stereotype that childfree people hate children. Based on the comments from my last post about being a childfree person who actually likes kids... Read more »

Pages

The Dramatic History of American Sex-Ed Films

In 1948, in a seventh grade classroom in Eugene, Oregon, a teacher dimmed the lights and flipped on 16mm projector. A film called Human... Read more »

In a Bizarre 1976 Comic Book, Spider-Man Fought the Villain of Misleading Sex Education

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 »

No Disrespect: Black Women and the Burden of Respectability

Hollywood still filters (and distorts) the lives and histories of minorities through the eyes of the majority. Read more »

Ms. Opinionated: I'm a Man. How Can I Help the Feminist Movement?

Welcome to Ms. Opinionated, our weekly advice column dealing with questions of life, love, feminism, and pop culture. This week, a reader... Read more »