The 2015 Oscar nominations, announced this morning, loudly echo Martha Lauzen’s most recent report on the “celluloid ceiling” for women in Hollywood. What Lauzen said about her findings can equally be said of today’s nominees: [They] drive home the point that men continue to construct the vast majority of the visual and aural worlds featured […]
Author: Michele Kort
The late Michele Kort—a dedicated feminist—was the senior editor of Ms. magazine for 13 years. She died June 26, 2015, after a long battle with ovarian cancer. She worked for decades in field of journalism, covering sports, music, culture, art and feminist issues for publications like LA Weekly, The Advocate, Shape, Redbook, Los Angeles Times Magazine, Songwriter, InStyle, Living Fit, Fit Pregnancy, Vegetarian Times, Fitness, UCLA Magazine, Women's Sports and Fitness and more. She is the author of four books, including a biography of singer/songwriter Laura Nyro, Soul Picnic: The Music and Passion of Laura Nyro.
Rest in power, Michele.
We Spleen: Famous Footwear’s Non-Consent Ad
With all of the horrible news about rapes on college campuses and the development of “enthusiastic consent” policies to ensure that sex is a mutually agreed-upon activity, what does this new holiday TV ad from Famous Footwear teach young boys? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAf_sfX5dug As far as we can see, it teaches them that kissing girls requires no […]
The HPV Vaccine Lowers Rates of Cervical Cancer—and This Study Shows It
If you didn’t believe that vaccinating young girls against certain strains of the human papilloma virus (HPV) is worthwhile, a new study may convince you otherwise. The study, presented last week at a conference on “The Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved,” shows that states with the highest incidence […]
Columnist Says Ladies Are Missing the Point About Street Harassment
OK, the Ms. Blog and others had some problems with the racial disparity in the Hollaback catcalling video that’s traveled through cyberspace this couple of weeks. But there’s one thing we’d never dispute: the extreme unpleasantness of being sexually harassed while walking down the street. It’s an experience shared, a recent study showed, by 65 […]
The Day That Men’s Sports Got It Right
We’ve been inundated with bad news about men’s sports lately, from domestic-abusing football players to backside-protecting sports leaders. So imagine our surprise and pleasure yesterday when we read that the National Hockey League (NHL) did the right thing about a domestic-abuse accusation, and that a football player showed off his feminist credentials by decrying misogyny. […]
One Childs Born, And Laura Nyro Carries On
It’s hard not to toy with the lyrics of Laura Nyro’s song “And When I Die” when headlining a review of jazz pianist Billy Childs‘ new tribute to the inspiring singer/songwriter/feminist. “And when I die,” sang Nyro in the 1966 recording, “and when I’m gone / there’ll be one child born / and a world […]
When Sports Coaches Are Abusers
The following is an excerpt from “Misplaced Faith” in the Fall 2014 issue of Ms. Read the whole article by getting a digital subscription to the magazine. She is special. That’s what club swim coach Norm Havercroft in Saratoga, California, told the mother of 15-year-old competitive swimmer Jancy Thompson in 1997. And because she was […]
Women on TV Making Headway? Not So Much
If you think that there’s a gender disparity between women and men characters on TV, you’re right—and Martha Lauzen, Ph.D., can prove it. In her 17th annual Boxed In report, Lauzen, executive director of the Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film at San Diego State University, shows that on broadcast networks, cable […]
Will the NFL Ever Get it Right About Violence?
TRIGGER WARNING: VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN. Today, the Baltimore Ravens professional football team terminated the contract of running back Ray Rice. Soon after, he was suspended indefinitely by the National Football League (NFL). We would be cheering heartily for these actions—because Rice punched out his soon-to-be-wife, and such off-the-field violence should have serious consequences. But we’re […]