Recent commentary ’round these parts has me thinking: who’s got a blog that’s feminist, but isn’t about feminism?
Personally, I didn’t start blogging because I wanted to blog about feminism. I wanted to blog about sex — and because my particular flavor of sex has a fraught history within feminism (famous German feminist Alice Schwarzer once said, “Female masochism is collaboration!”), I thought it was important that I specify up front that I am a feminist notwithstanding the BDSM thing.
I’ve ended up getting pulled into feminist blogging more as I’ve realized how marginalized feminism is, and how I can’t take it for granted. I guess these days I’m about evenly split between being a feminist blogger and a sex blogger.
Is my experience common? Have other people felt the same way? Maybe other bloggers have started writing more about feminism, and ended up de-emphasizing feminism as they kept writing?
Mostly I just want links to blogs that are feminist, but aren’t about feminism. Post ‘em if you got ‘em, folks.
Over at How’s My Living?, feminism is sneaky. The blog is focused primarily on Chicagoland music, but we sneak in talk about other things — feminist analyses of Andrew Bird’s work, how a recent tour appropriates romanticized imagery of poverty to make a buck, the increasingly :/-worthy political actions taken by Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy, the weirdness of a Ryan Bingham show when the guitar tech is helping bust pot smokers while the lyrics talk about how much pot it’s necessary to smoke to be happy in this life, and plenty of other things.
I consider my blog a feminist blog that isn’t about feminism (or, really, any single topic).
I write about family, adoption, divorce, dating, sexual abuse and whatever else crosses my mind. I didn’t always identify as a feminist but I do now.
<a href="http://aagblog.com/2011/04/25/what-is-pro-choice/"Here's an example, which is about being an adoptive mother and also pro-choice.
Yikes, bad tags! Here’s the corrected link:
Here’s an example, which is about being an adoptive mother and also pro-choice.
My blog is mainly a general little-bit-o-everything (feminist, mommy, humor, creative writing, music, pop culture) blog that touches on feminist issues from time to time. Sometimes it’s just stuff that pisses me off that i want to touch on.. sometimes the feminism intersects with the mom-stuff as I am raising two daughters and feminist theory plays a lot into my questions about how to raise them to be emotionally healthy, self-aware critical thinkers. It’s HARD though.
Not sure if this qualifies, but I’m a HUGE baseball fan who was tired of tripping over large and small instances of sexism every time I read the sports pages….so I started a feminist baseball blog (http://ablogoftheirown.wordpress.com). Sometimes I write specifically about women’s issues within and related to the sport; sometimes I just write about baseball without resorting to sexist language or stereotypes—which (though you wouldn’t guess it from the mainstream sites) isn’t that hard to do!
In conclusion, go Cardinals.
I write about whatever I feel like (pop culture, politics, my 23423 ankle surgeries, etc) and I identify strongly as a feminist and sometimes blog about that specifically.
I do a book blog focusing on YA books – Bookish Blather. I’ve considered from time to time focusing exclusively on feminist books – but then I’d probably be down to reviewing less than a book a month. Instead I bring feminism into the review whenever I can – pointing out great or not-so-great moments from a feminist stand point.
My blog, First the Egg, is about pregnancy, birth, and parenting–from a feminist perspective.
Basket of Kisses is a feminist blog about Mad Men, as well as other TV and movies. We are occasionally explicitly feminist, but more often implicitly feminist in the way we interpret pop culture.
A lot of parenting blogs are quite feminist. A couple I read are a little pregnant ( http://www.alittlepregnant.com/ ) and Ask Moxie ( http://www.askmoxie.org/ ). I also read a few academic blogs, a good one is Female Science Professor ( http://science-professor.blogspot.com/ ).
Angry Asian Man is one of my blog staples…..I don’t think he identifies as a feminist, but I think overrall, it’s a feminist friendly site.
http://www.angryasianman.com
The group blog I write for, GeekaChicas, is mostly about geekery–but we’re all feminists and none of us fears to wield the Giant Feminist Mallet of Loving Correction.
This is a dating blog I read that’s not strictly feminist, but it’s hilarious and the writers’ feminism definitely comes through.
http://redflagsanddealbreakers.blogspot.com/
I write a blog, The Beheld, that examines how we form our concepts of beauty, using personal essays, interviews with beauty professionals, etymological/historical analysis of words we use to describe women’s appearance, and beauty experiments (this month I’m not looking in a mirror at all, for example).
