It's Friday, which means you get to kick off your weekend with some of the links that had us atwitter* this week:
First, you probably read about Tina Fey being censored on PBS in her acceptance speech for the Mark Twain Award. If you didn't, here's the clip (skip to 12:30ish for the cut clip):
Another video clip: The women of Reel Grrls have posted a vlog on celebrity weight loss and the media's obsession with it.
Terry Gross is a divisive figure here at Bitch HQ (She asks good questions! She asks terrible questions! Her voice! It's so soothing/irritating!), but it's pretty undeniable that she's been kicking ass and taking names on Fresh Air this week. We're all about the Jay-Z interview in particular, for his responses to the "Bitch/ho question" (thanks, Terry!) and the "Why do rappers grab their crotches?" question.
Speaking of which, Vag Magazine/Upright Citizens Brigade is on episode #5 of their six-show web series. Remember Misty of Chincoteague? No? Just me? Cool.
*In the social media AND antiquated, you know, speech-related sort of way.
The top-secret, on lock-down Confidential issue of Bitch magazine is hot off the press! And before it even hits newsstands (or mailboxes for our wonderful subscribers), you can read three! new! articles! right here on the Bitch website. Has nostalgia mucked up our remembrance of Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique? Eryn Loeb takes a look in "Past Imperfect". Discover the disturbing new trend of "stay-at-home daughters" in "House Proud," a feature by Gina McGalliard (accompanied by a beautiful paper-cut by Lorraine Nam). And get the scoop on Reality Bites Back, Jenn Pozner's new book on reality television's evil empire in the exclusive Q&A "Remote Control."
Don't forget--you can always sink your teeth into new and old articles from the Bitch magazine archives on our Articles page!
I'm going to warn you right away: it was a douchey kind of week. In my time at Bitch, we've never had so many options to choose from for our Douchebag Decree. Lindsay picked the clear winner, but we've had several other happenings On Our Radar:
The Ivy League should win some special sort of prize for consistency in douchebaggery. This week, a Columbia a capella group is in hot water for adverts that pictured one of its members above the tagline "Rape Me."
A Texas high school cheerleader was kicked off her squad for refusing to cheer for the boy who sexually assaulted her. (The Caroline Heldman article has a lengthy comments section, for further reading...)
Our antennae are up, and the hive is buzzing; here's what's been On Our Radar this week!
ABC has cancelled its new show Huge after less than one season. Our own Michelle Dean wrote about it here. Sign a petition to keep it on the air here! Interesting how the ABC website for the show has no mention of its cancellation...
Google searches have banned the word "latina" from their search engine. Latino? Still entirely searchable. Latina (the website) has more.
Rick Sanchez (formerly at CNN) had some fightin' words for Jon Stewart and news media bias in general, which Racialicious covered extensively. Sanchez was fired from CNN for his remarks.
Today is the day the remake of the 1978 rape-revenge movie "I Spit on Your Grave" arrives in theaters. Find a review here. Info on the original here. Not for the faint, or sort-of-faint, or average-strength, or anything-less-than-industrial strength of heart.
Following up on a story from last week, a leader of one of the militant groups responsible for hundreds of rapes in the Democratic Republic of the Congo this July has been arrested as part of the UN mission to address the situation there.
Having trouble getting through your Friday? Take a break and check out what we've been reading web-side this week.
Meryl Streep was one of millions of disappointed women to hear that two Republican senators are holding up approval of a National Women's History Museum in Washington, D.C. because they think there will be a pro-choice slant to exhibits there. Jezebel is covering the story, and NYT columnist Gail Collins logged her support early this week as well.
Colorlines has launched a powerful campaign to Drop the I-Word. Join the fight against oppressive, hate-feeding language here.
The Nationposted several feminist articles on their site this week: An extensive piece on women in the Republican party; one on women in the Democratic party; and a piece by Feministing's Jessica Valenti on the commandeering of the word "feminist" in right-wing politcs lately.
The United Nations this week sent an official to the Democratic Republic of the Congo to investigate the huge numbers of civilians raped over a period of three days this summer by various armed rebel groups.
U.S. Census data was released this week, showing, among other things, that the marriage rate is at its lowest point in 150 years of data-gathering. Brangelina-esque protest, perhaps?
RIP Sally Menke, Oscar-nominated film editor who edited Quentin Tarantino's best-known films.
And finally, it's Banned Books Week, as Ashley pointed out on Sunday. Check here for events in your area!
What caught your eye this week? Tell us in the comments!
The official site for Tyler Perry's film adaptation of Ntozake Shange's For Colored Girls Who Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf is up. Rose at Feministing writes on the signfiicance on cutting the title down to just "For Colored Girls."
We're back again with another edition of On Our Radar—bringing you some of the most interesting things we read this week!
With the celebration of the 90th anniversary of women's suffrage in the United States in full swing this week, Womanist Musings' Renee Martin reminds us that not all women gained the right and access to vote in 1920.
Following lesbian cadet Katherine Miller's resignation from West Point due to her sexual orientation, Corey Kilgannon investigates the underground gay culture at the military academy for the New York Times.
On Jezebel, Dodai Stewart tallied up the number of black models in the September issues of fashion magazines.
Check out all the great posts in the "This is What a Young Feminist Looks Like" blog carnival!
All kinds of messed up: Sociological Images' Lisa Wade highlights an NPR report on a scale of evil developed by a forensic psychologist. The graphic used to explain this scale eerily matches the range of human skin color, with the darker the color being the worse the psychopath.
WTF.
After Sally was caught masturbating on Mad Men this week, Feministe Guest Blogger Monica looks at the assumption that she must have been sexually abused.
On Racialicious, Bitch contributor Andrea Plaid writes on Montana Fishburne, the daughter of famed actor Laurence and a sex worker.
Carrie Polansky focuses on the popular discoursse surrounding disability and sexuality on Gender Across Borders.
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