Posts Tagged Deep Thoughts

I can’t decide if I care about fashion

Two undeniably fashionable beings, looking fierce and frankly, divine. via Instaboner, via Le Coil.

Our very own Courtney Martin has famously described her feminist “click” moment, the moment she knew she was a feminist, as the day she saw Amy Richards and Jennifer Baumgardner give a talk on their new book Manifesta: Young Women, Feminism, and the Future. Courtney writes, “Amy was plucky and compact, smart without an ounce of pretension, a no-nonsense beauty. Jennifer was her opposite — long and sinewy, bright blond, and yes, wearing fishnet stockings.”

Courtney’s taken some flack for this comment, perhaps most notably from Susan Faludi’s much-discussed piece on “Feminism’s Ritual Matricide” in which Faludi criticizes Martin ...

Two undeniably fashionable beings, looking fierce and frankly, divine. via Instaboner, via Le Coil.

Our very own Courtney Martin has famously described her feminist “click” moment, the moment she ...

The Struggle for Transgender and Genderqueer Legitimacy

As someone who identifies as genderqueer, I find I struggle most for legitimacy. Not just within society, but within myself. I analyze the way I feel to a large degree, and it still all seems so bizarre sometimes. The last big hurdle we face towards achieving full equality may well be that of gender identity. Those who subvert gender, be it in the form of male or female, are still often consigned to the freak show, though I would argue that biological men who show elements of femininity are shown in the first act. We can handle masculine women much easier than feminine men.

Though I know I am not alone in the way that I ...

As someone who identifies as genderqueer, I find I struggle most for legitimacy. Not just within society, but within myself. I analyze the way I feel to a large degree, and it still all seems ...

Happy birthday to my “feminist spotter in action”

When I was little, my father used to do my hair for ballet class. Every Saturday morning, Mom would get up and go to ballet, and when the adult class ended it would be time for the kids’ classes to start. So while Mom was dancing, Dad would get me and my sister into our leotards and tights, and then he would do our hair and drive us to the dance studio. To this day, he can do a better ballet bun than I can.

Now I’m 22, and for the last five years I’ve lived very far from home. My parents live in Australia and I live in New York, so I get to see Dad once or twice a ...

When I was little, my father used to do my hair for ballet class. Every Saturday morning, Mom would get up and go to ballet, and when the adult class ended it would be time for the ...

this_is_what_a_feminist_looks_like_tshirt-p2358708545751746214xmd_400

Fear Factor: Mansplaining edition

So, I’m dating a feminist. It’s a relatively new experience for me; I’ve dated guys who were “not feminists, but” and guys who called themselves feminists but who, when push came to shove, had pretty traditional beliefs about gender. This is the first time I’ve dated a feminist who rightly calls himself one, and who actually thinks – worries, even – about how to be a better feminist. His greatest worry? Mansplaining.

He loves to talk and debate and think aloud about how issues and ideas are interconnected. But he is really afraid that one of these days, as he is talking or debating or thinking aloud, he is going to accidentally mansplain and be called out on it and ...

So, I’m dating a feminist. It’s a relatively new experience for me; I’ve dated guys who were “not feminists, but” and guys who called themselves feminists but who, when push came to shove, had pretty traditional beliefs ...

Shirt that reads 'You can head South, but your mom is riding West"

Lebron, Family Honor, and Yo Momma


Over the past few weeks, I’ve been following the Lebron James story with great interest. For those who don’t follow sports (or live under a rock), Lebron recently announced that he would be leaving the Cleveland Cavaliers to play for the Miami Heat, after much hype, speculation, conspiracy theories, and an hour-long ESPN special. That’s all fine and good. I’m not foolish enough to try to opine on such a still touchy subject in a public forum.
What I WILL talk about is the fact that for months, the critical backlash against Lebron has involved blatant, disrespectful, and anti-feminist slut-shaming of his mother based on rumors that she slept with Delonte West, another player on the ...


Over the past few weeks, I’ve been following the Lebron James story with great interest. For those who don’t follow sports (or live under a rock), Lebron recently announced that he would be leaving ...

Twilight, tweens, and abstinence

So you might have noticed the latest installment in the Twilight film series came out a couple weeks ago.
A lot has been written about the anti-feminist messages of the Twilight books and films. Stephanie Meyer wrote a very thinly disguised book about Mormon dating from a fundamentalist pro-abstinence perspective. Her books normalize gendered violence, present their young female protagonist as unable to think, defend herself, or even be a whole person without a man, and hammer home an abstinence message. And don’t even get me started on the anti-abortion, pro-sexual violence, pro-pedophilia mess that is Breaking Dawn.
These messages are being targeted at tween girls, Twilight’s intended audience (obviously its popularity has grown beyond this ...

So you might have noticed the latest installment in the Twilight film series came out a couple weeks ago.
A lot has been written about the anti-feminist messages of the Twilight books and films. ...

If I had a hammer… It wouldn’t be pink

I just moved house, which has been something of an adventure. There has been a lot heavy lifting. There has been a lot of arranging and re-arranging of furniture. There has been much yelling of fake Swedish curse words (Splürg! Snafflebörgen!) because IKEA instructions are so damn hard to follow. And there has been much hardware. When you’re moving into a new house, you need tools to do stuff like fixing furniture and hanging pictures and so on. So, I went out to buy tools. Specifically, I went to buy a hammer and nails so that I could hang this amazing poster on my bedroom wall.

Unsurprisingly, I’m not the only lady who’s ever needed to buy a hammer. I ...

I just moved house, which has been something of an adventure. There has been a lot heavy lifting. There has been a lot of arranging and re-arranging of furniture. There has been much yelling of fake Swedish ...

Fucking – er, dating – while feminist

Last week, The Sexist posted an interview with the Jaclyn Friedman, who’s a writer, Executive Director of WAM!: Women, Action and the Media and all-around smart person. The post, called “Fucking While Feminist,” was about the challenges of finding feminist or feminist-ish cisgender men to date, and about how she makes relationships work with the ones she does find. Reading Friedman’s reflections on trying to have a love life and a sex life while making feminism your full-time gig made me think about the way that feminism has influenced my own romantic relationships (though because both my parents and grandmother are reading this, it’s probably wise for me to refer to those relationships as “dating while feminist,” so ...

Last week, The Sexist posted an interview with the Jaclyn Friedman, who’s a writer, Executive Director of WAM!: Women, Action and the Media and all-around smart person. The post, called “Fucking While Feminist,” was about ...

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