Washington D.C.: Holly Kearl, author of Stop Street Harassment: Making Public Places Safe and Welcoming for Women and Mandy Van Deven, co-author of Hey, Shorty!: A Guide to Combating Sexual Harassment and Violence in Schools and on the Streets will be in D.C. for a discussion of their books, followed by a book signing. Monday, […]
Month: September 2011
For Saudi Women, Voting Win Masks Driving Crackdown
In a national TV address Sunday, Saudi King Abdullah declared an end to the de facto ban on women’s suffrage. Beginning in 2015, women will be able to vote and run in local elections. This seemingly good news, heralded by the AP as “a major advancement for the rights of women,” overshadowed disturbing developments that […]
Newsflash: King Abdullah Grants Saudi Women the Right to Vote–In 2015
On Sunday, 87-year-old King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia announced plans to allow women to vote, run for office in local elections and serve on the Shura Council, the 150-member king’s advisory board. However, the changes won’t take place until 2015, and some skeptics think the king will rescind the order by then. Regardless, the move […]
A Zero-Cost Way to Reduce Unintended Pregnancy
Today is World Contraception Day and many are writing about the challenges to birth control access, which are numerous, complex and vary from nation to nation. But researchers have recently identified a simple change that could make a significant difference in preventing unintended pregnancy here in the U.S. Most U.S. health insurance plans limit the […]
Can I Use the Pill By Itself?
As someone who grew up with Ms., I’m incredibly humbled and delighted to be coming in as their first online sexuality advice columnist. I’ve been providing sexuality education and advice from an inclusive, feminist perspective since the ’90s, primarily working with young people in their teens and 20s. But in a media climate in which […]
If Men Could Menstruate …
The Museum of Modern Art’s (MoMA) current exhibit, Talk to Me: Design and the Communication between People and Objects, in New York, concerns itself with the communication between people and things, featuring objects that have a “direct interaction” with their users. One object with a very direct interaction should be particularly intriguing to feminists: the […]
Wasp Waists and Anorexia
The cover of Vogue Italy’s September issue–timed to appear during the Sept. 21-28 Italian fashion week–featured Stella Tennant, the striking 40-year-old super model and mother of three. She’s wearing a posh dress and a nose ring. But it’s not her clothing or her accessories or her arresting expression that stand out. It’s her absurdly tiny […]
Backward and in High Heels: Sandra Day O’Connor
Chief Justice Warren Burger, one hand on Sandra Day O’Connor’s arm as they descended the steps of the Supreme Court just before her 2 p.m. swearing-in ceremony on September 25, 1981, shouted to reporters, “You’ve never seen me with a better looking justice.” Society pages cheerily noted that she and Byron White were the first […]
Troy Davis and a New Fight Against The Death Penalty: Editors’ Picks, 9/18-9/24
Like countless people across the globe, this week we were glued to coverage of the impending execution of Troy Davis. In 1991, Davis was convicted of, and sentenced to death for, the 1989 murder of Mark MacPhail, an off-duty police officer in Savannah, Georgia. There was no physical evidence against Davis, and the prosecution’s case […]
The New Charlie’s Angels: Being Bad Doesn’t Make You Badass
In the original TV version of Charlie’s Angels, the three “Angels” were graduates of the police academy who were working in police jobs that failed to make the most of their superior skills. When Drew Barrymore revived the concept with a pair of movies, she emphasized the superior skills part, making two of the Angels […]