Today marks the 19th annual National Day of Protest To Stop Police Brutality, Repression and the Criminalization of a Generation. It also marks the 74th day since Michael Brown was killed by Ferguson Police Department officer Darren Wilson. It has been 74 days since Leslie McSpadden hugged her son. When unarmed Brown was shot down […]
Month: October 2014
Why Did Hulu Reject This Rape Survivor’s Political Ad?
Amanda was enjoying her daily run when she was attacked and raped. Afterwards, she went to the hospital where she was immediately offered emergency contraception. In the video below, she shares her story in an ad paid for by the No On 67 campaign, and explains that she opposes Colorado’s personhood ballot measure—Amendment 67—because it would ban the […]
Your Vote Matters: Personhood on the Ballot in North Dakota
This November, North Dakota voters will decide whether or not to add a personhood amendment to their state’s constitution. Measure 1 on North Dakota’s ballot would amend the constitution to state, The inalienable right to life of every human being at any stage of development must be recognized and protected. The stakes are incredibly high for North […]
Forgotten Women of Film History: Marion Wong
The second installment of our “Forgotten Women of Film History” series shines the spotlight on the earliest known Chinese American film director, Marion Wong. While there are conflicting reports about the exact dates of her birth and death, it is believed that Wong was born in 1895 in the San Francisco Bay Area and lived there until […]
How Yoga Can Heal a “Fractured Body Image”
During every yoga class, my teacher said it: “If you can breathe, you can do yoga.” Given that this is true, why do so many American yoga practitioners look the same? Why has “doing yoga” and “wearing yoga pants” become ready joke fodder about slender, young, sorta-clueless, upper-middle-class white women? Yoga has become a modern […]
Why Schools—Not Law Enforcement—Should Investigate Campus Rapes
There’s one question about campus rape that comes up again and again: Why isn’t the crime handled exclusively by law enforcement? In a perfect world, the legal system would effectively arbitrate this crime, but given law enforcement’s dismal record on sex crimes, schools have no choice but to adjudicate campus rapes in order to comply […]
The Woman Who Could Replace Toronto Mayor Rob Ford
By now, the mayor of my beloved hometown, Toronto, needs no introduction: His name is Rob Ford. He’s the guy who gets belligerent at sporting events, sometimes speaks with a faux Jamaican accent, coached a kids’ football team (but can’t catch a football) and, oh yeah, occasionally smokes crack while “in a drunken stupor.” Ring […]
To Lena Dunham, the Personal is Political
It’s easier to explain Lena Dunham’s new book, Not That Kind of Girl, by explaining what it’s not: It’s not a self-help book, nor an attempt to quell Dunham’s critics. It’s not drowning in narcissism, nor the author’s affinity for nudity. Rather, the reader is introduced to Lena: a self-aware, unashamed and extremely funny woman. […]
Your Vote Matters: Say No to “Personhood” in Colorado!
This election, Colorado voters will decide whether or not to add a proposed personhood amendment to their state constitution. If the amendment passes, women will face the prospect of the toughest restrictions on their reproductive rights anywhere in the country (North Dakota voters are faced with a similar proposed amendment on their ballots). Although personhood […]
Tennessee Could Be the Next Abortion Battleground
This Nov. 4 will be critical in the battle over abortion rights that’s been brewing in Tennessee. In these midterm elections, Tennesseans will be casting their vote on a ballot measure that can decide the future of reproductive rights in the state. The ballot measure, called Amendment 1, will change the state’s constitution to read: […]