As devoted readers may be aware, Dov Charney and his hip-tastic empire, American Apparel, have irked a Bitch blogger or two over the years. From the company's racist Afrika campaign to Charney's infamous victim-blamingstatement to the company's appropriation of a political movement for profit, it becomes increasingly difficult to expect anything positive--save for the generous use of lamé--or even inoffensive from American Apparel and its smarmy CEO. Nevertheless, AA still sometimes fails to meet our low, low expectations. Case in point:
Okay, okay. Before you and your platonic best friend get all up in arms, in no way does this week's Douchebag Decree have anything to do with friendships between people of any gender. Friendship is super and in no way douche-y, obviously. However, this week's dishonorable honor is being awarded to the term"bromance," which is on everyone's lips this summer (and for the past year) and is not doing male (or female) friendships any favors. For evidence of this, check out this CNN person-on-the-street video:
Finally platonic male relationships are getting media attention, right? Because it's not as if practically every single movie made for the past four decades has been about that very topic. Also, it's great that we as a culture have coined a precious term for this relationship, because it is not already revered enough by everyone. Also, IT'S TOTALLY NOT GAY AT ALL YOU GUYS. SERIOUSLY. REMEMBER THAT MEN WHO HAVE FRIENDS ARE NOT GAY. You know, because guys can't have close relationships that don't involve sex unless they can call it something that indicates its so-not-gay-ness. Sheesh.
Of course, men openly expressing their love for their platonic friends is a great thing, so maybe the term bromance isn't all that bad after all? If it takes a cheesy pun to encourage emotional openness, then so be it. Bromance is a complicated thing, right? Of course, it's still getting the Douchebag Decree, but maybe there is more to it than meets the eye. Read on for more bromantic info and to take a super bromantic poll!
Yup, you read that right. This week's featured mom blog, NonCustodial Parent Community, is written by a woman who doesn't live with her son. I was lucky to meet Rebekah Spicuglia last summer when I participated in the Progressive Women's Voices training program. She's the media manager for the Women's Media Center and introduced herself to me the first weekend. I immediately knew she really was...The woman who broke my heart just weeks before with a moving Mother's Day piece on her decision to "give" custody of her son to his dad.
Stretching the definition of "film" just a bit for today’s Grrrl on Film Actress Spotlight as Nichelle Nichols (1932-) is most recognized for her television, and later film, role as Lt. Nyota Uhura.
Hudson Jeans calls Georgia May Jagger the "new era of girl." Does this era include condoning the commodification of a teenage girl's sexuality? Cuz (unfortunately) that's not exactly new. It is, however, disgusting and sleazy.
The Seth MacFarlane creation that is "Family Guy" has built a reputation on poking animated fun at everything from race to religion to sexuality issues over the course of its seven seasons on the air. However, according to a press release from last week's Comic Con there is one issue that is just too taboo, even for a show that routinely makes rape jokes. That issue? Abortion.
"Rave On" is the Page Turner series that asks feminist writers, artists, musicians, activists, leaders, and scholars to talk about a book that completely rocked their world. Today we feature Estelle Freedman, Ph.D., the Robinson Professor in U.S. History at Stanford University, on Against Our Will: Men, Women, and Rape, by Susan Brownmiller. Read on for more!
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?
This past weekend was Blogher 2009, the largest gathering of women bloggers. And I believe that is the key to the many tensions that hovered over the otherwise amazing conference. Women are not one cohesive entity. While there might had been 1500 different visions for Blogher, a few key issues did surface over the weekend.
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