Did You Miss These Popular Ms. Blog Posts of 2013?

This was an awesome year for the Ms. Blog, with more than 2.5 million page views from more than 230 countries. We even had two visits from Antarctica! As we prepare for another year of intriguing conversations on a world’s worth of feminist issues, we want to remind readers of some of the most widely read blog posts of 2013.

What Do Dress Codes Say About Girls Bodies

What we fail to consider when enforcing restrictions on skirt-length and the tightness of pants is the girls themselves—not just their clothes, but their thoughts, emotions, budding sexuality and self-image. Blogger Marinda Valenti suggests that dress restrictions in schools contribute to the very problem they aim to solve: the objectification of young girls.

10 Things That American Women Could Not Do Before the 1970s

You couldn’t get a credit card, refuse sex with your husband or report sexual harassment in the workplace—among other things.

What Rapists Say Echoes the Lyrics of “Blurred Lines”

The implication in the Robin Thicke hit is that a woman is hiding her true sexual desire under a facade of disinterest. Yeah, that’s what rapists say as well.

 Gender Flipping in Hollywood

Gender-flipping in films introduces the possibility that women can represent the entire human experience—what a concept!

Miley Cyrus’ “Sluttiness” Is The Least of Our Problems

What should be shocking about a recent Miley Cyrus performance is her appropriation of a culture she knows little about, and her use of black women as props.

Policing Feminism: Regulating the Bodies of Women of Color

There is an uncanny pattern here between the condemnation of Beyoncé’s booty (how she displays it and how she shakes it) and Muslim women’s hijabs (how, when and where they wear it).

How Some Men Harass Women Online and What Other Men Can Do to Stop It

Men’s online harassment of women too-often goes unquestioned, even defended.

Kids’ Toys: More Gendered Than Ever

“Boys’” toys tend to involve aggression, such as those that make punching or crashing sounds; “girls’” toys often revolve around beauty and domesticity.

Outing a Rapist

An estimated 350 women per 10,000-student college campus are victims of sexual assault each year. Here’s the story of what happened on one campus, where a rape survivor attached to a trashcan for sanitary products a sticker reading “USC Has A Rapist.”

 

 

Hats Off (Dresses On) to Our Kurdish Feminist Brothers

When an Iranian court forced a male convict to wear traditional Kurdish women’s clothes in public, perceiving it as a humiliating punishment, Kurdish men took the extraordinary initiative of dressing as Kurdish women and posting their photos on social media.

 

 

 

 

 

About

Shae Collins is the creator of A Womyn’s Worth, a social commentary blog that addresses interests of black women.