feminism

Welcome to "Ms. Opinionated," Bitch's new advice column, in which readers have questions about the pesky day-to-day choices we all face, and I give advice about how to makes ones that (hopefully) best reflect our shared commitment to feminist values—as well as advice on what to do when they don't.

First up: What do you do with a boyfriend who pooh-poohs your commitment to feminism because "men and women are totally equal now"?

There is a special face-shaped dent in many a feminist's desk thanks to the writings of Katie Roiphe. She's at it again today ("it" being a short-sighted, wrongheaded take on modern feminism) with her latest article, "The Mockery Feminists."

Hello, and welcome to the inaugural post of our new series Feminist Fistbump, where we offer up props to those warriors fighting for gender equality today! Our first Fistbump goes out to advertising consultant, startup guru, and all-around badass Cindy Gallop.

Have you been keeping up with the Olympics? If you have, then this has surely been an exciting week. Other things have been exciting too though. Here's what we've been reading/watching.

• Smile, it makes you seem less threatening. Racially biased commentary in the Olympics is a thing, but if you just shrug it off and smile real big, it's okay, right? Ummm, no. But look, Gabby Douglas led the U.S. Gymnastics team to gold victory, so basically, skeptical (read: racist) commentators should back the heck up. [The Crunk Feminist Collective]
• Send Dear White People to the Tribeca Film Institute! They're well ahead of everyone, but just in case something happens, get your vote in by 5pm tonight! [IndieWire]
• Recession Art at CULTUREfix presents Still Figuring it Out: a feminist coming-of-age, an exhibition and event curated by Ana Cecelia Alvarez running from August 9th-12th in New York City! [Recession Art]
• Orientalism still runs rampant—check out this critique of Orientalist fantasies in contemporary travel narratives. [Racialicious]
• In case you need more reasons to despise Arizona's state legislation, their new abortion ban (with the earliest gestational age restriction in the nation) just went into effect. Great. [Ms. Blog]
• After some much merited cringing, Bitch contributor, Audra Schroeder shows you how NOT to write about female musicians. [Dallas Observer]
• Gore Vidal passed away this week. Here are some important thoughts about his life and his questionable values that you might not have been previously aware of. [Tiger Beatdown]
• Nicki Minaj is so close to being the perfect feminist–what's holding her back? [AlterNet]
• Check out this conversation with queer, feminist, Texas Rep. Mary Gonzalez–she's changing the face of politics, and she's also the sweetest! [Autostraddle]
• Kai Davis and Safi Niara of Philly Youth Poetry Movement absolutely KILLED it (as usual) at Brave New Voices, 2012 last week. I actually shouted "yes" at my screen multiple times while watching this. Perfection. Seriously, watch this immediately. The after you watch it once, watch it again. In fact, I will leave it here for you just to make it easier. [YouthSpeaks]

What have you been reading, musing, raging, or raving about this week? Share your thoughts in the comments!

This has been a week, and now it's Friday, so turn on your television and let's get these Summer Games crackin'!

• Did you hear? The Olympics start today! Oh, and Caster Semenya gets to carry the South African flag in the opening ceremony! Who's excited? We are! [Colorlines]
• Yes! Sasheer Zamata's video about meeting her flasher is pure gold–super spot-on social commentary, plus, she's just hilarious. [Punch!]
• A model with Down Syndrome is being featured in a children's swim catalogue. Is this a "progressive" ploy or geniune want for and real step towards diversity in ability amongst models? [xoJane]
• This week in sexism and the Olypics: Leisel Jones is no stranger to the summer games—she has some world records, a bunch of medals, and basically, she's awesome, but all people can talk about is her weight. Seriously? Step off. [Feministing]
• Take a look at this super informative, and deeply saddening inforgraphic about women and HIV/AIDS. [Ms. Blog]
• Check out this fascinating interview with Keelin Godsey, the first out American trans person to to be a serious Olympic contender. Unfortunately, it did not work out this year, but maybe 2016? We can hope. [Feministe]
• The panelists for The Queerness of Hip-Hop/The Hip-Hop of Queerness symposium at Harvard University were just announced! [QOOH]
• Is it Girl Scout season yet? I could go for a box or five of some Thin Mints. Learn about the history of the cookies you love so much! [Collectors Weekly]
• The Miss Zee Coloring Book is being created to empower underrepresented girls of color, but it can't happen without your help! This is important! [Kickstarter]
• Viola Davis on what to expect from the Barbara Jordan biopic, plus, what critics of black actors don't understand. [IndieWire]
• Help Autostraddle build a better Autostraddle! Really, donate or buy some merch, any little bit counts! [Autostraddle]
• The Visibility Project, a national portrait and video project seeking to bring presence and representation to the queer Asian and Pacific Islander communities, who we've featured on the blog, are looking for more folks to participate in New York until August 7th! They'll also be in Portland on August 11th! [The Visibility Project]
• Portland update: The 12th annual Portland Zine Symposium is in two weeks! Come support local artists and all sorts of DIY awesomeness!

