No Alt Text Defined Click to Subscribe Now Click to give a gift Click to Renew Your Subscription Click to get a digital subscription Click to make a donation Click to buy the current issue

books

Out today! A Q&A with Agorafabulous! author Sara Benincasa

Books post by Andi Zeisler on February 14, 2012 - 9:54am; tagged Agorafabulous!, books, funny women, Sara Benincasa.
The Agorafabulous book cover, featuring Benincasa in a red dress in a small room/box, looking scared at the cameraMany of us have, at some point, asserted that we “don’t feel like leaving the house.” It may take a few days, several long naps, and many hours of Criminal Minds reruns, but eventually most of us manage to get out the front door and back to our regularly-scheduled lives. Sara Benincasa, not so much. You may know Benincasa from the spot-on Sarah Palin impression  she perfected back in 2008, or perhaps from her take on a vlogging Peggy Olson.  Perhaps you’re heard the sex-and-relationship show she formerly hosted for Cosmo Radio on Sirius XMchannel, or tuned in to the more mental-health-focused “Sex and Other Human Activities,” podcast she currently hosts with fellow funny person Marcus Parks. Or maybe you’ve seen her sharing a bathtub with luminaries like Margaret Cho and Donald Glover on her web chat show, Gettin’ Wet with Sara Benincasa. 

But, as revealed in Benincasa’s new memoir, getting out in the world has been both more difficult and more mordantly funny than you might imagine. Based on her one-woman show of the same name, Agorafabulous! Dispatches from My Bedroom is the story of how one girl’s anxious, clenched-sphincter childhood blossomed into adolescent panic attacks and then, as a college student, into full-blown agoraphobia. Along the way, there’s public embarrassment (Benincasa’s panic attacks curtail a school trip to the beach, to the chagrin of a tanning-obsessed gaggle of New Jersey mean girls), family confusion (at the hight of a panic attack, she subjects her mother to four and a half hours of the same Dave Matthews Band song) and cereal bowls full of urine (at a particularly challenging juncture during college, she developed a fear of toilets.)

There’s also a revelation: This is not a recovery narrative, and Benincasa isn’t cured by a new medication, a folksy Robin Williams-esque medical figure, or the love of her life. She’s here, she’s got irrational fear, she’s used to it.

Read
0 comments

Bibliobitch: Do You Have a Literary New Year's Resolution?

Books post by Kelsey Wallace on January 4, 2012 - 2:09pm; tagged BiblioBitch, books, New Year's.
gray cat reading a bookOne of my 2012 resolutions is to get back in the books game. I'm resolving to read two new(ish) books a month, even if it means cutting down on the number of TV episode recaps I read online. What about you? Do you have any literary resolutions (or suggestions for contemporary books to add to my growing list)?
Read
15 comments

Mom & Pop Culture: Gender is NOT a Genre

Social Commentary post by Avital Norman N... on December 14, 2011 - 12:37pm; tagged books, gender, kids, Parenting.
With gender stereotypes pervading our TVs, movies, toys, clothes, etc., can't we just have kids' books without adding more labels?

Cover of The Boys' Summer BookCover of The Girls' Summer Book
Read
4 comments

Bitch Radio: Jaclyn Friedman Wants to Help You Find What You Really Really Want

Feminist Podcast post by Deb Jannerson on November 18, 2011 - 1:32pm; tagged audio, books, enthusiastic consent, interview, Jaclyn Friedman, nonfiction, sexuality, The Spice Girls.

Photo of Jaclyn Friedman from the shoulders up. Jaclyn is a white woman with very curly brown hair and a tattoo on her left shoulder that says "brave." She is smiling slightly.

Given all the conflicting messages young women get about their sexuality from all sides—media, church, family, friends, and more—how do we figure out what we want to say "yes" to in the first place?

So begins Jaclyn Friedman's fabulous new workbook. What You Really Really Want: The Smart Girl's Shame-Free Guide to Sex and Safety sets out to help readers move toward sex lives that are as personally fulfilling as possible. I sat down with Jaclyn at the 2011 Roots of Change Conference to talk about  her hopes for the book, sexual autonomy, pop culture, surviving haterdom, and whether that title is what you think it is. Care to listen in?

