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Well, the attack ads are over, the convention floors have long been empty, and the event we've all been anticipating/dreading for what feels like our entire lives is finally upon us: It's Election Day!



To get you ready for your big day at the polls, we've put together some links on elections past, resources for voting in the presence, and info for the not-so-distant future. Now get out there and vote already!

• Doreen Oliver shares her story about her son wanting to be a princess for Halloween, and how the white-washed princess costumes gave her pause. [The New York Times]
• Speaking of the dead, you can always pay your respects by visiting the grave sites of some of America's most famous writers. Here's a run-down of their final resting places.  [The Atlantic]
• Scary flicks are a must on this spooky holiday, but don't be fooled by all of the misrepresented and stigmatized depictions of women with mental illness often found in horror films. Here's a read to make you think twice before you judge that "crazy bitch." [Bitch Flicks]
• Here's a fabulous list of some of the most badass (and overlooked) horror film heroines of all time. But watch out! They might bite. [The Hairpin]
• People can't seem to get enough of zombies these days. Ever wondered where their story originated? Amy Wilentz lays it out. [The New York Times]
• Don't be racist, don't be racist, don't be racist! Kelsey shared a good run-down last week, but here is another eloquent take on how to not be racist for Halloween. [Tiger Beatdown]
• What's creepier than the creepiest horror film you've ever seen? When they're real! Here's a list of scary movies based on true stories. [Flavorwire]
• UTNE is posting some of their best posts on contemporary witchcraft and feminst spirituality—here's one of them. [UTNE Reader]
• And finally, Sociological Images has rounded up their Halloween-themed posts, that range from the good (women laughing with salad!), the bad ("Anna Rexia"), and the ugly (did we mention that people are really racist on Halloween?) [Sociological Images]

So what are you costumed in for the holiday? Read anyting good? Share in the comments section below!

Another Friday, another links roundup! Here's what we've been reading this week:

• It's Banned Book Week! Read a banned book to celebrate. If you need suggestions, check out Anna Clark's piece on how Beloved is taught in schools. [Daily Beast]
• What's missing from the national conversation about birth control? Here's a hint: Says Chloe Angyal, "We are having a national discussion about birth control, without ever mentioning the basic human activity that can lead to birth." You guessed it! (Sex.) [The Guardian]
• Everyone is up in arms over what Mitt Romney said about Big Bird, but Levar Burton wants to remind you that cutting funding for PBS would hurt more than just our giant yellow feathered friend. [TMZ]
• We usually hate Disney Princess stuff, but this "I Am a Princess" video is surprisingly touching. Damnit! [YouTube]
• Roxane Gay would rather be a bad feminist than no feminist at all. That. All the way. [Virginia Quarterly Review]
• That photo of a sailor kissing a nurse on V-J Day captured more than just the end of the war: It is also a depiction of sexual assault. [Crates and Ribbons]
• Tracey Ross reviews Iconic, Lakesia Johnson's book about how negative stereotypes have followed black women throughout history. [Racialicious]
• In case you missed it: This video of a news anchor calling bullshit on the viewer who thinks she's too fat is awesome. [Upworthy]

What's on your radar this week? Let us know in the comments!

It's Friday, and that means it's time for another links roundup! Here's what we've been reading this week:

• "Fauxcahontas"? Really? Deb Merskin dissects the media's offensive use of racial slurs in the Brown-Warren election. [Name It Change It]
• Fifty years after Silent Spring was published, Amanda Hess argues that science is still sexist. [Slate]
• We doubt you have the stomach for an Ann Coulter video, but just in case... "Ann Coulter Tries To Tell Whoopi Goldberg How Black People Feel About Things. It Does Not Go Well." [Upworthy]
• Did you read that story about the Sikh woman and the reddit user who made fun of her and then apologized? You should. It will (temporarily) restore your faith in the Internet. [Feministing/Jezebel]
• You know when your "Racist Iconography in Fashion" Google alert goes off, it can't be good. The New York Times reviewed the latest Dolce & Gabbana collection and didn't think to mention its racist and dehumanizing imagery. [Fuck You, Grey Lady]
• Alyssa Rosenburg lists her "Six Best Kids and Teenagers On Television." Shania from New Normal did kill that Grey Gardens impression. [Think Progress]
• Have you been keeping up with Vulture's Pop Culture Memory Lane video series? That one where Casey Wilson met an understudy from RENT was pretty good, but this Garfunkel and Oates Meet Oates one might be the best yet. [Vulture]
• New site NoHomophobes counts how many times we use homophobic language on Twitter each day. It's a lot. [NoHomophobes]
• Bitch guest blogger Caitlin Wood was hilarious and informative in her Q&A "Ask a Woman in a Wheelchair." [The Hairpin]

