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

Fangirls, mean girls – and that grand pastime of calling each other “ugly sluts”

“Everyone knows that bitch got knocked up by someone else and TRICKED him into marriage! Ugly slut! I hope they divorce!”

It sounds like a comment you would find on a Daily Mail article about some celebrity drama. But the poor man allegedly “TRICKED” into marriage is meant to be my husband. And the “ugly slut” is me. A friend who had written a blog entry about how my husband and I collaborated on a play together encountered these comments, and many more. She deleted them, but not before I had already read them. The friend was shocked, but I wasn’t. The same person who had posted those comments had already tweeted at me, left abusive comments on my site, and sent me detailed arguments as to why all of my much my pictures suck via Facebook. And she wouldn’t be the first to pursue this course of action.

Hi, my name is Natalia. My husband’s fangirls stalk me on the Internet.

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Never let it be said that the Kardashians don’t recognize an opportunity

I have been fortunate enough not to have actually seen an episode of one of the many Kardashian-related reality TV shows in existence. Yet I am unfortunate enough to still know who these people are.

That said, I have to commend (kommend?) the Kardashian sisters for recognizing that plus-size women need clothes and will spend real actual money to purchase them.

But, we’ll admit: the launch of their plus-size denim line, Kardashian Kurves, actually seems pretty kool. Sorry, cool.

The line will be sold in Sears, and in an effort to drum up some extra excitement there is an official contest, where one winner will pose with the Kardashian sisters on an official ad campaign. To enter on Facebook, submit a full-length photo of yourself “along with what being ‘kurvy’ and ‘konfident’ means to you.”

Do I hate that the name of the line is Kardashian Kurves? Yes. Does it irritate me that they are asking for models to show them how “konfident” they are with their “kurves”? You betcha. But I am going to give the sisters props for seeking out a market that so many other retailers are embarrassed to admit exists, even when they can (and often do, on the sly) make a lot of money selling to that market.

I give them credit for not being afraid to associate themselves with a plus-size line, for taking the measure (so to speak) of the clothing market and realizing that there’s a lot less competition for eyeballs and dollars in the plus department than there is in the junior department. I also give them credit for launching the line at Sears, which is accessible to a lot of the people who really could stand more choices in clothing.

Can’t say I’d wear it myself, but you never know.

Chris Brown won’t let us forget: Domestic violence is okay if you’re hot

Trigger warning for domestic violence

Sasha Pasulka of HelloGiggles said it best: “I’m not okay with Chris Brown performing at the Grammys and I’m not sure why you are.” She points out that the popular response to Chris Brown’s beating of Rihanna was beyond disappointing, with fans and celebrities alike falling back on “No one knows exactly what happened” and “It takes two to tango” and “He’s such a great guy; he never would have done something like that unprovoked.” Jump forward three years, he was invited to perform at the Grammys (because the music industry appears to be okay with it). Because, says Grammys producer Ken Erlich, people deserve a second chance. And he hasn’t performed at the Grammys for two whole years now. And “we were the victim of what happened.”

But that was last night. That was Hollywood’s reaction. This morning, it’s the fans’ reaction, which appears to be: Chris Brown is so hot, it would be okay if he beat me.

It would be awesome if he beat me.

Examples hidden behind the jump, because seriously, triggering. I just can’t.

New Favorite Things

Jaclyn Friedman’s Unsolicited Advice column in GOOD. This week she advises Blue Ivy Carter:

One of the things that’s going to be especially weird, if the response to Shiloh Jolie-Pitt’s haircut is any indication, is that a non-trivial minority of the global population will soon consider what you do with your body and your sexuality their business. In fact, they’ve already started. Most people would welcome a new addition to their family as “the most beautiful baby in the world,” but in your case, perfect strangers are already being invited to assess that claim.

Beyonce Baby Drama

I have a long-standing soft spot in my heart for Ms. Knowles, and although I’m not much of a celebrity gossip follower, I was very happy to hear about her giving birth to baby Ivy Blue, with husband Jay-Z. Jay even wrote a song about it — and while it’s admittedly not the hottest track, it is extremely sweet and no I did not tear up I JUST HAVE SOMETHING IN MY EYE.