Gynophobia: “Fear of or contempt for women.” Otherwise known as the disease currently plaguing the Michigan legislature. Insurance bans and fetal heartbeat requirements implemented over the course of the last year have made Michigan an increasingly toxic place for women seeking abortions. Thankfully, two state congressional representatives are pushing a bill that would at least make […]
Author: Margaret Nickens
Margaret Nickens is a senior at Brown University and an intern with Ms. magazine. Follow her on Twitter.
Will “Right-to-Lifers” Gain Right to Lie?
In a 9-0 ruling Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court granted two anti-choice groups the right to challenge the constitutionality of Ohio’s ban on false statements made during political campaigns. The suit draws from a controversy that arose during former U.S. Rep. Steve Driehaus’, D-Ohio, reelection bid in 2010. At the time of his campaign, the […]
NEWSFLASH: Abortion Providers’ Privileges Reinstated
Two Texas doctors—Lamar Robinson and Jasbir Ahluwalia—had their admitting privileges reinstated last week at the University General Hospital in Dallas (UGHD). Their privileges were revoked in late March for performing legal abortions at clinics independent of the hospital. Texas’s House Bill 2 (HB2) took effect in November 2013, requiring that abortion providers have admitting privileges within […]
We Spleen: Excluding Women Characters from Popular Video Game
James Therien, video game developer Ubisoft’s technical director, said their upcoming game Assassin’s Creed Unity will not feature any women characters. The Assassin’s Creed series focuses on historical moments, and the upcoming edition—which is set to be released on Oct. 28—will be modeled after revolutionary France—just without all those pesky women, Therien told VideoGamer.com, [Including […]
Ruining the “Fun”: Patricia Lockwood’s Slippery Poetry
In a dark coincidence, the author of the widely-shared poem “Rape Joke,” Patricia Lockwood, released her second book of poetry just four days after the Isla Vista killings. Motherland Fatherland Homelandsexuals deals with the objectification of and violence against women in a mystical, gritty and surprisingly elegant way, and though the timing was certainly not intentional, […]
Awkwafina, Fierce and Funny (and Asian-American), Takes on Hip-Hop
One might say the illest new rapper on the block is a water brand. Or, rather, the name of a water brand re-envisioned as an Asian-American rapper, Awkwafina, who introduced the superpower of the queef in her album Yellow Ranger, released in February. More recently, Nora Lum—the New York-based artist behind Awkwafina—has been working on […]
We Heart: LEGO’s New Women Scientists
LEGO recently announced their new limited edition Research Institute set, which will feature three women scientist minifigures—a rare commodity in a LEGO set. In 2013, LEGO released Professor C. Bodin, a female scientist in an unspecified discipline, but the new figures, set to debut in August, will include more detailed designs of a paleontologist, an […]