Ms. Blogger
Audrey Bilger
Audrey Bilger is an associate professor of literature at Claremont McKenna College and Faculty Director of the Center for Writing and Public Discourse. She also teaches gender studies, and occasionally yoga. Her latest book, which she coedited with Michele Kort, is Here Come the Brides! Reflections on Lesbian Love and Marriage (Seal Press, 2012). She is also the author of Laughing Feminism, editor of an edtion of Jane Collier’s 1753 satire An Essay on the Art of Ingeniously Tormenting, and a frequent contributor to Bitch magazine. Her work has been featured in The Paris Review, Rockrgrl, the Huffington Post and the Women's Media Center.
Website: http://www.claremontmckenna.edu/academic/faculty/profile.asp?Fac=5
Twitter: AudreyBilger
Audrey Bilger's Posts
Obama Administration Says Marriage is Between a Woman and a Woman
July 6, 2011 by Audrey Bilger · 1 Comment
Karen Golinski has a wife. She and Amy Cunninghis have been legally married in the state of California since August of 2008. And now, even the Obama Administration’s Department of Justice (DOJ) has officially recognized the validity of that marriage, emphatically stating that it is unconstitutional for the federal government to deny same-sex couples the [...]
Filed under Justice, Law · Tagged with Amy Cunninghis, Barack Obama, Defense of Marriage Act, DOMA, Gay Marriage, Karen Golinski, Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, Marriage Equality, Obama administration, Petition, President Obama, Same-Sex Marriage, Tara Borelli, US Department of Justice
FEMINIST HULK MEET MS. MAGAZINE: THE SEQUEL
June 20, 2011 by Audrey Bilger · 11 Comments
When we last checked in with our big green superhero friend, Feminist Hulk, in his first-ever interview last June (one of the most viewed posts on the Ms. Blog 0f 2010), he was just learning to flex his muscles in the Twittersphere. But his feminist superpowers were mighty and growing stronger ever day. Now, with [...]
Filed under Internet + Tech, Media · Tagged with Amanda Palmer, Donald Trump, Feminism, Feminist Hulk, gender binary, Gender Norms, Gov. Scott Walker, Intersectionality, Judith Butler, Julian Assange, Neil Gaiman, Patriarchy, Sarah Palin, Tea Party, The Daily Show, Twitter
Judge Rejects Bigotry of Prop 8 Proponents
June 14, 2011 by Audrey Bilger · Leave a Comment
The proponents of Proposition 8, the California ballot measure that stripped same-sex couples of their right to marry, aren’t above fighting dirty. In their campaign materials, they whipped up fear about protecting children and defending families, irresponsibly painting lesbians and gays as molesters and degenerates. When they had their day in court and an opportunity [...]
Filed under Justice, Law · Tagged with Gay Rights, Judge James Ware, Judge Vaughn Walker, Marriage Equality, Prop. 8, Proposition 8, Same-Sex Marriage
We Heart: “Nerdy Misanthrope” Using His Art to Aid Cheerleader
June 11, 2011 by Audrey Bilger · 4 Comments
If you’ve been following the case of Texas cheerleader Hillaire S., who was assaulted at a party by star athlete Rakheem Bolton and then kicked off the cheerleading squad for refusing to chant, “two, four, six, eight, ten, come on Rakheem, put it in” (see the Ms. Blog coverage of the case here, here, here, and [...]
Filed under Fine Art, We Heart + We Spleen · Tagged with cheerleader rape, Christian Rountree, Help the Cheerleader, Hillaire S., Jason Ho, Rakheem Bolton, Silsbee High School
We Know Women Rock–Tell Us Something New
May 12, 2011 by Audrey Bilger · 15 Comments
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum has a reputation for being a boys club. Since 1986, when its first annual list of inductees consisted of men only, women have been snubbed three additional times (1992, 2003, 2004). But now that the Cleveland museum has a new exhibit, “Women Who Rock: Vision, Passion, [...]
Filed under Arts, Music · Tagged with Carla DeSantis Black, Gillian Gaar, Go-Go's, Jack White, Monie Love, Queen Latifah, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Rock Music, Rockrgrl, Rolling Stone, Sexism, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Spice Girls, The Breeders, The Spice Girls, Tina Weymouth, Wanda Jackson, Women Who Rock
Rereading Women’s Lit with “Madwoman” Sandra Gilbert
May 9, 2011 by Audrey Bilger · Leave a Comment
“Is the pen a metaphorical penis? Literary paternity implies ownership!” When I pulled my well-worn copy of Sandra Gilbert and Susan Gubar’s 1979 classic The Madwoman in the Attic off the shelf the other day, I found these words scrawled across a Post-it, tucked inside its pages. Not in my handwriting (most likely written by [...]
Filed under Arts, Books · Tagged with American literature, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Emily Dickinson, English literature, Feminist criticism, George Eliot, Jane Austen, Jane Eyre, Lilith, Literary canon, Literary criticism, Madwoman in the Attic, Sandra Gilbert, Snow White, Susan Gubar, Sylvia Plath, Women's Studies
Betty White Isn’t a Feminist, But…
May 2, 2011 by Audrey Bilger · 1 Comment
At 89, Betty White is going strong. She’s been “working steadily for the past 63 years,” and she continues to take on new challenges. At a time of life known as the twilight years–when people are supposed to relax and step away from the fray–she’s garnered a blurb for her new book from Twilight star Robert [...]
Filed under Media, TV · Tagged with Ageism, Betty White, Feminism, Hot in Cleveland, Robert Pattinson, Saturday Night Live, Television, The Golden Girls
F is for Funny, Feminist, Fey
April 6, 2011 by Audrey Bilger · 2 Comments
Tina Fey isn’t afraid to throw around a few F-words in her new memoir, Bossypants. She stands up for funny women, and says to those who don’t like–or believe in the existence of–women comedians, “We don’t fucking care if you like it.” Throughout, she makes clear that she views herself as a feminist and offers [...]
Filed under Arts, Performance · Tagged with Amy Poehler, Bossypants, Comedy, Feminism, feminist comedy, Hillary Clinton, Humor, Kotex, memoir, Paula Pell, Sarah Palin, Saturday Night Live, Second City, Seth Meyers, Tina Fey, women and comedy
Prop 8 Still in Effect: What’s the Harm?
March 24, 2011 by Audrey Bilger · 1 Comment
Yesterday, more than seven months after same-sex marriage ban Proposition 8 was ruled unconstitutional, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals decided to prolong the wait for California gay couples who want to exercise their constitutional right to marry. After a federal judge overturned Prop 8 in August, the 9th Circuit stopped lesbian and gay couples [...]
Filed under Justice, Law · Tagged with Audrey Bilger, Courage Campaign, Derence Kernek, Ed Watson, Gay Rights, Lesbian, Marriage Equality, Petition, Proposition 8, Same-Sex Marriage
Loving the L Life
March 4, 2011 by Audrey Bilger · Leave a Comment
You know you’ve arrived and are here to stay when you get your own coffee table book–and Erin McHugh’s photo-album tribute to out-proud gay women, The L Life: Extraordinary Lesbians Making a Difference, begs to be put on display. On the cover, Jane Lynch, identified within as the “lesbian ‘it’ girl,” gazes confidently at the viewer, [...]
Filed under Arts, Books · Tagged with Alison Bechdel, Audrey Bilger, Christine Quinn, Christine Vachon, Gay, Hillary Rosen, Jane Lynch, Jennifer May, Jesse Helms, Kate Clinton, L Life, Lesbian, Lesbians, Lisa Sherman, Lupe Valdez, Marjorie Hill, Roberta Achtenberg, Tenaja Jordan




