My knowledge of fashion, to be honest, is limited. Despite getting the “Best Dressed” senior superlative at Palmer High School in Colorado Springs, Colorado–I think because I wore these weird Molly Ringwald circa Pretty in Pink kind of outfits on occasion–I haven’t spent a lot of my time following fashion. I watch Project Runway . I love vintage finds. Color [...]

For far too long, surrealism has been associated with solely male minds. Exhibit A: Wikipedia’s accounting of the infamous crew: Paul Éluard, Benjamin Péret, René Crevel, Robert Desnos, Jacques Baron, Max Morise, Pierre Naville, Roger Vitrac, Gala Éluard, Max Ernst, Salvador Dalí, Man Ray, Hans Arp, Georges Malkine, Michel Leiris, Georges Limbour, Antonin Artaud, Raymond Queneau, André [...]

Dean Spade’s incredible book, Normal Life: Administrative Violence, Critical Trans Politics, and the Limits of Law , burns away every approximation of activism currently passing as transformative today with blindingly bright analysis. Spade is the founder of the Sylvia Rivera Law Project and the first openly trans tenure-track law professor in the U.S. (Seattle University). The book, drawing on [...]

The girls and women who animate the stories of Elissa Schappell are so real, so familiar, that there were times that reading her work almost frightened me. It wasn’t so much a clever turn of phrase–although there’s no question that Schappell can write her ass off; it was more the texture and aliveness of her characters that [...]

I spent the end of last week at the Women’s Forum for The Economy & Society , an international meeting of women from a variety of sectors, but predominantly from the corporate world. It was a really fascinating experience for me–particularly as I tend to focus my feminist work so squarely in the U.S. context and spend [...]

Avory Faucette and Kyla Bender-Baird team up for a new column at Girl w/ Pen  on queer bodies, law, and policy, called Body Politic; check out their inaugural post on queer visibility at work. Jill, as always, makes me laugh my ass off while writing about HPV and the so-called Ayelet Waldman overshare. Love to see social [...]

Today marks my last day officially editing at Feministing. I’m not planning to leave cold turkey–I’ll always be part of the Feministing family, contributing posts from time to time, steering great new voices this way, doing whatever I can to support the ones that are already here, and working behind the scenes on a Big [...]

Check out this deeply convincing guest post from Dr. Mathangi Subramanian, Ed.D. Full bio follows the post. I believe in the power of stories. And I don’t mean 40-watt-light bulb-power or meanest-girl-in-high-school-power or even Mayor-of-new-york-power.  I mean earth shattering, life changing, transformative power.  The kind of power that makes you feel like you can do anything. [...]

TPM reports: Former White House financial reform adviser Elizabeth Warren will officially launch her campaign today for U.S. Senate from Massachusetts. She will be challenging incumbent Republican Sen. Scott Brown. How exciting is that?

According to the Census Bureau, the majority of Americans are truly suffering in this downturn economy. Figures released yesterday reflect that last year saw another 2.6 million people slip into poverty, bringing the grand total estimate to 46.2 million people, the highest number in the 52 years that the Bureau has been reporting. But it’s [...]

Screenwriter Aline Brosh McKenna says the new ultimate romance for women is not “the guy,” but “the job.” Rev. Bonnie McDougall Olson teaches psychiatric patients how to write their own stories , and in so doing, see them as sacred. A very interesting reflection on class and pride by Hugo Schwyzer. Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins on the Urban Green Summit last week [...]

According to Nola.com :

A new Army Corps of Engineers rating system for the nation’s levees is about to deliver a near-failing grade to New Orleans area dikes, despite the internationally acclaimed $10 billion effort to rebuild the system in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, corps officials have confirmed. Preliminary rankings obtained by The Times-Picayune show that the [...]

Another hate crime against trans women in the D.C. area, this one by an off-duty police officer no less, sheds a glaring flood light on the work ahead in challenging gender-based violence. Last week, the off-duty District police officer allegedly fired a pistol at three transgender women and two male friends while the group was [...]

That’s right y’all–Beyonce and Jay Z are having a baby. My first thought, upon hearing the news, is that this kid is going to be a) ridiculously cute and b) ridiculously enterprising. Then my mind started wandering down the lane of cultural implications… Janelle Harris had an interesting take over at Clutch :

Even as Bey stood there [...]

I have been intrigued by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie ever since I saw her stunning TEDTalk about the “danger of the single story,” in which she warns that stereotypes are born, not from pure ignorance, but from knowing just one thing about a group of people. Having just read her incredible novel, Half of a Yellow Sun , I have [...]

Anna Maria Chávez was just selected Chief Executive Officer of Girl Scouts of the USA . There are fewer women on TV and behind the scenes. Amanda Marcotte says, “Not on my watch,” when faced with an unfun feminism . Brooke Alise Axtell on breaking free from economic abuse . Today is the 10th anniversary of Aaliyah’s passing. RIP lady: [...]

My later twenties were characterized by a lot of wandering and wondering about ethical, religious, and philanthropic issues. My questions– How does one live the most ethical life in contemporary America? How can I bring my daily choices more in line with my most deeply held values? How can I be, not just right, but effective [...]

Don’t forget to livetweet the new documentary on Gloria Steinem that premiers tonight and participate in the In Your Own Words Contest . If you don’t get HBO, there are house parties forming where you might be able to meet new feminist friends. And check out these related pieces to get yourself psyched up: Shelby Knox on the [...]

As summer starts to peter to a close (NO!), I think it’s important that we do fun shit. I went to the New Mexico Gay Rodeo yesterday and watched 100 folks like this dude do flag racing, bull riding, and “drag” racing. It is one of 21 organizations in the International Gay Rodeo Association throughout the [...]