If you’re interested in feminist discussions of pornography, there are a number of must-read texts you should check out and Pamela Paul’s Pornified is one of them. Published in 2005, Paul’s analysis of a society so accustomed to everyday images of softcore pornography and increasingly desensitized to more hardcore offerings, is every bit as relevant today ...
Ever read lists of top things women should know or try in their lives? Schmutzie tells us why these lists are bullshit. I have a burr under my saddle today, and it is in the shape of articles whose titles contain the phrase “every woman should”, such as: –”Twitters Every Woman Should Follow” –”10 Things ...
John Galt may stop the motor of the world by going on strike against the irrational, unproductive masses, but Dagny Taggart really revs my feminist engine. Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged has been criticized and dissected since it was published in 1957, but it has managed to stand the test of time and, to this day, remains ...
Helen Mirren has been in the biz for more than 40 years; she’s won an Academy Award and is one of a very small handful of women over 60 to have a (semi-) permanent spot on the big screen. If anyone is qualified to comment on the state of women in Hollywood, it’s Helen. She’s ...
Like a song set on repeat, we keep hearing that Brad and Angie are not getting married until everybody else can. Gossip magazines and tabloids: stop suggesting that they’re planning a big fat Brangelina wedding. But I admit, I share their desires for a world where marriage is an equal opportunity institution. Despite its legal, ...
With liberty and justice for… some. The United States is the only developed nation that has not ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). This international bill of rights for women has been around since 1980 and acknowledges that gender equality does not yet exist. CEDAW’s agenda includes ...
Last week my roommate went out for dinner with her lesbian feminist activist friends. They began quizzing her about my sexual persuasion. She insisted I am straight but they wouldn’t hear a bar of it, suggesting I was probably a lesbian and just didn’t know it yet. I know it’s wrong, but the fact that ...
Or I could be like you Jess, and live on a sparkly rainbow and drive a unicorn around and just sing all the time… I’m not going to do that. Why not? It’s fun. Because I have a penis. Within these lines is the crux of the plot of New Girl. It’s an odd-couple tale ...
We have all been in situations where we have let an unintentionally sexist comment slide. We don’t want to get into a fight or come across as rude, but one study shows that people like us better for bringing it up. It is time to step up to the feminist plate, ladies! We have been ...
I myself have never been able to find out precisely what feminism is: I only know that people call me a feminist whenever I express sentiments that differentiate me from a door mat or a prostitute. ~ Rebecca West
Airport security. Bloody nuisance. Also a conspiracy designed to subjugate women. Allow me to elaborate. Despite flying quite a...
The Cannes film festival has kicked off this week with controversy over the lack of films made by women...
Dear Madame X, I seem to be only attracted to men who are macho assholes. I like them at...
When A Clockwork Orange was published in 1962, the term sexualized violence wasn’t in use. The distinction between sexualized...
Skincare. Not so very long ago, a man would have been mocked mercilessly for using just the word, never...
Laptop bags; conspiracy of the patriarchal overlords. Oh yes. I am a woman with hands. The average-sized hands of...
The British nation stood shocked this morning. No, it was nothing to do with us being back in recession...
Dear Madame X, I am in an interracial marriage. Things are fine most of the time, but members of...
