By Mychal Denzel Smith • 10 years ago

On space, trains and the performance of masculinity

I just moved to New York City three months ago. I love it here. It sounds trite, cliché, corny and all that stuff to say, but it’s true: it’s everything I imagined it to be and more. I like that there’s always something going on and it’s never more than train ride away.

That’s something I’ve had to get used to, riding the train. I grew up in a suburb in southeast Virginia, where everything is only accessible by car. I hate driving. Some people get a thrill from it all, but it requires way too much mental energy I feel could be better put to use on solving life’s great mysteries, like how to end patriarchy or why the cartoon ...

I just moved to New York City three months ago. I love it here. It sounds trite, cliché, corny and all that stuff to say, but it’s true: it’s everything I imagined it to be and more. ...
By Mychal Denzel Smith • 10 years ago

Seriously, Let Michelle Obama (and black women in general) live

President Obama was caught smiling at the memorial service for Nelson Mandela. Apparently, this is cause for outrage. Impeach him! But wait, there’s more. First Lady Michelle Obama was *so* mad at him for… smiling. I think. I’m not entirely sure what the fuss is about. I guess people really don’t like the idea of taking selfies at a funeral, and projected their dismay onto the face of the First Lady. Otherwise, there really wasn’t much to see here.

President Obama was caught smiling at the memorial service for Nelson Mandela. Apparently, this is cause for outrage. Impeach him! But wait, there’s more. First Lady Michelle Obama was *so* mad at him for… smiling. I think. ...
By Gwendolyn Beetham • 10 years ago

The Academic Feminist: NWSA Annual Conference Report Back

Welcome back, Academic Feminists! This month I’m taking a break from interviewing to provide you with a glimpse inside my pilgrimage to the academic feminist mecca: the annual NWSA conference!

Whether you came to feminism through a gender studies class or not, many of you will appreciate the “special relationship” between feminist activist/online work and WGSS (women’s, gender, and sexuality studies) programs. In this age of digital organizing and social networking, these connections are even stronger, and the NWSA conference is an excellent chance to get to hear – and meet – some of the feminists you admire online/in books IRL. Some of my personal IRL highlights at this year’s conference in Cincinnati, Ohio, included: meeting my UVenus colleague ...

Welcome back, Academic Feminists! This month I’m taking a break from interviewing to provide you with a glimpse inside my pilgrimage to the academic feminist mecca: the annual NWSA conference!

Whether you came to feminism through ...
By Maya Dusenbery • 10 years ago

Charts of the Day: Being in a union raises a woman’s pay by 12.9 percent

Hey ladies, you may need a PhD to earn as much as a dude with a BA, but being in a union could be worth a year of college in terms of a wage boost. According to a new report from the Center for Economic and Policy Research, unionization has a big impact on women’s economic well-being. 

Hey ladies, you may need a PhD to earn as much as a dude with a BA, but being in a union could be worth a year of college in terms of a wage boost. According ...
By Katie Halper • 10 years ago

Nelson Mandela, the pro-choice, intersectional feminist

Photo: Dennis Lee Royle, Wire

Nelson Mandela and his incredible legacy were lauded today during his memorial service. But the great leader’s record on women’s rights, and specifically abortion rights, is not getting the recognition it deserves. 

Photo: Dennis Lee Royle, Wire

Nelson Mandela and his incredible legacy were lauded today during his memorial service. But the great leader’s record on women’s rights, and specifically abortion rights, is ...
By Jos Truitt • 10 years ago

Guest post: What motivated the raids on sex workers in Soho?

Editor’s note: This is a guest post from Mitzi Poesener. Mitzi Poesener is the pseudonym of a British sex worker, writer, and activist, living and working in London.

It’s been six days since the raids on sex workers in Soho, and there is still rampant speculation about the real motives behind the actions. The operation (code named Demontere) was the result of 18 months worth of investigations, and involved 200 officers in riot vans supported by sniffer dogs and a helicopter.

It has been reported that this is Westminster council’s biggest operation in years. For such a large operation it is interesting to note that only 22 people have been arrested. Other sex workers have been sent, without charges, to ...

Editor’s note: This is a guest post from Mitzi Poesener. Mitzi Poesener is the pseudonym of a British sex worker, writer, and activist, living and working in London.

It’s been six days since the raids on ...

Americans United for Life
By Maya Dusenbery • 10 years ago

The latest anti-choice trick: Letting “ordinary Americans” sue clinics to enforce abortion restrictions

Americans United for Life is the ALEC of the anti-choice movement.

Every year, the DC-based group releases a handbook filled with model legislation that abortion foes in state legislatures across the country can use to draft their own bills. It’s no coincidence that so many of the hundreds of anti-choice state laws passed in recent years–from ultrasound bills to telemedicine abortion bans–have been so similar. Often they were inspired by AUL’s models–sometimes even copied verbatim. In 2011, for example, AUL could take credit for 24 of the 92 anti-abortion restrictions passed in the states.

And now AUL is adding another trick to its handbook.

Americans United for Life is the ALEC of the anti-choice movement.

Every year, the DC-based group releases a handbook filled with model legislation that abortion foes in state legislatures across the country can ...

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