Fangirls, mean girls – and that grand pastime of calling each other “ugly sluts”
“Everyone knows that bitch got knocked up by someone else and TRICKED him into marriage! Ugly slut! I hope they divorce!” It sounds like a comment you would find on a Daily Mail article about some celebrity drama. But the poor man allegedly “TRICKED” into marriage is meant to be my husband. And the “ugly [...]
...read moreChildren will teach you about helplessness – and not only children
My paternal grandfather died a long, protracted death. Seven years of dying, to be exact. He struggled with diabetes, and diabetes took its time with him. One amputation, then losing his eyesight, then a second amputation. Me sitting next to his rocking chair, reading newspapers out loud to him, his mouth set in a thin line. He hated hospitals, and wanted to come home to die. He knew it would be more painful and difficult, but that was his final wish. His dying days probably taught me more about parenthood than any book, or any well-meaning article along the lines of “should children be allowed in bars.”
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The horror of “Twilight Portait.” Also, the beauty.
Trigger warning for sexual violence. Also, there will be spoilers. When I first heard about “Twilight Portrait,” I decided that I wasn’t going to watch it. The movie’s plot centered on the transformation that the heroine, Marina (played by Olga Dykhovichnaya), undergoes when she is gang-raped by three traffic cops in an unidentified Russian town. [...]
...read moreTarot! Get your tarot!
Hi guys. As some of you, but not most of you, know – I read tarot. Not because I’m a creepy “let me tell you your future, child… oh yes, a tall, handsome man approaches…” – type (Jesus, at least I hope so), but because I have found that tarot is good for predicting the [...]
...read moreMy feminist life – after childbirth. Yes, it does exist.
A friend of mine likens becoming a mother to being in a “twilight zone between human and animal.” It sounds wrong – but writing this as my son, Lev, sleeps beside me in his basket, having turned 3 weeks old today and cried for most of the morning (inspiring me to flounce off to sleep [...]
...read moreThe feminist naturist. A.k.a. the “naked grandmas” post!
This is one of those guest-posts I’ve been promising to write for many an age now. I hope you enjoy…? I became a naturist in a totally feminist fashion – all due to a man. When he told me that he believed that genuine nude beaches were the best, my initial reaction was, “Um, hell [...]
...read moreI knew they were going to make it about Lara Logan’s looks
(For more on the “they”, please see Jill’s post below. Trigger warning, etc.) Because that’s what happens when you’re a female foreign journalist in the Middle East. Get hurt? Well, you shouldn’t have been a female foreign journalist in the Middle East, and certainly not a BLOND one! In the immortal words of Eddie Izzard [...]
...read moreThe nice pregnant lady’s guide to not offending polite society*
This guide has been compiled with your best interests at heart. If you think otherwise, just remember, you’re a little lady whose little lady brain is now addled by more hormones than ever! Best not to question the experts at this time, dear. * – Do note, however, that this guide extends only to dealings [...]
...read moreRT journalist Natalya Arkhiptseva wasn’t thrilled about some drunk dude’s sexual advances. And got shot as the result.
This is a guest-post. I’d like to thank Jill & Cara for giving me the green light. This is Natalya Arkhiptseva. She works at Russia Today. In the same building as I do (I work for The Moscow News, which is owned by RIA Novosti, and RT and RIA are neighbours). On October 9, Natalya [...]
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But he’s an artist! She’s a “drunk cow”! What do you MEAN he can’t rape her?
Sexual assault trigger warning. You know the drill. Last month, I was graciously allowed to write a guest post here on Feministe – about Russian artist Ilya Trushevsky, and how people are defending him much like the fools who defend Roman Polanski. Gee, I had no idea how right I was. I mean, I knew [...]
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The Roman Polanski Humanitarian Award: Ilya Trushevsky & other recipients
This is a guest post by Natalia Antonova. Sexual assault trigger warning. So. Seems that something evil happened in Moscow over the May Day weekend. Ilya Trushevsky, a young artist famous for installations that involved turtles covered in rhinestones (I know, I know), was arrested and charged with attempted rape of a 17-year-old student. You [...]
...read moreChild marriage: sex and money, Juliet and Fawziya Ammodi
This guest post is a part of the Feministe series on Sexual Assault Awareness Month. I think a TRIGGER WARNING is appropriate here. Why does the institution of marriage exist? Even highly romanticized commercials for De Beers speak to the primary historic nature of the marriage contract: material well-being, as well as securing that well-being [...]
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