Feminist response to pop culture

After a hot few days, it's finally cooling down in Portland. Here's what we've ben reading.

• I believe I was born in the right body; transgender, yes, but there's nothing "wrong" with me. Thomas Page McBee thoughtfully tears down notions and media deptions of the "typical" trans narrative. [Salon]
• Odd Future's Syd The Kyd doesn't identify as a feminist, in fact, she even said that "extreme feminists" are annoying, but she believes in equal rights for all people. Sound familiar? Right, okay. We'll ask you again in five years, kiddo. [Mass Appeal]
• Racism is racism is racism. Off-hand racist comments and actions are a problem. Not calling them out is a bigger problem. Check yourself! [xoJane]
• This week in oppression and the Olympics: Are you kidding me? I just made history. And you’re focusing on my hair? This is the Olympics, not America's Next Top Model! The media's got an appetite for negative portrayal of black femininity, and a wholly unjustified bone to pick with Gabby Douglas. Ew. Stop. [Ms. Blog/Ebony]
• "Free birth control" isn't so "free," so stop calling it that. [Tiger Beardown]
• Want to be a good or better ally to people of color? Having some trouble? This is important, read it. [The Crunk Feminist Collective]
• Some rad folks from Autostraddle will be hosting a queer ladies speed dating at Strand in New York City on August 15th. And there's free wine. Wait, what? Yeah, free wine, cuties, and eighteen miles of books. Sounds like a dream. [Autostraddle]
• Queer and trans activist, author, and all around badass, Kate Bornstein is going to be at Powell's on Monday, August 13th supporting her latest book, A Queer and Pleasant Danger. You should go!
• Portland update: The 12th annual Portland Zine Symposium is happening on Saturday, August 11th and Sunday, August 12th at Refuge in SE Portland! We'll be there, so stop by our table!

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

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! 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!

This post includes spoilers for the movies Single White Female, The Craft, and Perfect Blue. These three movies have several things in common:

• The main point-of-view character in each one is what I’ve called "fake-out crazy." Each one exhibits some sort of behavior within the movie that could be viewed as "insane," but unlike the villains, these women end up being "strong enough" to overcome this. (Earlier in the film, the "crazy" character always accuses the "sane" one of being "too weak" or "pathetic".)
• None of the characters are actually diagnosed with anything within the films, although psychiatrists are contacted in all cases. The Internet has provided the "crazy" characters with a variety of diagnoses.
• Two of the movies have a red herring character who is "crazy" and is obsessed with the main character.
• Each movie uses sexual behavior as a way of showing how "out of control" one of the characters has gotten.

So, can I ask what the obsession with Ke$ha is? I only ask, because I too am completely enamored with her while simultaneously holding back the urge to be violently ill. The ‘party girl’ aesthetic and persona is certainly nothing new. From Paris to Lindsay to every other brand of this celebrity girl whose name is synonymous with blackouts and so-called ‘bad behavior" – we’ve seen/heard/and stomached it all. Yet is there something special about this Nashville-bred DIY artist (I, too, wear cowboy boots and rock gaudy gold when the mood strikes me)? The simple answer is ..

I opened a big can of feminist worms on Thursday with my post I Blame Porn, In which I talked about how the mainstreaming of mass-produced hetero porn is starting to influence—negatively—the cultural perceptions of what’s sexy, particularly among teenagers. I was stunned by the number of Bitch readers who shouted me down, proclaiming that bald-vadge, facial-cumshot studio-produced porn isn’t misogynist and doesn’t have any effect at all on sexual behavior. The most common reason it couldn’t be bad or misogynist? Because they like it and imitate it and they choose their choice! Free will FTW! Guess what, folks? You can choose your choice, but you do not live—or fuck—in a vacuum. No matter how liberated you think you are, the truth is, your sexual development did not just happen spontaneously. We are having different sex than our mothers did. They had different sex than their mothers did. Why? The changes in their sex lives reflected the huge changes in the culture that they lived in. When society shifts the way it regards sex—and women—our sex lives change. Whether those cultural changes are due to birth control, women's lib, the destigmatizing of gay and premarital sex, greater access to written erotica or internet porn, there's no doubt that when it comes to our sexual behavior CULTURE MATTERS. If you think your sexual desires and behavior just sprang up sui generis because you are a unique individual with free will who's completely uninfluenced by society, you are kidding yourself.