I became pregnant, the first time, in October 1997. Starting in my earliest days of trying to conceive, I kept a stack of pregnancy-related books on my nightstand, and I read through them religiously several times a day, every day. Given all that, I'm sure I must have skimmed over the sobering statistic--an estimated 1/3 of pregnancies end in miscarriage--at least once during my pregnancy. But I don't recall it. Who had time for sober? I was heady with all things baby. When I eventually joined that sad 1/3 sorority nine weeks into my pregnancy, I really could have used a resource like Exhale magazine.
Sometimes people like to mention Bitch in their newspapers, blogs, and magazines. Be this coverage good, bad, or indifferent, we round it up and put it in a nice little package for you. (Maybe it's just our egos talking, but we like to think you enjoy it.) Check out the Bitch news in this round-up, starting with the exciting announcement that...
Bitch has been nominated for an Utne Reader Independent Press Award! That's right; we were nominated for the "General Excellence" category, and the winner will be announced next weekend. Keep your fingers crossed for us! The folks at Utne also flash copies of Bitch around a few times in this video (do you think they're trying to tell us that we're lowbrow?):
Lots of twelve-year olds are crazy about dinosaurs, and who can blame them? Dinosaurs are awesome. Rarely, however, does a twelve-year old come along who supports her entire family with her knowledge of dinosaurs, and then goes on to become one of the world's most influential fossil hunters. Mary Anning, the subject of this week's installment of Adventures in Feministory, did just that -- and more! Let's learn about her, shall we?
Born in 1799 in Lyme Regis on the Southern coast of England, Mary Anning started life off with a bang, literally. At fifteen months old, she was the sole survivor of a group of people that was struck by lightning. One of only two of her ten siblings that lived to maturity (yikes, England sucked in 1799), Anning took after her fossil-hunting father and was interested in dinosaurs beginning at a very young age. When he died in 1811 (see what I meant about England sucking back then?) twelve-year old Mary took over the Anning family bread-winning responsibilities by selling fossils she found in the cliffs near their home.
Did this plucky twelve-year old fossil hunter go on to discover the world's first full ichthyosaur and plesiosaur skeletons? Is she the subject of a famous tongue twister? The answers to these questions and more, after the jump!
Mother's Day is this Sunday, and while we're sure your mom can't wait to spend some quality time with you, one organization is hoping you'll
do a little more than shell out for brunch and a movie with your own
maternal unit. Bay Area microcharity Help a Mother Out was formed when
two local mothers — one of whom is former Bitch editor and eternal
Friend of Bitch Rachel Fudge — began hearing about the growing numbers
of homeless women and children in the state, and the difficulty of
women's centers and shelters in affording diapers and other hygiene
necessities.
During the 1990s, while still in high school, Ariel Schrag produced a number of autobiographical comics — Awkward, about her freshman year, Definition, about her sophomore year, and Potential, about her junior year. The series started off as a relatively light, entertaining look at high school life — crushes, getting drunk, obsessing about bands, hanging out with friends. Over the course of the three books, however, Schrag dealt with more and more fraught material: her parent’s divorce, her coming out, and finally her devastating relationship and break-up with her girlfriend, Sally.
Schrag finished the writing and drawing for Likewise, about her senior year, soon after she graduated from high school, but then college and life — including a stint writing for the L-word — intervened. She didn’t complete the inking for another decade. The book was finally published by Touchstone this year. I spoke to Schrag about it on May 1.
Organized by a woman-owned sex-toy shop in Toronto, Ontario and located in a church, the Feminist Porn Awards just might win the title of most ironic award competition, uh, ever—and maybe the most outrageously fun and sexy one too!
Hooray! It's Friday, the sun is shining (somewhere), and the US House of Representatives has passed the Hate Crimes bill! Says Congressman Wm. Lacy Clay (D) of Missouri:
"This bill is a powerful statement that hate has no place in America. It brings existing Federal hate crimes law into the 21st century by broadening it to include crimes motivated by gender, sexual orientation and disability."
Spread the word! Hate has no place in America, and crimes motivated by gender do indeed count as hate crimes. (What? They weren't love crimes? Who knew?) In all seriousness though, this is great news. Now all those haters out there (I'm talking to you, Virginia Foxx) can shove it. (And go to jail for it.)
Spring is in the air – flowers are blooming, people are humming and folks are falling in and out of love. Here’s a soundtrack for change....
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