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Happy Birthday, Frances Perkins! Four Ways to Celebrate the Mother of the American Labor Movement's Birthday.

Bitch HQ post by Ashley McAllister on April 10, 2013 - 10:23am; tagged Frances Perkins.

Frances Perkins was born 133 years ago today. We're big fans of Perkins here at Bitch HQ. Here's what the back of our Frances Perkins coffee mugs have to say about the incredible woman: "The first woman appointed to a presidential cabinet, Frances Perkins served as the United States Secretary of Labor from 1933 to 1945. She was instrumental in bringing the labor movement into the New Deal coalition, and was also a force behind passing the Fair Labor Act, which established laws governing minimum wage, overtime, and a 40-hour workweek."

We thought we'd offer a few suggestions for how to honor the mother of the American labor movement's birthday.

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Why Do "Good Girls" Need to "Go Bad"?

Model Media post by Yoonj Kim on April 10, 2013 - 9:57am; tagged Britney Spears, jennifer lawrence, Selena Gomez, Spring Breakers, Vanessa Hudgens.

selena gomez

In the entertainment industry, young female stars face a unique rite of passage: the performance for which they'll bare it all. It is ironic that for a young starlet to make the transformation to a “serious” performer, she is expected to show some skin.

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On Our Radar: Today's Feminist News Roundup

Bitch HQ post by Emilly Prado on April 10, 2013 - 8:36am; tagged cultural appropriation, cyberbullying, guns in school, privilege, rape, Talib Kweli, twerking.

Rise and shine! It's time to check out some of our favorite recent reads and wish a happy birthday to Dolores Huerta!

Did you see that Miley Cyrus video and her quest to trend #MCTwerkTeam? Here's a look into how privilege plays into the appropriation of twerking and ratchet. [YouTube, Racialicious]
After another trans* woman applies to Smith College, she is denied admission as those before her. [Autostraddle]
When Rosa Clemente and Talib Kweli debated about Rick Ross' rape lyrics, Kweli fell into the age-old habit of some serious mansplaining and masculine agression to assert his own ideas. He claimed to be an "ally" of women in hip hop, but missed the mark. Dr. Brittney Cooper lays out how five ways Kweli can become a better ally. [Huffington Post, Crunk Feminist Collective]
Yesterday was Equal Pay Day. Now, what's the exact cost that comes with being born female? A new study (and this infographic) say it's approximately $849,000. [Nerdy Feminist]
Jamia Wilson talks about the "inevitable rite of passage" that is experiencing racism as a Black girl in the U.S. [Rookie]
After being raped and relentlessly cyberbullied, a teenage girl is dead after tragically commiting suicide at the age of 17. [Gender Focus]
In light of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting that occured this past December, there's been a lot of talk about arming school officials with weapons. Here's why having guns in school in a bad idea for children. [Slate]
When President Obama called California Attorney General Kamala Harris the "best looking attorney general by far," many were upset over the comment and its reduction of Harris to her physical appearance. These are just three reasons to pay attention to Harris for her politics and not her looks. [Colorlines]

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Nine Graphs That Show Babies Aren't Solely to Blame for the Wage Gap

News post by Sarah Mirk on April 9, 2013 - 4:40pm; tagged equal pay, Equal Pay Day, Parenting, Race, wage gap.

dollar bill showing wage gap

Today is Equal Pay Day, the day that the average woman in America has now made as much as the average man did in 2012. With women earning about 78 percent of men, our fiscal year needs an extra three months to make up the difference.

However, some people continue to argue that we don't have a wage gap. Instead, the discrepancy in wages between white men and all other people in America is due to motherhood. But all sorts of statistics pin the blame on far more sinister foes than babies; looking at the hard numbers, it's undeniable that racism and sexism are a core part of American economics.

Check out these nine graphs showing how motherhood is not solely to blame for the wage gap.

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Do Horses Heal?

Reverse Cowgirl post by Ashley Wells on April 9, 2013 - 3:18pm; tagged horses, movies, The Horse Whisperer, therapy, violence.

Scarlet getting on her horse in the horse whisperer

There are two types of cowgirl narratives: Ones with plucky girls whose horses are a symbolic extension of their inner strength (see: Brave, National Velvet) and ones where girls feel unsure in the world and connect with horses who are also healing from some kind of trauma. We talk a lot about how horses help girls with wild hearts, but how is healing a horse like healing a woman?

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They Say I’m Different: Black Women Rockers Rev their Engines in the Motor City

Music post by Laina Dawes on April 9, 2013 - 12:41pm; tagged Betty Davis, Jessica Care Moore.

Betty Davis wearing thigh-high boots and short shors

The astounding Betty Davis.

At the time of this writing, singer Betty Davis is most likely in the comfort of her Pittsburgh home, not having any idea of the recent concert that took place in her honor.

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On Our Radar: Today's Feminist News Roundup

News post by Allison Curtis on April 9, 2013 - 9:14am; tagged Margaret Thatcher, plan b.

Happy Tuesday! Here's some feminist news to start off your day.

After her death yesterday, Margaret Thatcher’s life as a pop culture inspiration and feminist have been widely discussed and debated. [Salon]

In case you missed it, last Friday a federal judge overturned a law that required those under the age of 16 to have a prescription in order to purchase the emergency contraceptive pill. [Mother Jones, Ms. Magazine]

Brad Paisley might be an accidental racist, or he at least sings a song about being one. [Jezebel]

A bill in Kansas that defines life as the "moment of fertilization" passed in both the state House and Senate and has been sent to the Governor of Kansas to be signed into law. [Ms. Magazine]

This article from The Feminist Wire re-examines the subject of black women’s hair. [The Feminist Wire]

JCPenney CEO and gay advocate Ron Johnson was fired and is to be replaced by his predecessor. Johnson supported Ellen DeGeneres as the spokesperson for the company and used gay couples in advertisements. [Advocate]

Michigan Governor Rick Snyder refused to get involved when a member of the state’s Republican National Committee made offensive comments about gay people on Facebook. Instead, he made vague statements condemning discrimination and bullying. [Think Progress]

Although more women may be entering the construction workforce, construction sites tend to be unpleasant work environments for this new population of employees. [Womanisms]