I’m surprised by how rarely the F-word crops up in my actual writing, given that I am a vocal feminist and that everything I write about is from a feminist perspective. This isn’t fear of the F-word; it’s more that feminism is inherent in everything I write, you know? I worry that feminists who are interested in untangling our relationship with the beauty myth might not be finding it as a result, though. So! Feminists! If you’re into thinking about beauty and appearance you might like it!
Other blogs that have related perspectives: Beauty Schooled (Virginia Sole-Smith, a feminist writer, went to beauty school to examine beauty labor concerns); Those Graces, a beauty and fashion blog with “a twist of feminism”; and Decoding Dress, which isn’t explicitly feminist but examines our clothing choices from a philosophical/sociological perspective that usually winds up being feminist.
http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/
Pharyngula!
PZ Myers blogs about science, atheism and definitely has a strong feminist bent.
I really like Gertie’s New Blog for Better SewingGertie’s New Blog for Better Sewing. She mostly posts sewing stuff, but she’s done some great posts on the ethics of retro fashion, corsets, girdles and repression, body acceptance and sewing, among other things.
No surprise that I might say this, but economist William Easterly’s blog, Aid Watch (www.aidwatchers.com) is not about feminism, but is very feminist. It’s a critical look at global development and how it’s failing and oppressing poor people around the world. He is one of the only outside-the-institution aid thinkers whose primary lot is to question the institution. Very feminist if you ask me!
I started blogging with the idea of deconstructing the mechanics of various physical parts of yoga (poses, breathing). I didn’t realize how closely that intertwines for me with disability/chronic pain and body image/fat acceptance.
I write a personal blog about running, cooking, my dogs and my writing. I’m a feminist and it crops up in my writing. I wrote a post a few months ago about choosing not to run a local 5K because the race benefited a crisis pregnancy center: http://christinehennessey.blogspot.com/2011/02/run-for-right-reasons.html
I love feminist blogs, but I also love personal blogs written by feminists. It’s nice to hear how somebody lives their life and follows their passions while being a thinking feminist minded human being. Makes me feel less alone. :)
I’m a feminist who keeps a blog. I tend to write about pop culture, politics, and the nerdy things I study in my MA program.
Still working out who/what we are, feminism has been mentioned – here are some example articles:
Sexual Healing
Why I’m saying no to laundry and yes to the liberals
Facebook birth pics doing more harm than good
I like The Hairpin, which is kinda like Jezebel used to be. Most of their advice-givers are pretty informed by feminism, and Rick Santos mockery happens also. Plus, beauty and fashion advice by people like Jane Feltes? Hell yes.
The Hairpin is pretty much my #1 favorite website right now. Feminist-minded without the sanctimony (yeah, went there) and super funny.
Originally, my blog was entirely personal–whenever I would speak passionately about a subject, people would tell me I should write about, I think to shut me up talking about it all the time. I write about everything from politics to entertainment to football to feminism, reproductive rights, and any similar subject that makes me rant.
Although my blog isn’t exclusively feminist, it has changed the way I write and the way I approach my own feminism. In the beginning, I would kind of apologize before I posted anything feminist–”I know this is only a big deal for me, and I don’t mean to go all feminist on you, but this came up…” Then I realized a) it’s my own damn blog and I can write about whatever I damn want to, and b) these are my own damn feelings and things that are damned important to me, and it’s time to acknowledge and embrace that part of myself. Offline, I’m better about speaking out, and online I’ve gotten a lot more positive response than I’d expected.
The Hairpin! (http://thehairpin.com/) Pop culture, advice columns, history, girly advice, and all of it really funny.
I tend to write about being an adoptee, being pressured into giving up a child I wanted to parent, and explorations in why feminism has seemed to have a very hard time considering the aspects of adoption can be deeply exploitive and damaging to women, and why many people who claim to be “pro-choice” feel that it’s ok to speak in a derrogatory manner about how “teen parenting is always a terrible choice” when they would never say such things about women choosing abortion. I am against prejudice and lack of support for teen moms and other moms of unplanned pregnancy that choose to parent, and for research and creative thinking about programs and supports that will address critical issues in this area and help women ensure good lives for their children— WITHOUT being pressured into adoption.
http://austinholistic.blogspot.com
I’ve always felt I was a little too political as a pop culture blogger, but not enough for SJ/feminist blogging. I’ve had my current blog for just over a year, but I think I’m just beginning to find my groove.