What have you been reading this week? Let us know in the comments!

T.G.I.O.O.R.! Let's hit the links!

• Have you seen The Mindy Project yet? Nisha Chittal breaks down the backlash against Kaling for being "smug" (read: successful, not white, and not a dude). No one puts Mindy in a corner! [Racialicious]
• Kickstarter millionaire Amanda Palmer has agreed to pay her musicians, but Mary Elizabeth Williams argues that she still doesn't get it. [Salon]
• If you've already had lunch, you might want to avoid this slideshow of parents sexualizing their kids on social media. It's a hurl-inducer. [Mommyish]
• It's safe (and fun!) to check out riese's 150 years of lesbians slideshow whether you've eaten recently or not. [Autostraddle]
• Chris Brown may be a certified douche, but he's not the only celebrity with a history of abusing women. Sian underscores how important it is to acknowledge this, because "it's never okay for men to beat women, no matter how famous or talented they are." [sian and crooked rib]
• Why is "Gangnam Style" so popular? Max Fisher argued that it was the song's subversive message, but refresh_daemon says it's also because Psy is "one of the things the Western mainstream wants to see from its Asian people: a funny guy who doesn't pose any threat of making Asian men seem sexually desirable." [The Atlantic, Init_Music]
• If you were wondering whether Romney's remarks about "the 47%" had anything to do with race, here's a hint: they did. In fact, Imara Jones thinks they had "everything to do with race." [Colorlines]
• Excited about Schmidt from New Girl's new book? Read an interview with the Man Behind the Douche, Max Greenfield. [Hollywood Reporter, Vanity Fair]
• Bitch contributor Spectra Speaks has some more thoughts on that Nina Simone biopic, on the media coverage it's getting, and on race and Hollywood in general. [Spectra Speaks]
• Carolyn suggests you put down that copy of Fifty Shades and pick up The Awakening instead. [Shameless]

What have you been reading this week? Let us know in the comments!

It's that time again... links roundup!

• Tami Winfrey Harris talks about what white white feminists get wrong about Michelle Obama [Clutch magazine].
• The Chicago teachers strike is a feminist issue! Dana Goldstein shares some history.
• Laurie Penny has one of the best responses to Naomi Wolf's new book. [New Statesman]
• What the hell Paul Frank? A "pow wow celebrating Fashion's Night Out"? No matter how many neon colors you throw at it, that's unbelievably racist. [Native Appropriations/Beyond Buckskin]
• Graceishuman explores the ethics of writing about child sexual abuse in regards to the recent Gawker article by Cord Jefferson. [PhD in Parenting]

What have you been reading this week? Let us know in the comments!

Another week, another roundup!

