In “The Mysteries Of Laura,” Messing plays a busy, unkempt, soon-to-be-divorced mom who kicks ass at her job and shoulders the majority of childcare duties. Last year I lamented the sea of “hot mess” adorkable women I saw on television, and longed for the day that strong female characters like the ones I lived and worked […]
Religion is kind of like fire. In responsible hands, it provides us with heat and light. But in the wrong hands, it causes destruction for destruction’s sake. During my three years working in development for an evangelical Christian school, I learned an important new vocabulary word: worldview. Had I first encountered the term outside of […]
Does the media see Mary Spears as “just another black woman”? Why isn’t there more outrage and investigation into her murder? Mary “Unique” Spears wasn’t killed because she ignored the advances of a man she didn’t know. Mary Spears was killed because she lived in a culture that turns dejected and confused men into wanton […]
Trans people have complex identities that go beyond gender, sex, and sexualities, and the “real men, real women” myth doesn’t allow for that discussion. I recently stumbled across a few interesting pictures that illustrated the characteristics of “real men” and “real women.” Included in these characteristics was a particular “look.” Initially, I didn’t understand what […]
You can be a married, work-from-home mother of two and still be a feminist. So why does it feel like I’m constantly being judged for my life choices? Almost a year ago, I wrote a very personal piece here about my struggle with being “just a Mommy.” I got a ton of positive feedback from […]
Seven-year-old Aiyana Jones was killed in 2010 by Detroit police. Yesterday, a judge decided that her killer would walk free. Yesterday, a judge moved to ensure that Aiyana Jones’ killer would never serve time for taking her life and dismissed the charge of involuntary manslaughter. Apparently, shooting a 7-year-old sleeping on her couch is not […]
Violence is not something we can escape simply by creating more gender-equal societies. From Germaine Greer to the Guerrilla Girls to Lena Dunham, feminism has long attracted women who like to shock. No surprise then that Camille Paglia—the academic who last week exploded the feminist blogosphere with a TIME article arguing that rape culture was […]
Maroon 5’s latest music video is yet another media representation of how our culture normalizes violence against women. Adam Levine—the Maroon 5 front man who garnered headlines in May 2012 for his declaration that he was “promiscuous” because he “loved women so much”—has come under fire for his latest work of misogyny, the music video for […]
