What women discuss during the “Women’s History Month:" The democracy of leadership in the feminist organizations is an issue? Veronica Arreola writes in Viva la Feminista: Today’s Women’s History Tidbit: 1932: Amelia Earhart is the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic* A few weeks ago I was honored to share time and space with [...]
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Lilith Fair Controversy: What Does “Pro-Woman” Mean?
What is a "pro-woman" organization? That question was addressed this week by the organizers of Lilith Fair, the music festival featuring exclusively female artists, set to return this year after a decade-long hiatus. However, when fans of the festival were asked to vote online for the charities who would receive grants from Lilith Fair, many [...]
Are Women the Best Feminists?
The best feminists are male feminists. Otherwise, with female feminists, it just sounds like they’re complaining about issues that do not exist. This is essential viewing. He justifies his response by saying: While my words may have seemed inflammatory, I was actually talking about how the oppressor is the best person to speak out against [...]
My Mother Was No Saint
Cross-posted with permission from patriarchal disorder and dated from March 16. It’s St. Patty’s Day tomorrow, my mother’s birthday, and I’m feeling it. Today, while paying bills, which my mother carried out so much more efficiently than I ever have, I used my solar calculator to figure out that, if she were alive today, she [...]
Kathryn Bigelow and “Firsts”
On Sunday night, shortly before International Women’s Day began at 12:01am on Monday, Kathryn Bigelow became the first female filmmaker to win the Oscar for Best Director (view her acceptance speech here). Her film The Hurt Locker, a war drama about a bomb squad in Iraq, also took Best Picture honors. She was only the [...]
Focus on Your Buffalo Wings, Not My Uterus
I don’t know about you guys, but I was hoping to spend Sunday evening watching the Saints beat the Colts, The Who play "Baba O’Reilly" at halftime and some creative ads about Clydesdales. I was not hoping to get a side of abortion politics with my guacamole and buffalo wings. But, alas, CBS is apparently [...]
Where’s our Amy Gardner?
My reaction to Angry Mouse’s post on DailyKos criticizing the mainstream feminist organizations for inactivity and lack of political influence mirrored those of other feminist bloggers: there was certainly some truth to the author’s words, but the post glossed over the practical challenges faced by such organizations, especially in a recession. And as Miriam Perez [...]
The 2000s: Favorite Feminist Moments in Television
Ever since I read Susan J. Douglas’ Where the Girls Are: Growing Up Female With the Mass Media when I was 17, I have found myself searching in television and film for the nuggets of feminism that women can now find in popular culture. As the ’00 decade concludes, quite a bit of feminist gold [...]
Putting Sarah Palin and Sexism in Perspective
If the story of Sarah Palin teaches us anything about sexism, it is that its impact can always be more complicated than we think. Out of context, Newsweek’s cover image of the former Alaska governor in jogging shorts (which they have refused to apologize for) is completely inappropriate. But Palin’s new book and accompanying publicity [...]
Breasts on TV news — to help women or ratings?
A Washington, D.C. TV news program is showing real topless woman to demonstrate breast self-exams in the late afternoon and early evening — when children are sure to see it. The 4-part series started at the very end of breast cancer awareness month (October), which happened to be ratings sweep week. Is the series designed [...]