Whether you loved or hated Bridesmaids, Indisputable Feminist Wisdom posits that Kristen Wiig is the best ever . She’s smart, funny as hell, and not afraid to shy away from real conversations about what it’s like to be a woman in what can be a truly– let’s face it– sexist a$$ industry. Haliegh Collins over on Policy Mic even [...]

Last Wednesday, House Republicans stooped to a new low by throwing their support behind a ridiculous, callous and watered down version of the Violence Against Women Act . As we detailed last week, the heavily edited H.R. 4970 now moves backward on VAWA reauthorization, with the version that the House passed actually denying protection of undocumented immigrants, Native/indigenous people [...]

We deal with a lot of issues related to motherhood on the blog, and in feminism writ large: paid maternal leave, work/life balance, stay-at-home moms, single moms, mother’s day, breastfeeding. And the list goes on. But an aspect of motherhood that is sometimes overlooked in feminist spaces is maternal death, when a woman dies in pregnancy [...]

These days, there’s a fairly broad consensus– among public health advocates,  educators, parents, the media, and the porn industry – that condoms are GOOD. Whether one is penis-possessing or just along for the ride, most of us have been told to “wrap it up” since before we were performing acts that required us to do so. So why [...]

Pic of the day. (Via) A remarkable speech from 1970 on gay rights by Black Panthers co-founder Huey Newton. Starting tomorrow, Amplify Your Voice is hosting an  International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia Blogathon. Samhita at The American Prospect on marrying yourself . Kelley at the community blog talks about the abysmally antiquated and sexist selection of online games for [...]

An awesome and innovative campaign by Mama Hope to break stereotypes and get important work done in the process.

http://youtu.be/qSElmEmEjb4

Via Upworthy.

Last week, the House Judiciary Committee approved their version of the Violence Against Women Act, which compared to current Senate-approved provisions in the bill which would include protections for LGBTQ folks and immigrants, is just not a good look:

The House Judiciary Committee last week approved its version of the reauthorization bill, which not only omits improvements the [...]

In the closest the state has come to legalizing civil unions, a special session in Colorado’s legislature effectively killed a bill that would have granted the right to same-sex couples before it even reached the House floor :

A measure allowing same-sex civil unions that prompted Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper to call a special session after Republicans killed it last [...]

http://youtu.be/tmrf0ljbD6w Your reading and thinking about Obama’s marriage equality affirmation isn’t complete until you’ve heard Jay Smooth’s take. In North Carolina, where marriage equality was just voted down this week, a lesbian has been arrested for seeking a marriage license . A Mothers’ Day message from Sybrina Fulton, Trayvon Martin’s mother. I’m proud to be The Line Campaign ’s “Badass [...]

Yesterday, the president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, Nancy Keenan, announced that she will be stepping down at the end of the year. Sarah Kliff at the Washington Post reported: The 60-year-old Keenan said she is leaving out of concern for the future of the pro-choice movement — and thinks she could be holding it back. In recent years, [...]

When I was fifteen, I got my belly button pierced. At the time, I really wanted to be a dancer. I was dancing four or five days a week, at an open studio where there were often professional dancers in my classes. When I looked around the room at the best dancers, the ones who I [...]

Kate Beaton has a few things to say about “strong female characters” and the depiction of women in comic books. In this ultra-Orthodox Jewish community in Brooklyn, parents are being shunned for reporting to police that their children have been sexually abused by members of that community. Women of the Canadian armed forces have been brought in to [...]

Here we go with this week’s take on the latest Mad Men from the Feministing crew. Let’s jump in and get discussing. As always, tons of spoilers follow . The title of the episode Named after the famed Sylvia Plath poem, I guess this episode is about almost dying but then being revived. -Samhita Megan’s career change I’ve had pretty mixed reactions [...]

As Zerlina said earlier this morning, President Obama’s announcement yesterday that he believes that same sex couples should be allowed to get married was significant. It represents an historic turning point in this particular struggle for American civil rights. This video, by Shane Bitney Crone, is about what it can look like, and feel like, when [...]

While NC tries to ban gay marriage, yesterday Katie wrote about how Joe Biden is being pushed into the closet on gay marriage after expressing his full support on Meet The Press for same-sex marriage. Within hours of the appearance, a Biden aid  felt the need to clarify the comments and senior Obama campaign advisor David Axelrod tweeted, “What VP [...]

In response to Alice Randall’s unfortunately titled NYT editorial “Why Black Women Are Fat” Jamilah Lemieux has written a smart and hilarious rebuttal to the mainstream notion that all black people are the same:

Why are Black women fat? Why are Black men in jail? Why can’t Black women find “good Black men?” Why did I get married, [...]

A Mama’s Day radio project will connect incarcerated mothers to their families and communities for Mother’s Day. Melinda Gates is launching a new initiative that will be investing billions into global contraception access.  Cornell West and others were convicted of disorderly conduct for protesting New York’s stop and frisk policy. Greece and France vote against austerity measures in their [...]

This is beyond heinous: 

A group of partiers on the roof of a Cornell frat house allegedly  taunted black students and threw objects  — including an empty Jack Daniels bottle — at them as they passed on the street. Beverly Fonkwo, a sophomore, says she and a friend were walking home when people began throwing things at them from [...]

It’s kind of laughable that as GOP denial continues with their whole “the ‘war on women’ is a myth” talking points on the airwaves and talk shows, GOP state legislation continues to dig themselves in a deeper and deeper hole with state legislation that completely screws Americans with uteri and their families. Here are a few tidbits of [...]