Porn may well be one of the most divisive issues among feminists today. Personally, I have an incredibly difficult time deciding where I stand. Like most feminists, I am all for the healthy expression of sexuality, which may manifest itself in a variety of forms. However, it's pretty darn hard to conceptualize a hierarchical sexual interaction as 'healthy,' particularly when it eroticizes violence and/or humiliation.
Anyway, no matter your take on porn, it is an undenaiably feminist issue and definitely worth examining as such...which is why I'm super-excited about the Media Education Foundation's new documentary The Price of Pleasure, which takes an in-depth look at the porn industry. The film includes voices from critics and supporters alike, from Female Chauvinist Pigs author Ariel Levy to award-winning pornographer Joanna Angel.
Here's the (strangely short) trailer (contains some explicit material)...
Sarah Maple isn't afraid to be provocative or stir up a bit of controversy now and then. Born to parents of diverse cultural and religious backgrounds (her mother is a Muslim from Kenya and her father is a Christian from the U.K.), much of her work deals with her own identity. From Islam to race to gender and sex, Maple's works touch on everything you aren't supposed to talk about at dinner.
I have been struggling all morning trying to decide if your new video is worth blogging about. While I understand that you consider yourself to be a satirist from whose biting commentary no celebrity is safe, I personally find your methods of cultural critique to be boring, trite, and always misogynistic. For those readers who have not yet seen the video for your new song "We Made You," here it is:
American mainstream media has been a wee bit obsessed with the happiness of Denmark this past year. Since I'm an American currently living in the supposedly blissed-out Scandinavian paradise, I've been trying to uncover why this (somewhat incorrect) assumption has been made. Are Danes the happiest people in the world because they're simply more flexible when it comes to gender identity?
When most people think of underground and alternative comics, Robert Crumb’s Zap Comix or Art Spiegelman’s and Bill Griffith’s Raw may come to mind. But San Francisco was home to more than a few alternative cartoonists, and when women such as Trina Robbins found out what a boy’s club the underground scene seemed to be, they took matters into their own hands and published a collectively edited women-only comic book.
Fox News is giving half the story again, this time in a report about bra sales in Australia and the cup sizes associated with them. The message the Fox story sends is that these giant-breasted women got that way because of birth control, obesity and artificial hormones. In a story from The Daily Telegraph story, which Fox links, the causes are defined as age, estrogen from plastics and cosmetics and the reality that even smaller women have larger breasts these days, in addition to the obesity and birth control arguments. And that is just the beginning. Read more after the jump!
I came into the office today prepared to blog about just one creepy, sexist, bizarre television commercial, but since that time three more have been brought to my attention. You know what that means, right? It's time for a commercial showdown!
In this showdown, four commercials will compete, but only one can be named the most offensive! Will it be the Carl's Jr. ad featuring Padma Lakshmi sucking on a strip of bacon? The Orangina ad featuring anthropomorphic animals getting busy in the jungle? The Schick Quattro ad asking women to mow their "lawns"? Or the Axe Body Spray "Dark Temptation" ad that takes black face to a whole new level? YOU make the call!
Vote for the most offensive ad after the jump, and add your own submissions as well! Four ads enter, one ad leaves! It's showdown time!
Ah, where to begin? The April issue of French Vogue features British model Lily Donaldson in a photo spread that nearly robs me of words. With a psuedo-pregnancy going on, Donaldson is shot smoking, tossing a baby doll, and engaging in other (not so) motherly behaviors, often appearing quite childlike in the doing. More after the jump.
The Francophones among us know that douche actually means shower in the language of love. Of course, we here in the US have reappropriated it and turned it into something far creepier, but for today’s Douchebag Decree it seems only fair to keep in mind that douche can mean more than one thing. Not only is the recipient of today’s decree French himself, but he also exists in a gray area when it comes to douchebagginess. Let’s investigate:
Meet OrelSan, a 26-year old rapper from rural France who has been called "the French Eminem." He is wildly popular, due in part to his songs dealing with class struggle and the rural drug epidemic in France. However, a song he wrote two years ago, titled "Sale Pute" (Dirty Slut) is getting international attention this week, and not for its catchy backbeat. The song is about beating up a girlfriend that OrelSan caught cheating on him, and although he claims the lyrics should not be taken seriously, French feminist groups and the French government feel differently and demanded OrelSan make a public apology (which he did).
Is this a case of douchebag justice? Or should musicians be allowed to say what they want without the government intervening? Read on for more info, and to give your opinion on this douche du jour.
When I was growing up, my friend's mom had a sticker on the back of her minivan that said "Happiness is Being Swedish." If The Knife, Ikea, and meatballs weren't enough to convince you of the truth of that statement, here is a new reason for you: Same-sex marriage is now officially legal in Sweden!
When most people think of underground and alternative comics, Robert Crumb’s Zap Comix or Art Spiegelman’s and Bill Griffith’s Raw may come to mind. But San Francisco was home to more than a few alternative cartoonists, and when women such as Trina Robbins found out what a boy’s club the underground scene seemed to be, they took matters into their own hands and published a collectively edited women-only comic book.
Meet 
When I was growing up, my friend's mom had a sticker on the back of her minivan that said "Happiness is Being Swedish." If 
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