On Our Radar

What a week! Here's some of what caught our attention in the blogosphere:

• At Racialicious, Bitch contributor Latoya Peterson speaks of how Planned Parenthood has helped her personally. On Saturday, people across the United States rallied in the Walk for Choice to save PP's funding; see some of their signs here.
• After a hate crime including arson, couple Carol Ann and Laura Stutte have gotten the runaround from their insurance. Join change.org in telling American National Property and Casualty to pay on the claim.
• Comments in Brittany Shoot's posts have shown our readers' interest in the topic of adoption. What did you think of Adam Pertman's opinion piece in the Huffington Post?
• Also at HuffPo, David Sirota points to a number of '80s films that he claims influence modern thinking about race and government. Care to weigh in?
• Good news from Feministing: no more so-called conscience clause!
• The long-running, QUILTBAG-friendly Lyon-Martin Health Services in San Francisco needs support; see how you can help.
• Immigration Impact debunks the myth of undocumented workers raising unemployment and lowering wages. (via AlterNet)
• Katz at Original Plumbing discusses depictions of trans* people on television.
• Jamilah King at Colorlines talks about the importance of black workers to the fight for public employee unions.
• Excited for South by Southwest (SXSW?) Us too! Don't miss Bitch contributor and Deeply Problematic creator RMJ and Tiger Beatdown's Garland Grey in Dealing with Internet Drama in Feminist Discourse.
• Meanwhile, Tiger Beatdown's creator, Sady Doyle, has thoughts at The Atlantic about that Jezebel-parodying 30 Rock episode and other instances in which TV responded to online criticism.
• Over at Feministe, our recent guest writer and Zero at the Bone blogger Chally Kacelnik opines about one of my favorite topics: books!
• WTF-turned-good news files: a fetus?! RH Reality Check keeps us up-to-date on Faith 2 Action's, er, odd choice of testifier for Ohio's anti-abortion bill. As it turned out, the fetus "testified" via ultrasound and a heartbeat that was arguably not audible.

Need some awesome links to start your weekend? Thought so!

• First, the great news, in case you didn't hear: Obama declared DOMA unconstitutional!
• Feministe links to the full list of events for the Walk for Choice. Mark your calendars for Saturday! At Feministing, Ann Friedman talks about her experience on MSNBC talking about Planned Parenthood and points to ways to speak out and donate.
• Also at Feministing, Rose describes a feminist's fraught feelings about Malcolm X.
• Like Nadra Kareem Nittle recently did, The Detroit News talks about the relationships between race, names and discrimination, focusing on one loaded name in particular: Washington. (via Racialicious)
• Did you miss blogger extraordinaire s.e. smith on the Glee panel at Western Washington University? Keep up with ou's reviews, collected on Tumblr!
• Vampires on the mind? Dr. Sayantani DasGupta discusses the bizarre supernatural-BFF-as-Other trope on both Racialicious and Stories are Good Medicine.
• The New York Times reports that Ablene Cooper, who used to work as a maid for author Kathryn Stockett, is suing for appropriation of her name and image in The Help.
• Huffington Post covers the history of Petfinder.
• Jezebel pokes some bitter fun at the politicians clamoring to legislate our bodies.
• On Tiger Beatdown, Grizzly Fetus continues to rant from the womb by naming some anti-abortion a-holes... including Kanye.

Another week, another roundup! Here's what caught our eyes this week around the Internet:

• In the "Beyond WTF" file, Mother Jones dissects the proposed law in South Dakota that could have legalized the murder of abortion providers. Fortunately, Feministing announced Thursday morning that it's already been shelved.
• Racialicious editor (and Bitch contributor) Latoya Peterson has announced her conference and speaking schedule!
• After distasteful comments about Lara Logan's assault, the Huffington Post reports that journalist Nir Rosen has lost his NYU fellowship.
• Also at HuffPo: hurray for Facebook? The "Relationship Status" droplist now includes "In a civil union" and "In a domestic partnership!"
• The Riot's Catcaller Form reveals the misogynistic assumptions behind street harassment. (via Feministing)
• MTV EXIT debuts their "When Will I Feel Love" video about human trafficking by Black Iris and Bethany Cosentino of Best Coast.
• At RH Reality Check and Tiger Beatdown, Bitch contributor Sarah Jaffe continues to profile the ten Democrats who co-sponsored HR3.
• VivirLatino explores the misleadingly-named Secure Communities program, which targets immigrants under the guise of protection from crime.
• Yet another Bitch writer, Anna Clark, discusses the erasure of female voices in global literature over at Book Slut. In the same vein, author Eileen Myles responds to the Vida pie charts at The Awl.
• And last but not least, Sparky at Womanist Musings comments on the fierce heteronormativity of a recent holiday.

Happy Friday, readers! Here's some of what we've been reading this week at Bitch HQ:

• At both Native Appropriations and Racialicious, Adrienne K. asks for opinions on white uses of Pendleton.
• Also at Racialicious, Arturo R. García discusses troubling aspects of the hit "Born This Way" and their pop forbearers in "Lady Gaga Brings Cholas Back to Pop Culture -- Like It or Not."
• Twisty speaks about the inclusion of trans women in women-only space on I Blame the Patriarchy. (via Feministe)
• GLAAD demands an apology from SNL for their transphobic "Estro-Maxx" skit. Join them here.
• Miriam at Feministing discusses the new Orgasm Inc. documentary and Big Pharma's interest in alleged female sexual dysfunction.
• Tiger Beatdown founder (and Bitch contributor) Sady Doyle continues to rock Twitter with the anti-HR3 #DearJohn campaign. See her discuss it on GRITtv. Meanwhile, fellow Bitch contributor Sarah Jaffe is profiling Democrats co-sponsoring the bill.
• After Ellen reports on upcoming films by queer black women, including the feature based on Angela Robinson's popular Girltrash! web series.

