Along with hot pink and oversize handbags, women's magazines are pushing a new trend this season: lesbianism. At least, that is the impression given by this article in this month's O Magazine (featured also today on CNN.com).
The article, entitled "Why Women Are Leaving Men For Other Women," deals with well, exactly what it sounds like it would deal with. While it's a great thing that a mainstream magazine like O is apparently making an effort to normalize same-sex relationships, it's hard not to feel a little weird about the way the author (Mary A. Fischer) treats lesbianism and sexual fluidity as a fun, sexy, new trend that is all the rage this season. (What's next? Flashy new mood rings that change color based on your gender identity?)
You don’t have to look further than "Girl Fuck: An introduction to girl-on-girl lovin’" to see that Erika Moen is all about sex, and completely unafraid to talk about it. The 16-page zine is a starter course for those clueless in non-hetero girl sex, and includes some guidelines from Gender Bending 101. Her work is in the Best Erotic Comics of 2008 and her comic "Silver Bullet" was in the second True Porn Anthology, another erotic comics collection.
But her work isn't all tits and wiggles (rhymes with shits and giggles? No? Okay). Her 2004 self-published "I like Girls" is Moen’s intensely personal story on falling in love with a girl for the first time and the intimidating task of telling her family. Read on for cunts, cartoons, and controversy...NSFW what!
In recognition of the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, here are two artists whose projects offer an intriguing comment on very different aspects of a world in peril. The works of Agnes Deses and Cornelia Hesse-Honegger, whether calls to action or sober documentation of the realities faced by the modern world, are unflinching in their honesty, and seek to infuse art with activism.
Read more after the jump!
What a day! Two for one? Today's installment of Rad Ladies Who Draw Comics will feature TWO women comic artists! I was drawn to both these women for their quirky illustrations--Knisley has a whole series of small prints which depict everything from the Bronte sisters to Mulder and Scully.
Bay Area-based Angie Wang also places women in the forefront of her work, more often than not placed women in the forefront (be it destroying a city, birthing a watermelon, or just being Velma Dinkley)
Did you watch the preview of the Real Housewives of New Jersey yet? Five women, three of whom are related by blood, marriage, or both, and all of whom are implied to have possible mob connections (or at least mob pretentions). One of them, Dina, is married to the younger brother of her sister's husband, and works in the combined family's event planning business. Dina spends most of the RHONJ preview episode telling everyone how rich she is, how unpleasant she is to work for, and terrorizing her assistants and family, all of whom "affectionately" refer to her as a bitch. Dina's response: "If you think I'm a bitch, then bring it on." Intriguing, right? Click through if you want to hear about Dina's previous reality TV gig!
Upon completion of Wetlands by Charlotte Roche, two major questions remain unanswered for me. First, what is it exactly about this book that made it the first German-language book to ever become the number-one Amazon.com bestseller, worldwide? And second: What in the name of Mary Wollestonecraft does a one-joke grossout book have to do with feminism?
L.A.-based Kim and Alice Talon released their first full-length album Thracian on iTunes April 9. Drawing comparisons to Sleater-Kinney and Mission of Burma, Eagle and Talon can be found all over the internets and in publications like Bust. Though their roots are very DIY (they found each other through Craigslist), Eagle and Talon are about to make it into the living rooms of tweens and teens (and okay, probably some 20-somethings and other adults, too) all over America with a performance on tonight's episode of 90210. Read (and hear and watch) more after the jump!
Did you watch the preview of 
.gif)
.gif)