Some sites I read/sometimes comment that I think nicely mixes politics, personal blogging, and pop culture: The Pursuit of Harpyness, and Persephone Magazine.
I blog about a variety of topics – including feminism. :-)
Primary focus on fiber crafts but also photography and everything is from a strongly feminist pov.
http://buttercupia.blogspot.com
Hm, post went bye. It should click through to my blog, where I post on fiber crafts, photography, and cooking, all with a strong feminist pov.
My blog The (not so) Little Things started out as overtly feminist and has settled into a couple of quick “hey look at this!” weekly series, mostly because life has gotten much busier and I don’t have time to write treatises. I’m kind of okay with that since I don’t have a ton of readers, I post more political commentary on facebook where more people are exposed to it whether they like it or not.
Though as of Friday I’ll be on maternity leave which I think will completely change how I blog – not only the subject matter but how I think about blogging…will I have time to do it? Will it be a necessary time to think and reflect during what will be a turbulent time of change? Not sure, yet.
My blog covers things like Game of Thrones and movies/TV/popculture through a feminist lens while also talking about baseball and NYC and techy/geek things in a less focused way…
Just Sayin’!
Covers a variety of topics from life in Oakland/San Francisco, music, Giants’ baseball, feminism, dating, etc.
It’s sort of dormant, lately, but I’ve been trying to find ways to turn baseball coverage into analogies about dating.
I thought Pursuit was a feminist blog. BRB, reorganizing my RSS reader
A decent new blog with a feminist bent: http://www.sobbingfatty.com
Yo!
I write broadly about current events with a social justice perspective. You could easily call my writing “feminist”, though I don’t use that term (to distance myself from feminism’s race problems). Obviously, I still hang out on many blogs that self-identify as feminist, and I love them. On my own blog, where I control my own space, I just define things my own way.
Anyways…. you can check out this mess here:
The Czech
http://whorelizard.wordpress.com
My blog (linked at my name) is feminist, but not always about feminism. It’s about science, design, books, politics, and whatever else I’m thinking about that day.
A Practical Wedding is a wonderful blog about weddings, marriages, relationships, and all the accompanying issues. It’s highly multivocal (readers frequently guestblog about their experiences and viewpoints). It is not an Advanced Social Justice blog but definitely comes at things from a feminist standpoint.
Mimi Smartypants is an old-school, diary-style, slice-of-life blog with a feminist viewpoint.
I haven’t quite figured out what my blog, Once Again, to Zelda is exactly given the mish-mash of politics, social justice, Indigenous rights, music, art, books, TV, local Toronto stuff and personal essay type things but all of it is through a feminist lens.
PS. I really love that you (Feministe superstars) do all these posts where readers are encouraged to share links. I have found so many fantastic blogs!
Feminism is an important element of what informs my interests and what I write about, but I find it better when the connections and intersections drive my work, rather than a deliberate effort to make what I write Feminist.
I was reading her blog long before I knew feminism meant anything other than not shaving your legs. Maybe Mimi (and the ideas she stuck into my brain when I wasn’t looking) is to blame for my interest in (and enthusiasm for) feminism now.
I write a book blog, sometimes about books that are explicitly about feminism or feminist issues and sometimes books that aren’t, but always with a feminist perspective. It’s called a href=”http://bookedallweek.wordpress.com/” Booked All Week.
:)
Whoops. HTML fail. Sorry! bookedallweek.wordpress.com will get you there :/
I heart Aunt B at Tiny Cat Pants, a personal blog that leans feminist.
I write for a blog called Mislabeled.
http://mislabeled.wordpress.com/
A handful of other women also write… In theory (and theme), it is about feminism and aims to fight mislabels about feminists. But in practice, it’s all about sex, politics, puppies, pop culture, and whatever else strikes our fancy.
I’ve just started my blog and I think that I mean to blog about pop culture and things that are immediately happening in the world, but I end up blogging about life and it’s through a feminist lens…
quarter.life.crisis.
