In defense of the sanctimonious women's studies set || First feminist blog on the internet

Month: January 2012

WAM Prom: Be There.

On Friday Jan. 13th (oooh!) feminists, media-makers and their friends will be getting down at WAM!Prom 2: Electric Boogaloo, from BeeGees to Biggie. It’s at the Bowery Poetry Club and starts at 10 and you should be there (if only so I can judge you in the costume contest). Details are on the Facebook page. WAM!PRom benefits Women, Action, and the Media (WAM!), a national organization working for gender justice in media that is very dear to my heart.

Why “Yes, But” Is the Wrong Response to Misogyny

This is a guest post by Greta Christina
“Yes, but… not all men are like that. And if you’re going to talk about misogyny, you have to be extra-clear about that.”

“Yes, but… misogyny doesn’t just happen in (X) community (atheist, black, gay, etc.). In fact, it’s worse in some other communities. So it’s not fair to talk about misogyny when it does happen in (X) community, as if it’s something special that we’re doing wrong.”

“Yes, but… (X) community where misogyny happens has some great things about it, too. It’s not fair to paint everyone in it with the same brush.”

The best thing you will read today about Breaking Dawn

And vampire-fetus-babies and misogyny and female desire and abuse and rough sex and mother-martyrs:

Welcome to the twisted glory that is Mormon housewife turned teen-lit sensation Stephenie Meyer’s imagination.

On the pages of Breaking Dawn Meyer let that imagination, which has been hovering under the repressed surface of the series’ previous three books, run rampant: Bedboard-breaking, feather-spilling, bruising honeymoon sex. A demonic pregnancy that grows so fast the fetus is nudging and jumping around the heroine’s womb days after conception. A grown-up werewolf falling in love with a half-vampire infant. And our heavily-pregnant heroine sipping blood from a soda cup–and loving it–just before her ribs and spine are shattered by the immortal spawn she’s carrying. It gets better: a c-section performed by vampire teeth. A shot of venom straight to the heart. A crazed childless vampire woman who will protect the fetus at all costs.

Daughter of the Patriarchy: Admissions

“When I was your age, my parents wouldn’t send me to college,” my mother was telling me. “I had to work my way through on my own. I don’t want you to have to stop. I will do everything I can to help you keep going to school. Your education is the most important thing to me.”

We stood in the kitchen, a printed letter lying on the counter between us. It was not good news.

I glanced up at my mother with a strained smile. I knew that if wishes could be cashed at the bank, I’d be writing my admissions essay to an ivy-coated castle. Instead, I was trying to find a way to pay the bill from my last semester of community college in time to register for fall classes. It was already August.

Yes, we look a bit different

The WordPress version and theme/template have both been updated for 2012, with a new front page layout showing excerpts/teasers rather than full posts. Please let me know of any accessibility problems you experience.

Addendum: a few tweaks have been made in response to feedback. If you’re not seeing these changes, you probably need to do one or more of the following steps: