Not long after Bic launched its new line of “Bic for Her” ballpoint pens—boasting an “elegant design” that “features a thin barrel to fit a women’s hand”—women and men alike hopped on Amazon.com to bombard the product page with hilarious and brilliantly snarky reviews. One woman writes, “Someone has answered my gentle prayers and FINALLY [...]
During this past week of presidential politics, the contrast in depictions of black women in the public sphere couldn’t have been more striking. On one end was the dignified, eloquent First Lady Michelle Obama, universally praised for her speech at the Democratic National Convention. On the opposite end was rapper Nicki Minaj seemingly “betraying” her [...]
Yahoo’s new CEO Marissa Mayer told PBS’ Makers series that she doesn’t consider herself a feminist. Of course, what she probably fails to recognize is that we would not be referring to her as “Yahoo’s new CEO” right now if it weren’t for feminism. In the interview, Mayer says that she believes that “women are just as capable,” and [...]
At LGBT Pride parades around the country, the queer community always puts on a show. Rainbows, glitter, big hair, fabulous costumes, leather, dykes on bikes and partial nudity—pretty much anything goes, as participants let their freak flags fly. But the most beloved contingent of Pride marchers is seldom flamboyant. In fact, they often stand out [...]
This is Part 3 in my roundtable discussion with trans-feminist bloggers for The Femisphere. Please check out Parts 1 and 2. The bloggers: Emily Manuel from Global Comment, Monica Maldonado from TransActivisty, Stephen Ira from Supermattachine, and Avory Faucette from Radically Queer and Queer Feminism. Ms. Blog: I have a final question that hopefully builds [...]
This is Part 2 of my roundtable discussion with trans-feminist bloggers for The Femisphere, a series on the many diverse corners of the feminist blogosphere. You can find Part 1 here. The bloggers: Emily Manuel from Global Comment, Monica Maldonado from TransActivisty, Stephen Ira from Supermattachine and Avory Faucette from Radically Queer and Queer Feminism. [...]
The relationship between the trans community and the feminist one has been riddled with frustration, anger and accusations of exclusivity. Despite myriad challenges, however, there are those who feel that trans issues and feminist issues can co-exist and even that they naturally intersect. I recently conducted a roundtable with four trans feminist bloggers on this [...]
We called ourselves the Dead Mothers Support Group or DMSG for short. If there was a touch of the macabre in the name, that was okay with us. Losing our moms as kids had been devastating. Why sugarcoat it? We were Harvard grad students who came together inside a dingy lecture hall to swap stories [...]
I’m the editor of the two-year-old Lavender Review, an e-zine of lesbian poetry and art currently fundraising for its next two issues at Kickstarter. Contributors to the first four issues included Eileen Myles, Sarah Schulman, Eleanor Lerman, Ali Liebegott, Judy Grahn, Olga Broumas, Suzanne Gardinier, Minnie Bruce Pratt, Marilyn Hacker, Emily Roysdon, Carrie Moyer, Sarah Lucas, Stefanie [...]
Aviva Dove-Viebahn’s recent Ms. blog post, “Transfeminism and Its Conundrums,” framed trans feminism* as a controversial and debatable submovement within feminism. I strongly disagree, as did a number of commenters, and here’s why: Trans feminism—that is, transgender perspectives on feminism, or feminist perspectives on transgender issues—is one of many so-called “third-wave” feminisms. Its origins are closely linked [...]