What have you been reading, musing, raging, or raving about this week? Share your thoughts in the comments!

You know when you come across a super rad zine artist and you're really into their work, then you casually waltz into a comic shop, and you find one or two of their zines from years and years ago, but you get pretty bummed that the zine and comic shops in your area don't have a sufficient selection, so you scour the Internet but can only find so many other things, then you realize you've wasted hours looking for who has the lowest shipping costs? You then proceed to read every interview with them, you learn all you can about their life, then you step back for a minute, and it hits you—maybe you're a little obsessed with the artist and you feel weird about it, but you end up e-mailing them professing your undying love for them and their work anyway? Please tell me this isn't something only I go through.

Regardless, starting right here, right now, I will be taking you on a journey, showing you why I love three incredible queer zine artists, and why you should love them too.

First up:  Edie Fake!

This has been another week! Here's what we've been reading.

• s.e. smith weighs in on the tragic shooting in Colorado this morning, asking why we blame "crazy" people for acts of violence. [xoJane]
• Check out this awesome and super insightful dialogue on the intersections of race and feminism and more! [Tiger Beatdown]
• Oh, I'm cringing right now. Longtime Google executive, and new CEO of Yahoo, Marissa Mayer, believes in equal rights, and that women are just as capable, if not more capable than men in many dimensions, but doesn't identify as a feminist because she doesn't have "militant drive" and a chip on her shoulder??? Get with it, Marissa! Where the heck would you even be right now without feminism? These "opportunities" for women you speak of weren't just handed to us. [Feministing]
• Mike Le discusses frustrations with the lack of Asian and Asian American characters in Joss Whedon's shows. [Racebending]
• This week in Olympic athlete discrimination: Highest ranked Olympic weightlifter Sarah Robles can't get sponsored because she doesn't fit the model athlete image? Well, she's got one sponsor, but still, come on! [Slate]
• Megan Dietz tackles issues around weight obsession, diet culture, and all sorts of things that plague societal standards of beauty and body image. And BBC's global weight calculator is certainly not helping the matter. [The Hairpin/BBC]
• Uh oh, Slate's advice columnist, Emily Yoffe (Dear Prudence) isn't giving very sound advice, and frankly, just comes off as totally rude and condescending. "Stop acting like a parody of a gender-studies course catalog and start acting like a loving wife." Seriously? Drunk sex is not always consensual sex, and nonconsensual sex is rape. Point blank. [In These Times]
• Hooray! VIDA – Women in Literary Arts recently launched their blog! [HER KIND]
• Healthy San Francisco, the city's health insurance program for uninsured residents, to remove its trans exclusions. One step closer to trans inclusive healthcare everywhere! [Bay Area Reporter]
• And just because I'm a little obsessed, you should look at this side by side comparison of this young fan's shot-by-shot recreation of Beyoncé's "Countdown." It is actually perfect. [Videogum]
• Portland update: The Portland Queer Music Festival is this weekend! Come for the music, stay for the queers!

What have you been reading, musing, raging, or raving about? Share your thoughts in the comments!

Here's what we've been thinking about this week that isn't the TomKat divorce announcement.

