This season Project Runway welcomed its first-ever Native American designer, textile artist Patricia Michaels. The show raps up tonight and the Taos, New Mexico designer is one of the final three competitors.
But whether Michaels wins or loses tonight, having her viewpoint and hand-crafted talents highlighted on one of the most popular shows on TV has been, quite honestly, a welcome change from several recent factory-made fashion appropriations of Native American culture.
On August 16, 2006, a group of young, gay black women were hanging out in New York City's West Village when a man approached and started harassing them. The man, Dwayne Buckle, followed the women, saying things like "I'll fuck you straight." They tried to ignore him and walk away, but he pursued, grabbing at his crotch and continuing to hurl insults. Finally they confronted him and a fight broke out. One of the women had hair pulled out, another was choked by Buckle on the ground. Two passerbys came over to stop Buckle, who ended up being stabbed and spent five days in the hospital.
We're down to the final three competitors in this season of RuPaul's Drag Race. Each of the trio has the crown and cash directly in their crosshairs, yet this week had to compete in challenges as rigorous as they were random. Will the winner be Alaska the all-around pro, Jinkx the jester, or Roxxxy the... um... hair choreographer? Read my illustrated recap of the show's best moments below!
Are you a criminal? Let me be specific: have you committed the civil offense of working in the United States without papers? Have you thwarted our nation of laws through heinous acts of unauthorized fruit picking? How about using your degree from UC Berkeley to perform renegade statistical analysis? Are you one of the 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the United States?
Things are shaky and spooky in Vanessa Renwick’s short films. Watching her films, I’m never really sure where I am or why I’m there or what will happen, but I’m compelled to go along for the ride. Renwick, now 51, shot many of her tiny films on hand-held film cameras in late eighties and early nineties, drawing on her own wildly varied life experiences for subject matter.
Goodmorning and happy almost weekend! Here's the news we've been reading at the Bitch HQ:
Neuroplasticity is kind of amazing. And this story about a quadriplegic man who learns to orgasm through his thumb is one example of how sex can be so much more than what we think it can if we just open our minds. [Huffington Post]
Personally, I was shocked when the Steubenville rapists were found guilty. I've gotten cynical about prosecution of rape—so few cases lead to punishment that I was excited and surprised to learn that, this time, the legal system worked.
Being a Black, female music journalist, I have to admit that I’ve only written and published one article about a Black female musician in my entire career. Being an American journalist in general, it’s very hard to be able to cover Black musicians that are not huge pop stars like Rihanna and Beyonce. I don’t want to write about Rihanna and Beyonce! I want to write about women who paved the way for today’s biggest African American female musicians.
A lot has been said about Mad Men's Betty Draper, from her cold demeanor to her role as a lonely housewife, but love her or hate her, she is a complex character functioning within a system that leaves her dissatisfied.
In the early seasons of Mad Men, Betty has pretty much only one outlet to help her to cope with her unfulfilling life: horseback riding. What do horses give her that being a wife and mother cannot?
• Dartmouth College students angry about recent incidents of sexual assault, homophobia, and racism on campus busted into a school chanting "Dartmouth has a problem!" [The Dartmouth]
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