The decision to feature Beyoncé Knowles-Carter on the cover of the latest issue of Ms. magazine ignited controversy among its feminist readership, and as the author of that cover story I’m not all that surprised. Indeed, my article is precisely about the “debates” over such a high-profile celebrity and sex symbol identifying as a feminist. [...]
Dear teens: Don’t have sex—or else. This is the doom-tinged “advice” implied by a teen pregnancy prevention campaign put out by The Candie’s Foundation. In conjunction with National Teen Pregnancy Prevention Month, the foundation recently released a series of celebrity-endorsed PSAs for its #NoTeenPreg campaign, the shaming attitude of which is captured in its latest tagline: [...]
Megan Perryman’s 5-year-old daughter was browsing toys in a store. She picked up a toy recorder and her expression quickly changed as if she had done something wrong. “Oh no,” she said. “I’ve got the boys’ one!” In her own childhood, Perryman didn’t feel limited to only playing with “girls’” toys. She says boys and [...]
“You’re not going out dressed like that!” “What mother would let her child wear such a short skirt?” Think about it: How often do we police girls’ bodies? Recent talk of school dress codes reveals that it happens an awful lot, and for some confused reasons. After a New Jersey middle school banned strapless dresses from a [...]
This one’s a real shocker: As more teens use hormonal birth control and condoms, fewer have babies. A report just released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows teen birth rates dropped 25 percent in five years to a record-breaking low in 2011. The CDC has also reported that teens are waiting longer to have [...]
What does Susie, a long-haired dachshund who was discovered to have an intersex trait, have to do with feminism? I’d argue quite a bit. Susie’s experience is a harsh reminder that our society still holds simplistic ideas about bodies. Less than a week ago, the world was introduced to Susie, the dog who was allegedly [...]
Dear Gun Lovers: We hear you: Guns are beloved custom and culture. They are rites of passage, in which 5-year-olds are given shotguns, along with bicycles with training wheels or tea sets, to bring them into adult culture through play. They are the means through which fathers (and likely mothers) inculcate their children into the [...]
I’m walking down the street, on the way to school or to a friend’s house. I could be wearing sweatpants or a short skirt; it doesn’t matter. Inevitably the words are flung at me by someone I’ve never seen before, men alone or laughing with their buddies: “Hey baby, smile for me!” “Mmm, sexy. Nice [...]
Wendy Garcia is visiting her friend, Alexis, in her home. At 14, Alexis Lopez looks more like a sister than a mother to her one-and-a-half year old daughter, who she bathes, changes and plays with. “I got pregnant at age 12,” Lopez tells Garcia. “At first, I didn’t know what to do.” As a reporter for [...]
With all the headlines about new abortion laws in various states and Supreme Court’s deliberations on same-sex marriage, there’s no escaping the politics of sex and sexuality these days—or the role of religion in shaping the culture’s conversation about such subjects. While we aren’t likely to come to consensus on these issues anytime soon, we [...]
