Feminism
Why Are We So Shocked That Women We Know Were Abused?

Why Are We So Shocked That Women We Know Were Abused?

As I become more open about my own experiences with gender oppression, I am repeatedly struck by two vastly different reactions to my presented facts and anecdotes. Men often recoil or become defensive. Some of these issues are ugly and raw and difficult to stomach,...

This Is Why Even Nice Guys Don’t Understand Consent

This Is Why Even Nice Guys Don’t Understand Consent

By the time I realized what was going on, she already had one hand wrapped up in his hair and the other to his throat. She was winning, but he kept coming for her with punches and wrist grabs, despite her repeated cries to “stop attacking me!” I hustled to her side of...

9 Simple Ways To Focus Your Feminism After International Women’s Day

9 Simple Ways To Focus Your Feminism After International Women’s Day

International Women's Day is a great initiative that brings awareness to women's issues. This year, the organizers of the Women's March held an international Day Without A Woman strike. While we can hope that the momentum behind the Women's March and Strike will keep...

Why It’s Smart For Conservatives To Support Abortion

Why It’s Smart For Conservatives To Support Abortion

Amidst all the furor about planned parenthood and abortion rights, the NY Times published a thinkpiece by Ross Douthat called “There Is No Pro Life Case For Planned Parenthood.” Tucked between hyperbole and melodrama, the thesis was this: liberals who are squeamish...

Cope2 And The Truth About Being A Female Journalist

Cope2 And The Truth About Being A Female Journalist

Being a female journalist is a double-edged sword. While I am somewhat more likely to be allowed access to sensitive or intimate spaces or events, I am also less likely to be taken seriously as a human/professional. I am more likely to find myself in dangerous or...

The NRA, Guns, and Girl Power

The NRA, Guns, and Girl Power

Nashville, TN—The NRA is in town, and the convention center is covered in pink. A “Shoot Like A Girl” tent is set up outside, and booths like “Concealed Carrie” are selling purses designed to carry handguns. Slogans like “look cute while you shoot” and “silly boys,...

Sex, Consent And Quality: How Women Can Do Better

Sex, Consent And Quality: How Women Can Do Better

Rebecca Traister wrote an article for the most recent issue of NY Magazine called “The Game Is Rigged,” or “Why sex that’s consensual can still be bad.” Traister argues that “consent” has been over-billed as the magic, empowering, feminist bar for sex, all while...

The Great Conspiracy of Women’s Clothing

The Great Conspiracy of Women’s Clothing

Shopping for women’s clothing is one of the most baffling, frustrating, mind-blowingly difficult activities I can think of. “WHAT EVEN IS THIS?!” you wail at the Gap, holding a strip of fabric upside down, sideways, and draped like a sash over your shoulders,...

Six Of The Most Ridiculous Planned Parenthood Myths, Debunked

Six Of The Most Ridiculous Planned Parenthood Myths, Debunked

I wrote recently about all the reasons that conservatives should support abortions; they all mostly fall into the financial category of “you and the rest of the country will all save money.” But now, republicans are seeking to strip funding from Planned Parenthood in...

Addyi: Is The New “Female Viagra” A Feminist Breakthrough?

Addyi: Is The New “Female Viagra” A Feminist Breakthrough?

The FDA has finally approved a drug to improve women’s libidos. It’s called Addyi (pronounced ADDY-EE) and it was finally allowed into the pharmaceutical market after great debate, after approval being withheld twice in a row in 2011 and 2013 for limited results and...

“Bitch Better Have My Money”: Female Misogyny in Music

“Bitch Better Have My Money”: Female Misogyny in Music

Most of the time I applaud Rihanna for what I see as her unapologetic feminism. She owns her body and her sexuality so openly and overtly that it’s almost aggressive. Female celebrities tend to be demonized for in-your-face eroticism, but male celebrities are given...