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

Month: April 2012

Best Films About Female Friendship

Last week I went to a screening of This Is My Life with Feministe friend Nona Willis Aronowitz. It was just lovely, and got me thinking about other films that center female friendship and relationships. My personal favorites: Steel Magnolias; Clueless; Now and Then; Romy and Michelle and Thelma and Louise (duh). But what am I missing? And why do all of these female friendship movies have reputations as mindless chick-flicks, while dude-friend movies are either universally hilarious or Oscar-worthy? Mysterious.

Why “I prefer small boobs” isn’t helping

“I like small boobs.” “I actually prefer untrimmed pubic hair.” “Ew, skinny girls! Eat a sandwich, amirite?” They’re inevitable contributions to any thread discussing women’s bodies, always offered by men as a word of comfort to insecure women or as valuable male insight into the male gaze.

Thanks for thinking of us, guys, but trust me: We get insight into the male gaze every day. The real impact of the male gaze is about way more than beer commercials, Playboy pictorials, and who does and doesn’t have to pay her own bar tab.

Nude Photos as a Revolutionary Act

The Nude Revolutionary Calendar is a project undertaken in support of Aliaa Magda Elmahdy, a young Egyptian woman who posted nude portraits of herself on Twitter last November, tagged #NudePhotoRevolutionary. Here’s a nude portrait of Elmahdy.

[Probably NSFW because, y’know, “nude portrait of Elmahdy.” – C]

Arizona HB 2036 is bad for women anyway.

A week ago, Arizona HB 2036 passed the state Senate and headed to the House. The bill centers around the belief that a fetus feels pain at 20 weeks and thus bans abortion after 20 weeks of gestation (with an exception for the life of the mother). HB 2036 specifies gestational age “as calculated from the first day of the last menstrual period of the pregnant woman,” leading many to believe that it actually bans abortion after 18 weeks of gestation.

This isn’t accurate. It’s still 20 weeks. But there is so, so much more to be angry about.