The Sneaky Misogyny and Homophobia of #cutforbieber
[TRIGGER WARNING FOR SELF-INJURY] For every awesome thing the Internet does, you can almost guarantee that ten truly horrific things will pop up to cancel your renewed faith in humanity. As much as the online world can be a haven for some, it can be a hell for others, as we’ve seen in numerous accounts of cyberbullying and the like. …
Read MoreIn Defense of Internet Vigilantism: The Steubenville Rape Case
[TRIGGER WARNING FOR RAPE AND SEXUAL VIOLENCE]
Read MoreThe Breastfeeding Wars, Part One Billion
This week has been nothing if not a breast milk-covered battleground in the oh-so-hyped “Mommy Wars.” Every few months, an article or twenty come along to announce to women that no matter how they choose to parent, they’re doing it wrong. Sometimes it’s about co-sleeping or babywearing or daycare, but the breastfeeding debacle has held its place firmly in the …
Read MoreI Hate the Term “Date Rape” and Other Rape Qualifiers
[TRIGGER WARNING for rape and graphic discussion of rape.] I hate the term “date rape.” I hate “acquaintance rape” and “partner rape” and “spousal rape” and “prison rape.” Why? Because rape is rape, and descriptors do nothing but soften the term.
Read MoreThe Duchess of Cambridge and the Language of a Royal Pregnancy
Unless you’ve been living under a rock or in an internetless hole, you’ve undoubtedly heard that Catherine, The Duchess of Cambridge, (formerly known as Kate Middleton) is pregnant. First of all, congratulations to the Duchess and her family. She looks happy, and even if she wasn’t, we’d never really know. While I’m happy for her, I am pissed at the Internet. …
Read MoreFeminism and Football: Look at All These Microagressions!
They still act like football is a man’s game, and it’s really starting to get on my nerves. This feminist has positioned herself in the heart of macho dudeliness, and sometimes it isn’t pretty.
Read More
How Cosplay Helped My Body Image
[TRIGGER WARNING: Eating disorders and related thinking and behaviors.] If you had asked me three years ago to put on a skintight leotard and a pair of tights and then go to an event with thousands of other people, I’m not sure if I’d have laughed at you or thought you were playing some sort of cruel joke on me. …
Read MoreSo Much for the “Life of the Mother”: The Death of Savita Halappanavar
Last month, a young woman named Savita Halappanavar was murdered by an Irish hospital. Yes, murdered. Let’s call it what it is. I refuse to sugarcoat a topic that should be treated as honestly and straightforwardly as possible, without the anti-choice rhetoric or pleasant popular media wording. Savita Halappanavar was denied an abortion, and it killed her.
Read MoreThe Time Sir Patrick Stewart and I Talked Feminism
A couple of weeks ago, I had the privilege of meeting and speaking to Sir Patrick Stewart. Yes, that Patrick Stewart, who many of you may know as Captain Jean-Luc Picard of Star Trek: The Next Generation. I know, right?! I ventured out to Austin Comic Con (dressed as a slightly femme Tenth Doctor, naturally), intent on buying as many …
Read MoreLeaving My Feminist Ivory Tower
It’s official, I’ve left my ivory tower of feminism. In a way, I’ve been on my way out for years, volunteering at rape crisis centers and women’s clinics and lobbying at the Capital. Those were all situations I could walk away from, places I could go home from at the end of a shift and never deal with again. But …
Read MoreDisney’s Latina Princess Sofia Isn’t So Latina After All
Last week, Disney announced the arrival of a new princess. A Latina princess. Sounds fantastic, right? Unfortunately, this has been just one more case of capitalist selfishness trying to edge into a vulnerable market, because Princess Sofia is everything I never wanted in my Latina princess.
Read MoreWomen Finally Get Some Attention in the Presidential Debates (Plus, BINDERS!)
Looks like our complaining a few weeks ago finally got us somewhere! Not only did we get some love from Joe Biden at last week’s vice presidential debate, we got a whole new meme from this week’s standoff between former governor of Massachusetts Mitt Romney and President Barack Obama. But like any nitpicking, want-it-all feminist, it’s still not enough.
Read MoreIt’s Come to This: Movies, Television, and Rape
Our world has come to this: I’ve actually started to judge, in part, the merit of a work on whether it includes a rape scene. What the hell, popular media? [TRIGGER WARNING for discussion of sexual violence.]
Read MoreForgetting the Ladies at the First Presidential Debate of the Season
As usual, ladies and other vagina-owners got the short end of it in popular politics Wednesday night. Not that I was expecting all that much from our dudely candidates and their moderator, but something might have been nice! If anyone was watching with the hopes of seeing the President take Mittens down a notch on reproductive rights or civil rights for …
Read MoreGuttmacher Study Confirms What We Already Know About Birth Control
The Guttmacher Institue, the nation’s leading authority of reproductive health and rights, released one of their famous studies this week and confirmed what we already know. According to the study, women believe that the use of birth control allows them to achieve their life goals and has had a positive impact on the way they live their lives. When presented with the …
Read MoreIs Ms. vs. Miss vs. Mrs. Still an Issue?
Or it as big of a deal as it used to be? Do people even think about this anymore? Prior to a few weeks ago, I’d considered this issue to be a thing of the past, something our mothers or grandmothers had to consider. I don’t know if it was a lack of attention to the topic or just a lack …
Read More