violence

Sinister Niceness: On “You,” Killers Don’t Change their Spots

Victoria Pedretti and Penn Badgley star as Love and Joe, a white couple standing together in a kitchen, in You

January 8, 2020 at 1:35pm

If Season 2 is any indication, we have no choice but to overlook the obvious in favor of granting white men an inherent innocence; it’s a default.

abstract illustration of a person kneeling with their head in their hands, figures on the sides of the body, while another figure, lined with dots, is leans over them. decorative elements such as snakes and florals line the edges.

(Un)Spoken Truths: Cousins Grace and Roslyn Talusan on the Healing Power of Storytelling

by Roslyn Talusan

December 2, 2019 at 1:26pm

Everything in our culture would like us to repress trauma, and shame is at the core of this. Read more »

a placard in British Columbia, Canada, warns Indigenous women and girls about hitchhiking along the Trail of Tears

Racism and Apathy along the “Highway of Tears”

by Abaki Beck

November 27, 2019 at 3:13pm

How long will families be forced to relive the trauma of their loved ones death or disappearance, with empty promises of justice? Read more »

Admitted 'Preppie Killer' Robert Chambers (center), a white man, walks out of Auburn Prison February 14, 2003 in Auburn, New York.

Dead Wrong: AMC’s “The Preppy Murder” Revisits a Shameful Perversion of Justice

by Andi Zeisler

November 27, 2019 at 1:03pm

Women’s lives, their senses of self, their career options, and their public images remain collateral when it comes time to uphold those same things for the men who harmed them. Read more »

A Dangerous Scapegoat: Monitoring Mentally Ill People’s Phones Is an Orwellian Nightmare

by Kendall Brown

November 7, 2019 at 9:45am

It’s based on the idea that technology could predict mass shootings before they happen—an idea that Trump has indicated support of. Read more »

BoJack Horseman, an animated horse, stands at a bathroom sink and looks at himself in the mirror. He wears a sweater and a concerned look.

In the End, BoJack Heals—but at Whose Expense?

by Rachel Charlene Lewis

November 4, 2019 at 2:31pm

Season 6’s second half twists into the show’s usual darkness when we transition to the perspectives of the women BoJack has harmed. Read more »

Zac Efron plays Ted Bundy, an average-looking white man wearing a blue suit, in Netflix film

(Not So) Real Monsters: Why Do We Still Care about Ted Bundy?

by Caroline Reilly

October 28, 2019 at 1:02pm

What is there to learn from a serial killer who, like almost all notorious serial killers, is white, male, and wholly mediocre? Read more »

a collage of two white boys standing outside at night and holding rifles

#SafeOutside: The Rise of a #MeToo Movement Outdoors

by Hayden Seder

October 2, 2019 at 8:56am

The fear of another person in the outdoors versus the fear of animals, weather conditions, or getting lost is something that is increasingly felt by women. Read more »

Mariska Hargitay, a middle-aged white woman with short, brown hair, who's wearing sunglasses, squats in front of yellow crime-scene tape

The Necessary Escapism of “Law & Order: SVU”

by Cameron Glover

September 20, 2019 at 10:08am

In Dick Wolf’s formulaic world, victims are always believed, cops are dedicated to catching bad guys, and justice is always served, no matter how long it takes. Read more »

Donald Trump, the white president of the United States, delivers a speech from behind a podium

Backtalk: This is What White-Supremacist Terrorism Looks Like

by Amy Lam

August 8, 2019 at 2:52pm

This week, Dahlia and Amy are heartbroken over the spate of mass murders at the hands of white men with assault weapons. They talk about the importance of naming the acts of violence as white supremacist terrorism and how marginalized people across all communuties are left vulnerable. Plus, we take... Read more »