Shall we? On Election Day, I celebrated victories and obsessed over losses. I woke up the next day and indulged in 24 hours of relief-fueled joy. Then, on Thursday, I allowed reality to ooze in. I spent the weekend after the election in Wichita, Kansas.  I was speaking at the Kansas NOW Annual Conference , where I [...]

Let’s jump right on in, shall we? Women could decide the outcome of the 2012 General Election. You know it, I know it, and odds are the candidates know it too. But last night, two candidates and one sorta-moderator managed to talk for 90 minutes straight in a domestic policy debate without discussing women’s reproductive rights . [...]

I treat the right to vote like my father used to treat his beloved Cadillac. I drive it every chance I get and you are in a world of trouble if you touch it, much less try to take it from me. Unlike Daddy’s Caddy, the vote is not supposed to be a luxury item [...]

On Tuesday another Todd Akin story began working through the Twitterverse.  As a Missourian, I felt compelled to investigate the report claiming Todd Akin said he believed breast milk “cures” homosexuality . Yeah, yeah…I know that sounds too bizarre for folk to think it is true, but we’re talking about Todd Akin here! The GOP candidate for [...]

I apologize for another lengthy absence, y’all! As many of you know, I am an activist who blogs and the recent primary in Missouri took me offline for a spell. Let’s jump right on in! GOP nominee Mitt Romney selected longtime DC insider Congressman Paul Ryan as his running mate. Many a feminist has already [...]

I want Missouri Governor Nixon to veto the new birth control refusal bill SB 749. Religious liberty is not threatened by the HHS rule on insurance coverage of birth control without co-pay, but the rights of Missouri workers sure as hell are under attack by this bill that would allow any employer to refuse coverage [...]

Let’s jump right on in, shall we? I’ve long said that people need to keep a close watch on their state legislature.  I’m a Missourian and my state Assembly meets for five months each year. That means five months of watching the Republicans who control both the House and Senate file bills to restrict access [...]

Let’s jump right on in, shall we? While some state assemblies have sought to pass legislation protecting youth from bullying, others are considering bills that seem to show the damage that elected bullies can do with the weapons of government. Such is the case in Missouri where House Bill 2051, the Don’t Say Gay bill sponsored [...]

When I heard about the murder of Trayvon Martin I felt like everything just stopped for a moment. I’m talking about a real halt for a serious moment…a stretching out of time through which everything ached bone deep. There is still much to learn about the murder of Trayvon Martin, but what we know now is [...]

Let’s jump right on in, shall we? I’m a Missourian so trust that I am all over the decision by the Speaker of the Missouri House to honor Rush Limbaugh with a bust in the Hall of Famous Missourians. Some have questioned the outrage claiming that Limbaugh is famous and a Missourian thus qualifying him for [...]

Shall we? Yesterday I traveled to Jefferson City, Missouri to lobby some state legislators who recently voted on a resolution to deny women access to birth control without co-payments  . I was appalled by this vote…not just because I know how important access to birth control is for my fellow Missourians, but also because these legislators wasted [...]

It was almost exactly five years ago that I wrote my first guest post for Feministing . About a year later, Jessica and the crew asked me to join as an Editor, and it’s been an absolutely amazing ride ever since. I can’t really put into words my gratitude for what this community has brought me. Showing [...]

By Silpa Kovvali History will rightly view Bridesmaids as an important milestone in more ways than one. It was a female-driven comedy. It was a box office hit. And despite the ensemble of women at its center, its raunchy humor was characteristic of producer Judd Apatow. But as director Paul Feig suggested, Apatow-esque vulgarity is important for the [...]

Via Andee Cornell on Facebook. Crunk Feminist Collective , Quirky Black Girls and FAAN Mail have launched a Feminist Care Packages project. Love this:

Feminist Care Packages are public offerings for healing and justice, invitations to survivors, perpetrators, and community to create a new narrative for the world we want. They include a letter to the person and a list of [...]

I’ve written about Cris Beam’s books before. Her last book, I Am J , was a young adult novel featuring a young Puerto-Rican trans character. Cris’s new book is actually a release from a new publishing company that is putting its eggs all into the digital basket. The Atavist , has created a new publishing platform specifically for ipad [...]

Chloe talks about her year in rom com land over at Jezebel. A new collection of love poems by queer and trans poets called Glitter Tongue just launched. Over at the Nation, Katie remembers Dr. Stephen Levin , an activist and doctor. I’m interviewing lesbian fiction author Ellis Avery about her new book, The Last Nude , at Greenlight Books in [...]

Perhaps no surprise to anyone here that the two Senators also happen to be women. May I conjecture that being able to get pregnant makes you more sympathetic to the case for birth control access?

Sens. Olympia Snowe (ME) and Susan Collins (ME) — both of whom have sponsored legislation  requiring insurers to offer contraception benefits in [...]