Read
2 comments

In the Frame: Female Artists in Literature, From Brontë to Woolf

Art and Design post by Polly Allen on November 9, 2011 - 12:16pm; tagged art, books, Brontë sisters, characters we love, fiction, Jane Eyre, nuns, Virginia Woolf.
book cover of tenant of wildfell hall: a painting of a white woman with pulled back hairGreat artists don’t just have to exist in galleries. Books have given us some really inspirational pre- or post-feminist characters that are good at art, and this liberates them either emotionally or physically. What unites them is their independent thinking, as they are determined to go against the grain and not end up like their peers, bitter or vacuous. Some examples here are from classic novels, such as Jane Eyre, where art is a form of escapism for our heroine, whereas in Andrew Davidson’s modern novel The Gargoyle we find a sculptress whose work is so consuming that it leaves her exhausted. Whatever the situation, it is clear that these women take their art seriously—it’s not just a hobby to keep them occupied before they’re whisked off by Prince Charming. This is so much better than a fairytale.
Read
4 comments

BiblioBitch: Dorianne Laux and the Poetry of the Everyday

Books post by Katie Presley on October 26, 2011 - 12:16pm; tagged BiblioBitch, books, dorianne laux, poetry.

Biblio Bitch

Dorianne Laux's fifth book of poetry, The Book of Men, was released earlier this year. Spoiler alert: It is NOT ACTUALLY A BOOK OF MEN. It is a book of earth, and sex, and war, and food, and even a book of Cher. Yep. Cher. After reading The Book of Men I immersed myself in Laux's other books, and have emerged remembering what is best about reading poems.

Read
0 comments

Bibliobitch: Who Is Ana Mendieta?... Now at BitchMart!

Books post by Kjerstin Johnson on September 29, 2011 - 11:23am; tagged Ana Mendieta, art, BitchMart, books, feminism, shop.
Caron's depiction of Ana Mendieta, who sits, shirt unbuttoned, in between the legs of a skeleton whose hand reaches between her legsThe latest book to grace the shelves of Bitch’s virtual bookstore is Who is Ana Mendieta?. Part comic book, part eulogy, and part social critique, this book is a unique graphic retelling of the life and legacy of conceptual and land artist Ana Mendieta by artists Christine Redfern and Caro Caron.
Read
0 comments

Preacher's Daughter: Q&A with Lesbian Christian Singer-Songwriter Jennifer Knapp

Music post by Kristin Rawls on September 20, 2011 - 12:26pm; tagged books, Christianity, compulsory heterosexuality, female songwriters, femininity, folk music, gender, homophobia, lesbian, lesbian activism, LGBT, LGBTQ, lilith fair, religion.

In May, Religion Dispatches published my first interview with former darling of the Christian contemporary music scene, lesbian singer-songwriter Jennifer Knapp. Then over the summer, I got to meet and interview Knapp in person while covering the Wild Goose Festival, an event that celebrated (predominantly Christian) spirituality, justice, and art. We talked a bit about the limitations of Christian music, feminism and sexuality on the same day she filmed the "It Gets Better" video below. I'll be critiquing some evangelical Christian music later in the series, so I'm very excited to share unpublished parts of our interview with you here today: 

Read
4 comments

Bibliobitch: A Q&A with the Editors of The Revolution Starts at Home

Books post by Kjerstin Johnson on August 18, 2011 - 11:11am; tagged BiblioBitch, books, the revolution starts at home.

bibliobitch logo
The cover of The Revolution Starts At Home featuring an illustration by Christy Road of two people of color, one with short, boyish hair and one with long flowing hair, hold hands and look into each other's eyesThe Revolution Starts at Home: Confronting Intimate Violence Within Activist Communities is an incredible anthology (that started as a zine) out from South End Press providing essays, accounts, and testimonials about challenging assumptions about interpersonal violence while constructing and sharing new paths to healing and accountability.

Ching-In Chen and Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha, two of the three intrepid co-editors of the book, took some time from their busy schedules to answer some questions about the book, and shared some incredible organizations and resources that inspire them, including several mentioned in the book. Read on!

Read
1 comment

BiblioBitch: Stop it with the Monster Mashups Already!

Books post by Kelsey Wallace on August 10, 2011 - 2:12pm; tagged BiblioBitch, books, monster mashup.
cover of grave expectations. a young white man wearing blue is starting to turn into a werewolf by sprouting dog ears and a beardYesterday, we received a copy of Grave Expectations: The Classic Tale of Love, Ambition, and Howling at the Moon in the mail. Yes, it's another monster mashup—a book created by taking a well-known story and adding a supernatural blood-and-guts-fest. Now I'll admit to chuckling at the first of these, Seth Grahame-Smith's Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, but the two years since then have given rise to untold numbers of these slapped-together stories and ENOUGH IS ENOUGH ALREADY.
Read
7 comments
  • « first
  • ‹ previous
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
  • 7
  • 8
  • next ›
  • last »
Syndicate content

