Senegal’s Feminist Hip-Hop Star

Senegalese rapper Fatou Mandiang Diatta defied her country’s traditional expectations for women in order to succeed in Senegal’s male-dominated hip-hop scene. A new documentary shows how, using her music as a medium, “Sister Fa” campaigns against female genital mutilation, which she herself endured as a child.

How Can We Interrupt Violence?

Ameena Matthews is used to being the only woman in a group of men. She even broke into the  male-dominated world of organized crime to become the only woman lieutenant of a notorious Chicago gang. And in the opening scenes of the award-winning documentary The Interrupters, we see Matthews sitting in a large conference room, […]

No Comment: Zazzle’s Pro-Anorexia Kids’ Tees

Last week, the online retailer Zazzle–which “empowers” customers to create custom T-shirts, cards and other paraphernalia–ended sales of a kids’ T-shirt and onesie that featured a pro-eating-disorder message in a scribbled font. The decision came only after the U.K. Advertising Standards Authority banned ads of the shirts for encouraging “an unsafe practice that may result […]

Hate Crimes Against Transgender Women Raise Questions

In April, the brutal attack of 22-year-old Chrissy Lee Polis at a McDonald’s outside Baltimore, Md. put the issue of violence against transgender women into the national spotlight. Polis was dragged by her hair and then beaten by two teenage girls when she tried to use the women’s restroom. (One of her assailants pled guilty […]