• You've read Zadie Smith's On Beauty, now read her On Jay-Z [New York Times]
• Having trouble coming to terms with Amy Poehler and Will Arnett's divorce? Bitch contributor Anne Helen Peterson explains why that might be. [Celebrity Gossip, Academic Style]
• Only two days left to help the Lakota Sioux raise funds to purchase the sacred land Pe'Sla in the Black Hills. Contribute now! [indiegogo]
• What did you think of Michelle Obama saying her most important job was "Mom in Chief"? Irin Carmon thinks you should cut her some slack. [Slate]
• Women and Hollywood has a short Q&A profile on many of the women directors at the Toronto Film Festival, happening on this week. [IndieWire]
• Victoria's Secret is going to new heights of offensiveness with a gross new collection called "Go East," inspired by an imaginary exotic and erotic "Eastern culture." Yikes. [Racialicious]
• bell hooks has a must-read response to the film Beasts of the Southern Wild. [New Black Man (in Exile)]
• Looking for music to recommend to your younger sister/daughter/niece/friend? Pop culture kid site A Mighty Girl just launched a music section! [A Mighty Girl]
• Thomas Page McBee takes on some recent problematic coverage of trans people in the media, including the New Yorker's profile of the Wachowski siblings. [SF Weekly]
• Check out these film projects that need your help! Negrita is a film exploring Afro-Latina identity and representation; Who Owns My Body? is a documentary discussing black women and body image, reproductive justice, and sexuality; Barista follows a woman who can't leave her Starbucks job after learning she has MS; Our Reality is a series of short documentaries that tell the stories of teen/young parents in their own words (and backers can get a Bitch subscription!)

What's on your radar this week? Let us know in the comments!

Summer's winding down, I'm reporting from the East Coast, and this has been another week. What's up?

• The latest episode of The Peculiar Kind features queers of color in media, plus, there's bonus part of the episode where we get to know the featured artists a little bit better! [The Peculiar Kind]
• In case you haven't heard, Todd Akin is the worst. Let this sink in, any kind of rape is "legitimate." Rape is rape. That's all. There are no questions or arguments against that. [BBC News/Penny Red]
• Whoa, have you seen this new car commercial that totally twists gender expectations? How queer of you, Toyota. [Salon]
• Amy Poehler filmed a PSA in support of the passage of the California Domestic Workers Bill of Rights, and it's predictably great! [Colorlines]
• If you're like us, you've been keeping up with True Blood, and you're maybe really excited about the season finale this Sunday. Need to prepare yourself further? Check out this hilarious and on-point round table discussion of last week's mess of an episode (and while you're at it, check out the discussions of earlier episodes too)! [Racialicious]
• Bitch contributor Michelle Dean on "Hillbilly culture" and what Here Comes Honey Boo Boo says about America. [Salon]
• After a visit with my grandparents today and refusing my grandmother's kindhearted, but midguided Nair offer, my body hair has been on my mind. This is something that is talked about all the time, but that's because it's always relevant–here are some thoughts about hairy legs, pits, and body image. [Feministe]
• Stop it with the sex panic. Hanna Rosin breaks it down–feminism and "hook-up culture"–these are things that go hand in hand. Glad we got that straight. Wait, speaking of straight, I think it's important to point out that NOT ALL HOOK-UPS ARE SO HETERO. [The Atlantic]
• New York update: AfroPunk Festival is happening in Brooklyn this weekend! It's free, amazing, sweaty, and it's probably the best way you can end your summer. And how can you possibly resist Erykah Badu AND Janelle Monáe?

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

Another week has gone by, and this one was my last (official) week at Bitch! Wanna be the (newest) new media intern? Check out the job description here!

• Seriously? I said it last week, and I'll say it again, racism is racism, whether casual or not. This matters. Stop it, Lena Dunham. [Feministing]
• Did you read that problematic piece on gender-fluid youth last week? I did, and I cringed the whole way through. Here's a spot on critique. [New York Times Magazine/Love Isn't Enough]
• Genderplay is also life play; it’s a chance to explore who you are and who you want to be. [This Ain't Livin']
• Check out this great piece on Asian students and the lack of visibility within the larger immigration movement. [Hyphen]
• Feminist Ryan Gosling has been released as a book a few days ago! Wait, can they release a feminist flashcard deck too? [Ms. Blog]
• The Pussy Riot story continues to unfold—the women were officially sentenced two two years in prison. [Slate]
• Femme Conference 2012 happened last weekend in Baltimore! Did you go? Did you watch the livestream?
• Speaking of conferences (and Baltimore), registration for Facing Race 2012 is open! Author and badass Junot Diaz is the keynote, and trust me, you don't want to miss him.
• In case you didn't catch this in our interview with Cristy C. Road, POC Zine Project is going on tour in the fall! Catch them when they roll through a city near you!

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!