SheBop: A Female Friendly Sex Toy BoutiqueSmitten Kitten: A Feminist Sex Toy Store for Everyone, 20% off, code: Bitch20Lunapads: Why ditch the disposables? Click here to watch a videoSponsorship Ad: "Cloth Pads and Mentrual Cups - sale!" Melissa Frdericks new album is called The Truth Is preview it now Goddard CollegeQuarter Moon Imports
Sponsorship Ad: "Sex and Death"

Audio Smut

Newsletter signup

Receive a monthly B-Mail in your inbox for special updates, deals, and news from Bitch Media

Bitch magazine issues Join the Bitch Beehive Get involved with Bitch Bitch Store Bitch on Facebook Bitch on Twitter Bitch Podcasts Bitch Tapes Bitch Links Bitch on Flickr Bitch Video Download Bitch Badges

Have an idea for the blog? Click here to contact us!

Recent comments

  • This is so controversial.But
    Gross Reddit Relationship Advice Book Raises $16,000
    vegasplayer (not verified)
  • pick up
    Gross Reddit Relationship Advice Book Raises $16,000
    vegasplayer (not verified)
  • I get nice needs from it all
    Bridal Party: Tale of a Tomboy Bride
    cashmere jacket (not verified)
  • Reply to comment | Bitch Media
    On the Map: Is CouchSurfing.org Safe for Women?
    minecraft hacks (not verified)
  • New York State Assembly to vote on not using condoms as evidence
    On Our Radar: Today's Feminist News Roundup
    Victoria Law
Welcome!Login or Register
Bitch Magazine
  • About Us
    • Book: Bitchfest
      • Bitchfest reviews
    • Boards and Councils
      • Board of Directors & Advisory Board
    • Contact
    • Customer Service
    • Events
    • FAQs
      • About the Website
      • About the Magazine
      • About Subscriptions and Merchandise
      • About Getting Involved
    • Get Involved
      • B-mail Signup
      • Internships & Volunteering
      • Contribute to Bitch magazine
      • Become a B-Hive member
      • Sponsorship/Ads
      • Host a house party
    • History
    • Lending Library
    • Press
    • Sponsorship/Ads
    • Staff
    • Store Policies
    • Speakers
  • Blogs
    • Bitch Blog!
    • Guest Blogs
      • Gabrielle Moss: Women Aren't Funny
      • Victoria Law: Girls of Color in Dystopia
      • Yoonj Kim: Model Media
    • Books
    • Movies
    • Music
    • TV
    • Ms. Opinionated Advice Column
    • Comments Policy
    • Subscribe to Feed of All Posts (RSS)
    • Got a Blog Pitch?
  • Bitch Magazine
    • Current Issue: Micro/Macro
    • Articles
    • Back Issues
    • Change of Address
    • Contributor's Guidelines
    • Customer Service
    • Subscribe
  • Podcasts
  • Donate
    • Donate
    • Join the B-Hive
    • B-Keepers Membership
    • Our Donors
    • Why Give?
    • Customer Service
  • Shop
  • Donate
  • About Us
    • Book: Bitchfest
      • Bitchfest reviews
    • Boards and Councils
      • Board of Directors & Advisory Board
    • Contact
    • Customer Service
    • Events
    • FAQs
      • About the Website
      • About the Magazine
      • About Subscriptions and Merchandise
      • About Getting Involved
    • Get Involved
      • B-mail Signup
      • Internships & Volunteering
      • Contribute to Bitch magazine
      • Become a B-Hive member
      • Sponsorship/Ads
      • Host a house party
    • History
    • Lending Library
    • Press
    • Sponsorship/Ads
    • Staff
    • Store Policies
    • Speakers
  • Blogs
    • Bitch Blog!
    • Guest Blogs
      • Gabrielle Moss: Women Aren't Funny
      • Victoria Law: Girls of Color in Dystopia
      • Yoonj Kim: Model Media
    • Books
    • Movies
    • Music
    • TV
    • Ms. Opinionated Advice Column
    • Comments Policy
    • Subscribe to Feed of All Posts (RSS)
    • Got a Blog Pitch?
  • Bitch Magazine
    • Current Issue: Micro/Macro
    • Articles
    • Back Issues
    • Change of Address
    • Contributor's Guidelines
    • Customer Service
    • Subscribe
  • Podcasts
  • Donate
    • Donate
    • Join the B-Hive
    • B-Keepers Membership
    • Our Donors
    • Why Give?
    • Customer Service
  • Shop
  • facebook.png Facebook
  • myspace_icon.png MySpace
  • stumbleit.png StumbleUpon
  • youtube_icon.png YouTube
  • delicious_icon.jpg del.icio.us
  • flickr_icon_.jpg Flickr
  • Follow us on Twitter Twitter
  • Google Plus Google+
© 2013 Bitch Media