From the Stacks: Only Virgins Need Apply
October 6, 2010 by Stephanie Hallett · 5 Comments
This charming little notice from UC San Diego appeared in the June 1974 No Comment section of Ms. It’s outrageous to think that just 36 years ago non-virgins were banned from becoming homecoming queen. But have we really come that far? Just last month a Michigan trans boy was stripped of his homecoming king crown. [...]
Breaking News: Lindsay Lohan Benefits from White Privilege!
September 10, 2010 by Courtney Young · 5 Comments
Last week, actress Regina King expressed chagrin in The Huffington Post at the lack of diversity at the 2010 Emmys. Earlier this year, Vanity Fair’s now-infamous all-white “young Hollywood” cover evinced that women of color are still completely marginalized in film. I thought about these events when I read yesterday that a bidding war of [...]
The Danger of False Divides
August 30, 2010 by Janell Hobson · 3 Comments
A review of Who Should Be First?: Feminists Speak Out on the 2008 Presidential Campaign. Edited by Beverly Guy-Sheftall and Johnnetta Betsch Cole, SUNY Press. The 2008 Presidential campaign not only tested our nation’s readiness for change, it catapulted feminists into a firestorm of competing priorities. Much was at stake for racial- and gender-identity politics [...]
Feminist Film Analysis 101: A Case Study of “Despicable Me”
August 23, 2010 by Natalie Wilson · 2 Comments
Given the ire my reviews of Toy Story 3 and Iron Man 2 generated (especially in their traversal of the non-feminist blogosphere) was largely due to their feminist slant, I feel a little bit of “gendered film analysis” or “feminist media theory 101” is called for. Many of the angry comments my film reviews received were [...]
A Labor Market Punishing to (M)others
August 4, 2010 by Nanette Fondas · 3 Comments
Today, New York Times writer David Leonhardt laudably asks why the labor market is so punishing to mothers. He notes an obvious pattern—that top posts in both the private and public sectors usually go to single or childless women. Then he makes a bizarre turn and blames U.S. feminists, for supposedly focusing on policies to [...]
Jihad Jane Upsets Notions of “White” and “Woman”
March 11, 2010 by Renee Martin · 4 Comments
Long before 9/11, Americans had a firm understanding of what terrorists looked like. They’re assumed to be of Middle Eastern descent and, predominantly, men. With these characteristics in mind, racial and gender profiling have been implemented to make the country safer (supposedly): Brown male bodies signify danger. The federal indictment of Colleen R. LaRose, a.k.a. [...]
Mo’Nique, Bigelow + Oscar: Mixed Feelings
March 8, 2010 by Courtney Young · 12 Comments
This season’s Academy Awards race, ending with last night’s historic ceremony, was without a doubt the ripest, richest Oscar period in recent memory for popular culture critics to sink their teeth into. A myriad of complex issues relating to gender, race, class and representation were thrust into the public space. Three of the ten Best [...]