The link didn’t work, so I thought I’d put in the correct one for people who want to check it out. http://www.firsttheegg.com/
Also, I just stumbled across this blog within the last couple of days (I’ve been trying to find great resources especially now that my little one is about to be born) and might end up joining your book club too!
http://scienceblogs.com/casaubonsbook/
Sharon Astyk describes her blog, “It is a really simple idea – things that can’t go on the way they have been, usually don’t. Sooner or later things that have no future just stop. We all know intellectually that we can’t all live and consume like middle class Americans, that our kids are going to have a harder time because of our way of life, that Empires end and ecological disasters cause things to come to hard stops. We know it, but we don’t KNOW it. This blog is about coming to KNOW, and figuring out where we go from here. I’m a science writer, teacher, environmental activist and small farmer who is trying to put her lifestyle where her mouth is, and live in a way with a future. ”
I highly reccomend it, it is one of my favorite blogs. Feminism and an understanding of intersectionality is not the FOCUS but underlies her environmental convictions. One post in particular (It Is Never Too Early http://scienceblogs.com/casaubonsbook/2010/04/it_is_never_too_early.php ) is one of my favorite mood-improvers when news in the world is dismal.
Not actually a blog, but the latest XKCD is rather feminist itself:
http://xkcd.com/896/
My blog is about being poly, being kinky, being feminist, and some geeky stuff too. A lot of it isn’t actually analysis – just “this is a cool thing that I did recently” – but I try to incorporate a little musing in there too.
“Tits and Sass is a group blog run by sex workers who saw a void when it came to witty commentary on the public image of our industry. The ideas promoted about us in the public eye have an impact on the realities of our lives as sex workers every bit as strong as the law, so we’re not letting any more dead hooker or stripper bones jokes pass by without comment.”
http://titsandsass.com
At my blog (www.anthonybsusan.wordpress.com) it’s pretty well split. I often write about issues like reproductive justice but my degree is in International Studies and I do sometimes write about international politics. So if you’re interested in that, please consider checking out. I hope to have some more foreign policy related posts up soon.
That’s me, for sure. I started a couple feminist blogs, with the intention of making it feminist-centric, but over the last couple years, I’m blogging much more frequently about more generalized political issues, the environment, consumer rights, LGBTQ issues, class, and scores of other things. It’s also become a group blog. It’s still quite feminist, but that’s hardly the focus of what we discuss these days.
(oh, we also just started a Facebook page, too. Come “like” us for blog updates and other discussions! :-D)
I set out to write short essays about contemporary popular culture and about my historical research, analyzing gender politics, and the lives and cultural representations of women past and present.
Recently, my Mom commented in an email (and I quote) – “I read all of your stuff and feel like I want to go back into the womb and come out as a white male (but then, of course I wouldn’t have the prerogative of comprehending all of these ornery realities from within…). Just kidding!” She made me smile…ruefully. I have grown a bit frustrated by the seeming monotony of some of my critiques. I think I need also to stay attuned to what I find exciting, empowering, inspiring as a writer and thinker and as a feminist!
My blog’s feminist, but not expressly about feminism! I write all sorts of fun stuff about life, the universe and everything.
Just started one, due to in part to my own struggles with BDSM and its intersections with feminism, as well-
http://the-r-evolution.tumblr.com/
Also, I’m not a gamer, but I know K.Cox on the internet and she writes an amazing gaming blog from a feminist perspective: http://www.your-critic.com/
So many awesome looking blogs in this thread to check out! It’s heart-warming to see how many I already know and adore.
When I started blogging in 2007 I put the word “feminist” in the title of my personal blog because it’s such an integral part of my values-system and I see feminist thought and practice as forces that shapes my being in the world.
Still, my personal blog (today called the feminist librarian) is just that: a personal blog. I write about books, sexuality, education, travel, cooking, history, family … I post random photographs and write about movies I’ve seen. Recently I’ve been reviewing fan fiction for kicks. While feminism often informs my reflections on the issues I write about, I don’t necessarily feel required or compelled to make sexism (or feminist activism) the raison d’etre of every post I write.
Same with The Pursuit of Harpyness where I’ve been writing since January 2011.
I once read a novel in which the main character defends her actions as “womanly” because, well, she identifies as a woman. “If I’m a woman, isn’t everything I do ‘woman’s work?’” she asks (I paraphrase). I feel the same about “feminist” blogging. As a self-identified feminist, I feel like my feminist ethics inform the way I move through the world. Therefore, all of the topics I touch on are filtered through a feminist lens to some extent. But I don’t necessarily use feminist keywords in every post. I don’t really think that matters.
