The capital of my home state of Montana is making national headlines for a totally wild concept: comprehensive and age-appropriate sex education starting in kindergarten. The Helena school board was inundated with protests from concerned parents at their curriculum meeting in early July. According to the AP, the controversial parts of Helena’s program include teaching […]
Author: Kate Whittle
Budding journalist hailing from Montana. l like long walks on the beach, candlelit dinners, and arguing about women and gender issues.
Wonder Woman Celebrates 600 Issues By Putting On Pants
DC Comics character and feminist icon Wonder Woman–who graced the first stand-alone issue of Ms.–has been revamped for the first time in 69 years. She’s traded in her all-American leotard for more practical attire: badass jacket, red bustier, black leggings and motorcycle boots. This is exciting, and not just because it will now be much […]
We Heart: Chicago’s Blackhawks and Cubs
Alongside the usual pride organizations and rainbow flags at Chicago’s LGBT Pride parade on Sunday, you’ll find a float sponsored by the Chicago Cubs baseball team, and you’ll see hockey’s Stanley Cup itself, carried by a member of the National Hockey League champion Chicago Blackhawks. Ms. couldn’t be more pleased with the men involved in […]
Dear Jewel: A Whole Cake? Really?
Hey Jewel, how’s it going? I haven’t heard from you in a while, and suddenly, you’re on the July cover of Shape magazine, making some eyebrow-raising statements. Let’s run you through the Feminist Litmus Test. I can’t criticize your career. You grew up dirt-poor in Alaska, learned how to sing, spent some time living homeless […]
We Heart: The Conniving and Sinister Comic Strip
It’s tough to find feminist discourse in the cartoon world. But one blogger is injecting smart politics into humor, one Photoshop-drawn comic strip at a time. Conniving and Sinister is “The true-life adventures of feminist Liss and her homo friend Deeky,” according to the site. Cartoonist and Shakesville blogger Melissa McEwan has been neatly skewering […]
Happy 10th Birthday, Women’s eNews!
The year 2000 seems so distant now. Facebook didn’t exist. Cell phones weren’t yet “smart.” IPods hadn’t been released. We didn’t know what would happen to Harry Potter. And people had just started talking about these “web log” things. Amidst that primordial Internet soup, Women’s eNews was born. Rita Henley Jensen, a prize-winning journalist, launched […]
Feminist Litmus Test: Elton John Plays Rush Limbaugh’s Wedding
UPDATED: When we heard that Elton John played at Rush Limbaugh’s recent fourth wedding, it took us a few minutes to get our jaws back up. If you’ve forgotten how charmingly hateful Limbaugh can be, GLAAD has a rundown of derogatory statements Limbaugh made about Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) and Rachel Maddow. John gave a […]
Iranian Journalist Silenced For 30 Years
Leading Iranian journalist Jila Baniyaghoob has been sentenced to one year in prison and banned from publishing writing for 30 years. Baniyaghoob, 39, was found guilty of “propaganda” for writing about last year’s disputed presidential election in reformist newspapers. Her sentence is part of a bigger Iranian regime crackdown on any dissenting voices. Despite much […]
Attention Feminist Filmmakers
Have you been working on a movie about women and wondering where to show it? The Athena Film Festival is looking for woman-centric films to show in February 2011 at Barnard College in New York. Feminist film blog Women In Hollywood is producing the festival. The festival aims to be a “world-class celebration of films […]
Is Videogame “Hey Baby” A Positive Response to Street Harassment?
Last month, when I moved from Montana–a state with more cows than people–to Los Angeles, I steeled myself for culture shock. But what I wasn’t prepared for was the street harassment. Walking around my neighborhood trying to get my bearings, I felt besieged by creepy dudes. It seemed like everywhere I went, I heard “lookin’ […]