The Power Issue

girl in red Wants to Follow Her Impulses

She is ever-changing and ever-evolving.

Hold Up: When Music Treats Softness as a Superpower

“Hold Up” is a nuanced love song in which the female protagonist isn’t begging or asking for love; she’s making a clear and precise declaration. Read more »

Love and Surveillance: Dating Shows Channel More Than Reality

Netflix released multiple reality TV shows in 2020 that feature beautiful people blissfully succumbing to the power of being watched. Read more »

Quid Pro No: Women Approach Power from a New Direction

Recent representations of women on television have reset gender hierarchies centered around cishet male desire. Read more »

Let It Burn: Transgender Cooks Are Changing Kitchen Culture

Transgender women are making a home in the professional kitchen by refusing in place. Read more »

The Cautious Gene: Genetic Testing Inherits a Legacy of Distrust

The complexity of working with and understanding DNA is steeped in institutional racism and the historical mistreatment of people of color by the medical community. Read more »

Flipping the Focus: The Reclaimers Are Fighting the Vacant Housing Crisis

Who is being displaced from cities in order to make room for the wealthy? Read more »

Reflecting Strength: Therapists of Color Unravel Power from Whiteness

People of color may not have access to certain types of power, but we can learn how to redefine power to serve us in a way that allows us to be true to ourselves. Read more »

Trolling in the Deep: Deepfakes Are the Latest Innovation in Online Shaming

The deepfake is a form of public shaming. Read more »

Palatable Love: Seeking a Happily Ever After in a White Publishing World

For many diaspora writers, success is predicated on a hefty down payment of writing through the white gaze. Read more »

All Together Now: Novels Fight the Myth of the Mean Girl

These new YA protagonists aren’t afraid of their power or the power that their confidence might instill in readers. Read more »

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