Culture

Ms. Opinionated: I Am The Friend Who Never Pays Her Share At Group Dinners

Welcome to the latest installment of Ms. Opinionated, in which readers have questions about the pesky day-to-day choices we all face, and I give advice about how to make ones that (hopefully) best reflect our shared commitment to feminist values—as well as advice on what to do when they don’... Read more »

In Real Life, as in Disney's Brave, Some Choose Horses over Husbands.

Growing up in 4-H, I heard the joke often: girls would rather give up boys than our ponies. When women talk about horses, they often speak of freedom and power, of connectivity and understanding, of trust—often using the same language we use when we discuss intimate relationships with humans. Read more »

Queering the Academy: Four Signs Queer Studies is Still Fighting for a Place in Academia

When do you know that you have arrived, as an academic field of study? Has queer studies arrived? Read more »

RuPaul's Drag Race Comic Recap: The Six Best Moments from Episode Seven

This season of RuPaul’s Drag Race is nearing the end, as we continue our tireless illustrated recaps of every damn episode. In this episode, RuPaul pulls off a roast with the most. We find out which... Read more »

“Girls” Highlights the Fine Line Between Awkward Sex and Rape

The sex on Girls is so uncomfortable so often that it’s become difficult to decipher which acts are intended to be consensual and which aren’t. Read more »

Women's Work: It's Quittin' Time

We’ve come to my last entry for Women’s Work, my guest blog exploring TV portrayals of women in the workforce. Thanks so much for reading, for commenting on, and for sharing these stories… Read more »

Betty White Syndrome

We’ve already discussed that Betty White isn’t the only woman over 60 on TV. But she’s certainly the patron saint of older female television stars. Though White’s long been a household name — her... Read more »

Douchebag Decree: Saturday Night Live Makes Trans* People Their Punchline

I’ll be the first to admit that Saturday Night Live is a totally hit or miss show these days. There are definitely some skits that cause me to cramp up from laughing so hard, while others leave me bored. I get it - it takes a lot to put on a live, hour-and-a-half variety... Read more »

Girls, Girls, Girls: Recap of Episode 9 “On All Fours”

This idea of cleansing oneself has permeated this season—and the theme continues in this episode. Our characters here aren’t particularly good at cleaning up and starting afresh, but what they are good at is self-sabotage. In this episode, “On All Four,” several characters successfully take... Read more »

On Our Radar: Today's Feminist News Roundup

Happy almost-the-weekend, everybody! Here’s what’s been blowing up the Interwebs. • At the Guardian’s Comment is Free, Jill Filipovic wrote about straight women... Read more »

Pages

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

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 »

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 »

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

The marginalization of transgender women in feminism is not new, but the decades-long debate has taken on new dimension thanks to social media and the ease of finding strangers’ personal information online. Read more »

Sojourner Truth, Unveiled

The leaders of the [women's suffrage] movement trembled on seeing a tall, gaunt black woman in a gray dress and white turban,...

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