blogs

Tits and Sass is a blog written and run by sex workers who saw a void when it came to a smart, witty response to the public image of the sex industry.  The ideas promoted about sex workers in the public eye have as much an impact on the realities of the lives of sex workers as the law. For this reason, one of the site's co-creators, Charlotte, says, "we’re not letting any more dead hooker or stripper bones jokes pass by without comment."

Contributors come from different backgrounds and locations across the country. They work as strippers, porn performers, pro-dommes, and prostitutes—work that supports the 100% volunteer operation. "[Tits and Sass] is our space for calling out pop culture fails, celebrating sex worker culture, and talking shop."

Bitch had the opportunity recently to ask the site's creators a few questions about Tits and Sass. Their answers (and an NSFW photo) after the jump!

Having trouble getting through your Friday? Take a break and check out what we've been reading web-side this week.

• Meryl Streep was one of millions of disappointed women to hear that two Republican senators are holding up approval of a National Women's History Museum in Washington, D.C. because they think there will be a pro-choice slant to exhibits there. Jezebel is covering the story, and NYT columnist Gail Collins logged her support early this week as well.
• Colorlines has launched a powerful campaign to Drop the I-Word. Join the fight against oppressive, hate-feeding language here.
• The Nation posted several feminist articles on their site this week: An extensive piece on women in the Republican party; one on women in the Democratic party; and a piece by Feministing's Jessica Valenti on the commandeering of the word "feminist" in right-wing politcs lately.
• The United Nations this week sent an official to the Democratic Republic of the Congo to investigate the huge numbers of civilians raped over a period of three days this summer by various armed rebel groups.
• U.S. Census data was released this week, showing, among other things, that the marriage rate is at its lowest point in 150 years of data-gathering. Brangelina-esque protest, perhaps?
• RIP Sally Menke, Oscar-nominated film editor who edited Quentin Tarantino's best-known films.
• And finally, it's Banned Books Week, as Ashley pointed out on Sunday. Check here for events in your area!

What caught your eye this week? Tell us in the comments!

Covert missive from Bitch HQ, bringing you the best and brightest from our travels on the interwebs this week.

We're back again! We're rounding up some of the most interesting things we read this week on another edition of On Our Radar.

• On Salon, Tracy Clark-Flory highlights the Menstruation Machine, an art project designed by Japanese artist Hiromi Ozaki. The machine is "fitted with a blood dispensing mechanism and lower-abdomen-stimulating electrodes" to mimic the effects of menstruation. Woah.

• Lisa Factora-Borchers responds to Greta Christina's recent Alternet piece, Five Things Society Unfarily Expects of Men on Ecdysis.

• On Transgriot, Monica Roberts compares the fate of flight attendant/folk hero Steven Slater to a flight attendant that made headlines in 2008. Brown, a black woman, "was according to her attorney thrown against a first class lavatory door and elbowed in her breast" by Victoria Osteen, co-paster of Texas-based evangelical megachurch Lakewood Church.

• I, for one, am pretty bummed about Cathy ending. Alan Gardner interviews the creator of the comic strip, Cathy Guisewite, on The Daily Cartoonist.

• Ralph Blumenthal investigates the disturbing rise in untested rape kits for the September issue of Marie Claire. The story is available online here.

• Lesley Kinzel dissects Nikki Blonsky's recent announcement of a scholarship in her name to "'the longest running' fat camp in the US" and obligatory the blow-up on the Huge Facebook page on Fatshionista.

• After years of speculation surrounding her sexual orientation, photographs of Queen Latifah embracing her personal trainer and purported partner surfaced this weekend. On Colorlines, Jamilah King writes on why we shouldn't force her to come out publicly.

• On Threadbared, Minh-Ha T. Pham interviews Thuy Linh N. Tu, the author of The Beautiful Generation: Asian Americans and the Cultural Economy of Fashion.

• Sociological Images' Gwen Sharp looks at the curious history of Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer.

• Holly Ord delves into the mixed representations of Jessica Simpson in popular culture on Women's Eye on Media.

Find something that piqued your interest this week? Leave it in the comments section!

What a week! Sara Kantner and I rounded up some of the most interesting things we read in another installment of On Our Radar! Click through for thorough round-up.