On the Map

I read a lot, and in my perusal of the Interweb today I came across several international television commercials that had me wrinkling my nose, furrowing my brow, and rolling my eyes. I’m not easily offended, and really, I’m not sure it’s a feeling of offense that has me writing this post. It is more a response to my disappointment with the lack of creativity on the part of advertisers, feeling of boredom with their attempts at sensationalism, and surprise at the lack of sensitivity regarding a recent act of terrorism that has had global repercussions.

I’m vegan. I think cruelty to animals is unnecessary and unjust. I don’t eat animals. I don’t wear them. And I don’t kill them for sport. However, Ella Es el Matador isn’t a film about animal rights, and treating it as such does it an enormous injustice. I don’t believe in prioritizing a conversation about cruelty enacted on bulls over one about cruelty enacted on women while discussing a beautiful and melancholy film exploring the world of bullfighting through the eyes of female matadors—so I won't.

The New York Times Sunday Magazine this weekend is a "special issue" about women in the developing world. So, how'd they do?

It wasn’t until moving to India that I realized just how much I’d been taking toilets for granted, and it wasn’t until coming across the newly published Ladies and Gents: Public Toilets and Gender that I realized the extent of what I’d been missing. So, naturally, I decided it was time to dive head first into the loo… metaphorically, of course.

After interviewing Olga Gershenson and Barbara Penner, the authors of the book, I needed some visual to accompany my article—no small feat for a piece on toilets—so I turned to Google to see what was available in the way of tasteful toilet art. Instead I found gender reification and male sexual anxiety.

Since 2004 CouchSurfing.org has provided a way for budget travelers to connect with people across the world to take advantage of free hospitality—from a place to sleep to acting as a tour guide to simply meeting for a coffee. But do the site administrators go far enough to ensure its members aren't sexual predators?

Are the US media objections to Spain's Bebé Glotón further evidence of American's sexualization of the healthy, natural, and nurturing relationship between mother and child?

In case you need a reason to smile today, find out how one woman responded when harassed by an army jawan in Assam. Thanks YouTube!

For the judges of Miss Moral Beauty, beauty is something that is (and should be) located beyond a woman’s physicality, and instead of focusing on a woman’s body, they believe one should determine beauty by a person’s thoughts and actions. Pretty feminist-y... right?

When a group of hairdressers called The Hair Bares phoned the Scottish Women’s Aid (SWA) to inquire about making a £600 donation (that’s nearly $100 USD), they received something of a shock. The organization refused to take it.

For the first time ever, the winner of the Miss England pageant is a Black female athlete. What does this say about feminism and beauty?