• A fourth edition of Gloria Anzaldua's Borderlands/La Frontera is to be published, but it can't happen without your help! [Kickstarter]
• Jay Smooth tells us why "don't feed the trolls" is a stupid piece of internet advice. Feed them or relinquish your position on the internet forever! [Ill Doctrine]
• We all know (or at least we all should know) that the myth of the "model minority" is super problematic! Here are some solid reasons why it hurts not only the Asian American and Pacific Islander communities, but why it hurts everyone. [Colorlines/Feministing]
• Sexual harassment isn't a joke. This mall in New Jersey doesn't seem to agree. [TDN]
• Speaking of things that aren't jokes, abuse against women, and abuse IN GENERAL is not something to make a "funny" t-shirt design out of. It's not funny. Stop that. [Open File]
• Jos Truitt explores cissexism, the undermining of trans identities, and unexamined privilege and oppression within queer communities. [Feministing]
• Remember the Bechdel Test? Well here's the Roberts Test for trans people of color in film and television. [Transgriot]
• Flavia Dzodan responds to the Anne-Marie Slaughter piece on feminism's "failures." [Tiger Beatdown]
• Wanna be a "reverse racist" and learn how to oppress white people? Check out this step by step guide. Wait, you don't think I'm serious, right? That's not how oppression works. But get a kick out of this hilarious racial satire. [Black Girl Dangerous]
• The Allied Media Conference is this weekend in Detroit! Browse the schedule here, and follow #AMC2012 on Twitter. [AMP]
• Anne Helen Peterson discusses the female gaze, desire, and Magic Mike! Stay tuned for our review (via Popaganda–back by popular demand!) of Channing Tatum's fantastic acting skills naked bod later today! [Anne Helen Peterson]
• Check out this piece on Nora Ephron's early years when she was a feminist New Journalism pioneer. [Salon]
• Portland update: For Bitch Media's second installment of CineBitch, we'll be screening 9 to 5 at Mississippi Studios on Monday, July 2nd at 7pm!

This has been a week! Here's what we've been thinking about.

• After the giant mess around Rep. Lisa Brown's oh so horrifying use of the word "vagina" (GOD FORBID!), thousands of people watched in delight in Lansing, Michigan, as women legislators enacted The Vagina Monologues on the steps of the state Capitol in response to the passing of HB 5711. [Ms. Blog]
• Where do you wanna be when 20,000 dykes take over New York City? At the 20th annual NYC Dyke March, of course. It's happening this Saturday – there's an after party too! [NYC Dyke March]
• Listen to this great conversation with our very own Andi Zeisler on gains and setbacks for working women, family policy, women's status in developing countries, and the path of women's progress in the last fifteen years. [Chicago Policy Radio]
• C.L.I.T. (Combatting Latent Inequality Together) Fest, an awesome three-day DIY, music, and arts festival is happening in New Brunswick, NJ in July (previously in DC, PDX, LA, Chicago, etc.), and they need your help to get things done! [C.L.I.T. Fest NB]
• Super queer, super feminist, super rad, Sourpatch is on tour, and they're playing in Portland with Joyride and Forever on Monday! [PC-PDX]
• Skills vs. Luck – The Olympics prove their blatant sexism once again! Because clearly, females can't have skills, especially not athletic skills. [Feministing]
• Check out Jay Smooth's video about those terrible Adidas "shackle shoes," a criticism of thoughts about intentionality, and how racism doesn't come just from overtly racist intent. [Animal New York]
• Alyssa Rosenberg wrote an open letter to the creators of Tomb Raider for their horrific insensitivity and perpetuation of rape culture. [Think Progress]
• In Palestinian solidarity, Alice Walker declined a request to publish an Israeli edition of The Color Purple. [The Guardian]
• Oy gevalt, True Blood! There are respectful ways to tap into Jewish culture and religion, and this is definitely not one of them. [Tablet]
• Here's what went down at the End Stop-and-Frisk silent march against racial profiling. [Colorlines]
• Portland update: Bitch's own Kelsey Wallace is a judge at this year's Offkey Karaoke (a benefit for the YWCA). Come help her cheer on (or heckle, if need be) the contestants this Saturday!

What have you been reading, musing, raging, or raving about? Share your thoughts in the comments!

JD Samson is certainly no stranger to Bitch; a significant voice in the Riot Grrrl movement, and a more than prominent queer and feminist icon, it only makes sense to let you know what she's up to this summer. Last week, while attempting to figure out exactly what to write for this post (because leaving you with just a list of tour dates would be boring), a dear friend deemed me a “JD Samson connoisseur.” While I gladly accepted this title, there's definitely a bit of a difference between knowing a lot about someone and having a mild obsession* with (read: giant crush on) that person, and you can probably guess where I stand within this spectrum of connoisseurship. Though, with this giant crush, comes a great deal of respect and admiration for JD as both an artist and an activist.