Early in 2015, Chilean President Michelle Bachelet announced a goal for her presidency: to end the country’s total ban on abortion. Currently, women in Chile can face up to five years in prison for undergoing the procedure—with no exceptions for rape, incest or the life of the mother—unless the abortion is “accidental.” Given the legal climate, […]
Month: June 2015
McKinney and the History of Policing Black Women’s Bodies
Last Friday, a white police officer in McKinney, Texas, Cpl. Eric Casebolt, responded to a call about an incident at a teenage pool party. While there, he grabbed—by the hair—bikini-clad Dajerria Becton, a 15-year old African American girl who was a guest at the party, wrestled her to the ground and held her there with […]
We Heart: Barnard College’s Decision to Admit Transgender Women
Since its founding in 1889, Barnard College has been a women’s college devoted to furthering women’s interests and empowerment. On June 4, the college announced that it would soon be expanding its mission to include a more diverse representation of women. The fall of 2016 will mark the first year that Barnard College will admit […]
The World’s Best Restaurants Are Missing a Crucial Ingredient
On June 1, all eyes in the foodie community looked to London, where chefs and restauranteurs gathered for the World’s 50 Best Restaurants awards. Given annually (and sponsored by S. Pellegrino and Acqua Panna,) the awards are supposed to represent the “greatest places to eat in the world” and are decided by a panel of […]
NEWSFLASH: Texas May Soon Have Just 7 Abortion Clinics
It looks like Texas women won’t be getting an 11th-hour reprieve after all. In a devastating blow, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has decided to uphold some of the most draconian restrictions of HB2, also known as the “clinic shutdown law.” The bill puts all but seven abortion clinics at risk for closure in […]
We Heart: Fun Home Sweeps the Tonys!
In a short comic for Vulture titled Fun Home Coda, cartoonist Alison Bechdel reflected on the process of watching her life turned into a dramatic stage performance after her best-selling graphic memoir, Fun Home, was taken on by writer Lisa Kron and composer Jeanine Tesori for adaptation into a broadway musical. On the experience of hearing the […]
“Yes Means Yes” Could Expand to California’s High Schools
Recent years have seen a lot of national attention paid to the campus rape epidemic—something young women have had to contend with for decades. Activists like Emma Sulkowicz, Andrea Pino and Wagatwe Wanjuki have effectively mobilized at their universities to raise awareness of the administrative shortcomings that allow rape culture on campuses to flourish. Even […]
We Spleen: Women as “Tomatoes” in Country Music
Last week in an interview for Country Aircheck Weekly, radio consultant Keith Hill, described as “the world’s leading authority on music scheduling,” offered up this spleen-worthy tidbit about the role of women in country music radio: If you want to make ratings in country radio, take females out. The reason is … women like male […]
Proof That Women Do—And Should!—Win Literary Awards
Last week, British novelist Nicola Griffith momentarily broke the internet when she blogged about a startling discovery: Through her own independent research, she found that books about women characters, written by women novelists, for the most part do not win awards. While Griffith is the first to admit that she’s “a novelist, not a statistician,” her […]
Griswold and Me: A Love Story
Reprinted with permission from the American Constitution Society blog. Read the original here. On Sunday, I’m getting married. As I prepare for this milestone and draft my vows, I’m thinking about our life together and the family we might someday create. About the promises we’ll make to support each other through life’s twists and turns. And […]