I run a couple of les/bi/etc book (books by or about people who do not identify as men and who are attracted to other people who do not identify as men–if you can come up with a more succinct way to say that, I would love to know it) blogs:
http://lesbrary.wordpress.com
http://fuckyeahlesbianliterature.tumblr.com
I also have a personal tumblr, which is about half politics and feminism and half Glee…
http://danikathelesbrarian.tumblr.com
i was going to say the hairpin but everyone’s already said it! i’ll add another vote for it anyway.
also, i read a lot of fashion blogs, and i often find posts that are pretty feminist. today refinery29 has a post tearing apart Maxim’s sex advice: http://www.refinery29.com/awful-sex-tips-maxed-out-on-maxim. plus tavi, http://thestylerookie.com, and cheap jap, http://cheapjap.com, are always bringing up feminism.
and to shamelessly self-promote, i just blogged about my idea of a feminist wedding dress: http://blog.auh2odesigns.com/?p=194
Hey, I know I’m late to the party (sorry), but my blog, O, Pioneers!, is totally feminist but not usually explicitly about feminism. It’s still working out its identity, but posts have ranged from pictures of our urban garden to posts on being invisibly queer to musings on science and faith. It’s a personal/lifestyle blog about living intentionally.
I am a feminist and a poet, and I blog about writing, creativity, culture and occasionally politics at http://www.onenightstanzas.com
:)
I maintained and edited (and was primary contributor) re:Cycling, a feminist blog about menstruation and women’s health for the Society for Menstrual Cycle Research for about two years, but had to put the blog on hold recently because the Society stopped supporting it. It may or may not return this summer, but the archives are still on line.
I write about women’s health (also including more “social” health issues like partner violence, rape culture, choice, etc). It’s tricky because so much of health communication is the pursuit of getting people to make healthier choices, which is inherently un-feminist because it assumes some choices are “better” than others and also doesn’t take into account structural inequalities that keep people from making healthier choices, etc.
I try to reconcile Health Communication with feminism when I talk about women’s health issues. In other words, I’m on a mission to write health articles that stay true to my feminist values!
http://talkinreckless.com
Hi! I kinda found this website today (though I suspect I have read articles from here before … I’m a lurker by nature …) and I have opened up many, many tabs to check out the awesome blogs people here have mentioned!
I write a craft blog, which probably doesn’t seem really important or like it could have many opportunties for a feminist view-point. However, I’ve read *lots* of craft blogs where projects are strongly divided into “things to make for boys” and “things to make for girls” and “things that girls do” and “things that boys do” … so I try my best to ensure that I steer clear of that kind of stuff. Maybe I don’t do a very good job – I don’t know!
Anyway, if you’d like to check it out, I’m at teaandcraft.blogspot.com ^_^
Love this post! So many links to amazing blogs and sites I’d never even heard of before, let alone got round to reading…
To put my shameless self-promoting two cents in, For Books’ Sake is a books website with a feminist bent – we don’t often write specifically about feminism, but we have a definitely feminist angle and are all our about promoting and celebrating women authors…
I know I’m late to the party, but hopefully not too late. There are some outstanding blogs in this thread that I hadn’t heard of before, including one or two that are going on my RSS feed!
If I may, I’d like to put in a plug for my own blog, Daylight Atheism. I usually write about atheism, religion and humanism, but since all those subjects intersect in a major way with women’s rights, I have occasion to discuss feminism fairly often as well. In the past week I’ve written about the radical feminists who launched Mother’s Day and the epidemic of sex-selective abortion in India, and I’m working on a post about women in Saudi Arabia who are defying that country’s hideously misogynist laws by – of all things – learning to drive!
You may want to check People of Color Organize, which does a lot on women of color.
http://www.peopleofcolororganize.com/
I recommend Two Whole Cakes – a body image, social justice and fat acceptance blog by Lesley Kinzel, who does not identify as a feminist, but says her writing is feminist.
http://blog.twowholecakes.com/
[...] Feminist blogs that aren't about feminism — Feministe [...]
[...] Feminist blogs that aren't about feminism — Feministe [...]
[...] Feminist blogs that aren't about feminism — Feministe [...]
[...] Feminist blogs that aren't about feminism — Feministe [...]
i know that this is comment is coming really really late but after reading Clarisse’s post about the comic “A Bride’s Story” it suddenly hit me that one of my favorite websites http://www.comicsalliance.com/ covers lots of topics (gender, race, the racial politics of regressive storytelling, disability, etc) that come up or are ignored in comic books.
I believe they even linked to Feministe’s post about Dilbert creator Scott Adams http://www.comicsalliance.com/2011/03/25/scott-adam-sexist-mens-rights/