Fun in Getting Taken Out of Context
So there’s this book called “50 Shades of Grey” that everyone is talking about, and I haven’t even read the damn thing, but it sounds like all kinds of silly and kind of fucked up, and probably a bad representation of BDSM and sex generally, and it’s being compared to Twilight and championed by “Mommy Bloggers” so I probably will not bother picking it up. When a journalist contacted me and asked if I’d give a quote on it, I said I hadn’t read it, but I could speak generally on issues of consent and sexuality. Great. She emailed me a very general question, I gave a general answer. This is the outcome:
...read moreOld Ladies Talking? IN PUBLIC?!?!
“I know older men in comedy who can barely feed and clean themselves, and they still work. The women, though, they’re all ‘crazy.’ I have a suspicion — and hear me out, because this is a rough one — that the definition of “crazy” in show business is a woman who keeps talking even after no one wants to fuck her anymore.” -Tina Fey
...read more“Confessions of a PUA Chaser” is OUT now! Also: Thank you, Feministe.
Love.
S&M.
Ethics.
Seduction.
Feminism.
Polyamory.
Pickup artists.
“I personally prefer the classic term ‘strumpet’.”
So Rush Limbaugh calls a Georgetown law student a slut and a prostitute for having the audacity to talk about birth control, and when pressed to respond Mitt Romney simply says, “It’s not the language I would have used.” Very cool. Very principled!
...read moreSex at the Polls, tonight at NYU
Would love to see some of you there. It’s tonight from 6-8:30 in Greenberg Lounge in Vanderbilt Hall at NYU.
...read moreFormer President of Planned Parenthood Faye Wattleton, Director of MergerWatch Lois Uttley, Feminist Blogger/Litigator Jill Filipovic and Conservative Feminist Scholar Christina Hoff Sommers discuss social constructs, politics, and the glass ceiling. Moderated by Professor Cynthia Estlund. Wine and cheese reception to follow.
On the Hugo Business
There have been a lot of calls in this thread and elsewhere around the internet for me personally to Say Something about the Hugo debacle. Caperton put up this post addressing the situation, which I stand behind, and Clarisse solicited the cross-posting of this piece by Maia. I’ve made a few limited comments, but I’ve mostly stayed silent on the whole thing. That’s for a few reasons:
...read moreTomorrow! WAM!Prom!
It’s almost here! WAM!Prom 2: Electric Boogaloo, from BeeGees to Biggie. Tomorrow (Friday) in NYC at the Bowery Poetry Club. Details are here. You should come because (a) you support women in media; (b) you like dancing with fellow feminists to some ridiculous tunes and mash-ups; (3) you want to be judged by me (in the costume contest). Come, get down, wear your sparkliest.
...read moreNew Favorite Things
Jaclyn Friedman’s Unsolicited Advice column in GOOD. This week she advises Blue Ivy Carter:
...read moreOne of the things that’s going to be especially weird, if the response to Shiloh Jolie-Pitt’s haircut is any indication, is that a non-trivial minority of the global population will soon consider what you do with your body and your sexuality their business. In fact, they’ve already started. Most people would welcome a new addition to their family as “the most beautiful baby in the world,” but in your case, perfect strangers are already being invited to assess that claim.
Hero of the Day
...read moreWhen Samira Ibrahim makes a rare foray into the streets of her hometown of Sohag in Upper Egypt or to a demonstration on the streets of Cairo, she has the distinct feeling of being watched.
“I never feel comfortable,” she said during in an interview in a Cairo cafe. “The only place I can feel like myself is in my home with my family. Everywhere I go, I feel there are eyes on me. They want me to forget everything and just go away.”
Ms Ibrahim, 25, is taking on, under her own name, a battle against the powerful ruling generals. She is the only named plaintiff in several legal cases against the officers who conducted “virginity tests” on 17 women protesters detained by the military last year.
Objectification, Your Honor
This is a guest post by Jessica Mack
Last week, there was a new and interesting twist to the Leveson Inquiry – the ongoing public trial of the British Press following last year’s phone hacking scandal. A handful of women’s rights and rape prevention groups in the UK are insisting that the media’s portrayal of women – namely its accomplice in sexism, objectification, rape culture, and misogyny – be investigated as part of its general scumminess.
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