This originally appeared on Mamamia. Republished here with permission. Babies are not born racist, homophobic, or elitist. The world, both online and off, can be a very unkind and unpleasant place. Even as adults, we find ourselves ill-equipped to deal with both the awfulness and unnecessary callousness of it all. Unfortunately, if we’ve gotten this […]
The last thing most poor, single mothers need is more self-loathing. But the right continues to shame them, says Lynn Beisner. Calling single mothers trashy, sexually immoral, and lazy has become such a clichéd meme on the right, it’s hard to pick out just one of their denizen to criticize. What kills me when I […]
My mother wanted me and I was born. My very existence is an act of resistance. When I was young, maybe 6 or 7, I was riding in a car with my mother on a sunny day. Suddenly, my mind flashed to a schoolteacher’s recent explanation of abortion. I started to cry. “Mommy, thank you […]
Tyler Perry’s films propagate capitalism, greed, colorism, abuse, patriarchy, and the perpetuation of stereotypes. So why exactly was the director chosen to headline a women’s empowerment luncheon this weekend? Many words reverberate when I find the strength to watch a Tyler Perry film: violence, misogyny, HIV/AIDS, stigma, stereotypes, dependency, greed, classism, and others. The one […]
Online writing can be a scary place, especially for women. But there is a benefit to all the nasty comments. Emily Heist Moss explains. Dear Role/Reboot Commenting Community, This is a long, convoluted, overdue thank you note. Writing personal essays on the Internet is a funny business. I’m not a journalist; I don’t call sources, […]
On the second anniversary of Trayvon Martin’s death, Khadijah Costley White meditates on his final moments and wonders if he knew how much he was loved. I had managed to avoid listening to the 911 calls recording Trayvon Martin’s death until his mother’s testimony at his killer’s trial. I can still remember Sybrina Fulton sitting, […]
Just acknowledging your privilege is like giving yourself a pat on the back. You have to actively push back against it too. True statement: In some situations, I am at a structural disadvantage because I am female. True statement: Most of the time, I have a structural advantage because I am white, straight, cis-gendered, wealthy, […]
It’s hard to care about the fact that being poor makes people unfree when you’ve never been subjected to the trauma of poverty yourself. Mother Jones magazine ran a piece recently about how people who live in poor neighborhoods—certain parts of, say, Chicago, Philly, Detroit, and Atlanta—are as likely to get PTSD as veterans of […]
As society moves toward a greater acceptance of people’s differences, what is becoming more shameful than anything is small-mindedness. Last week, following college football player Michael Sam’s announcement that he was gay, a Dallas news anchor, Dale Hansen, slammed many in the NFL for their ridiculous, homophobic response. On surface appearance alone, Hansen, with his […]
It’s too hard to celebrate black history when I still feel like I’m living it. This is not a love song or a testimony or a memorial or a f***ing poem. Two weeks ago, an Oakland mother lost her second son in less than a month to gun violence. A month into the year and […]
The real crime in Jen Caron’s xoJane essay is calling out a woman for ruining yoga with her large black presence, when in fact, it’s Caron’s attitude that is ruining yoga for everyone else. I can’t decide whether to link you to Jen Caron’s xoJane essay exploring how guilty she feels about being white and […]
These “extra” measures are not designed to give women and people of color an advantage over white men. They’re designed to give them the exposure, access, and opportunity that white men already take for granted. After a much touted all-black, all-female audition cycle for Saturday Night Live, the seminal sketch comedy show announced this week […]