Feel free to share your comments or other links of interest below!

Groundhog Day was this week, and if we, like Bill Murray, were stuck forever repeating the last seven days, this is what we would read to keep us entertained:

• Ever-quirky, ever-fabulous Miranda July has a new movie debuting at Sundance this year! She spoke to Bust about her new project, The Future, and shares some insight into YouTube culture and how it affects young women. 
• I posted last month about American Apparel's use of pubic hair in their advertising, and this week, with their new campaign, I realized I have my work cut out for me if I'm going to call AA out every time they get their clothing models naked. (Both links potentially NSFW)
• In much better news! Colorlines wrote yesterday that this year, Sundance has a record-breaking number of black filmmakers and films (30!) at the festival, flying in the face of the simultaneous whitest Oscars in a decade (also at Colorlines).
• Just in time for the Super Bowl this Sunday, Jessica Danielle at Player Perspective takes down The Atlantic's recent piece, "Can Men and Women Watch Sports Together." 
• Zach Weiner of Weinerworks used the powers of the intertubes for GOOD this week, subverting an anti-gay marriage's website to, at least momentarily, promote equality. 
• Finally, a sneak peek at the "Women Who Rock" exhibit at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame! Rad exhibit, unfortunate need for an exhibit to showcase women in rock...

Happy first week of a new decade, y'all! Here's what we've been reading at Bitch HQ as we dive into the 20-teens.

• Gender Focus has up a nice list of their favorite things of 2010. Like an NPR Top Ten list, but with more True Blood and trans rights!
• Feminists With Disabilities (FWD) announced that it has ceased production, and will be maintained as an archive and blogroll site. Big love, FWD. We'll miss you!  
• Racialicious points out some...er...problems with the new Grouplove music video. Up and coming band? Yes. Lynching, warpaint, and headdresses? Not so much. 
• Yesterday was Nancy Pelosi's last day as Speaker of the House, and Ms. has a reminder to her replacement John Boehner that she's still on the feminist-agenda clock. 
• Taking a page from Kelsey's book, Sociological Images has a round-up of advertising that plays directly to close-minded, normative masculinity as a marketing tool for men. 
• Surprise! Teenagers are actually fabulous people that care about things! F Bomb wrote about "Teens and Technology," and how social media might not actually be the death of all that is good and proactive in the world.  Rock on, F Bomb!

It's Friday, which means it's time for a look back at what blipped onto our radar here at Bitch HQ this week!

• Amanda Hess posted a take-down of the New York Times' latest fashion trend: transexuals! 
• Sady Doyle at The Awl wrote about feminism, pop culture, and Aliens. Needless to say, it caught our attention in all the best ways. 
• It's "My Little Pony Week" on the Ms. blog, and yesterday this post by Kathleen Richter called out homophobic and racist messages being sent via Pony Express (don't blame her for that joke. That was all me.).
• Slate published a piece by Connie Schultz, a fellow political spouse, in memoriam of Elizabeth Edwards.
• In being interviewed by Barbara Walters this week, Oprah Winfrey cried when asked about her relationship with her best friend, Gayle King. BUST wants to know: Why the tears, Oprah?
• TED (Technology, Education, Design) launched its first TEDWomen conference this week in Washington, D.C. Read about the TED Fellows chosen to attend, watch videos, read transcripts, and join the discussion here. 
• And here's a review of the TEDWomen Conference by Carla Thompson at Sharp Skirts. Says Carla, "I think I was just privy to one of the most fascinating and inspiring weeks of the year. And I think an opportunity was missed to blow the conversation out of the water around women in business and women in life."

Our antennae are up, and the hive is buzzing; here's what's been On Our Radar this week!

• ABC has cancelled its new show Huge after less than one season. Our own Michelle Dean wrote about it here. Sign a petition to keep it on the air here! Interesting how the ABC website for the show has no mention of its cancellation...
• Muslimah Media Watch has the lastest video campaign from web activists NiqaBitch questioning the French burqa ban.
• Google searches have banned the word "latina" from their search engine. Latino? Still entirely searchable. Latina (the website) has more.
• Rick Sanchez (formerly at CNN) had some fightin' words for Jon Stewart and news media bias in general, which Racialicious covered extensively. Sanchez was fired from CNN for his remarks.
• Today is the day the remake of the 1978 rape-revenge movie "I Spit on Your Grave" arrives in theaters. Find a review here. Info on the original here. Not for the faint, or sort-of-faint, or average-strength, or anything-less-than-industrial strength of heart.
• Following up on a story from last week, a leader of one of the militant groups responsible for hundreds of rapes in the Democratic Republic of the Congo this July has been arrested as part of the UN mission to address the situation there.

We're back again with another edition of On Our Radar—bringing you some of the most interesting things we read this week!

• With the celebration of the 90th anniversary of women's suffrage in the United States in full swing this week, Womanist Musings' Renee Martin reminds us that not all women gained the right and access to vote in 1920.

• Following lesbian cadet Katherine Miller's resignation from West Point due to her sexual orientation, Corey Kilgannon investigates the underground gay culture at the military academy for the New York Times.

• On Jezebel, Dodai Stewart tallied up the number of black models in the September issues of fashion magazines.

• Check out all the great posts in the "This is What a Young Feminist Looks Like" blog carnival!

• All kinds of messed up: Sociological Images' Lisa Wade highlights an NPR report on a scale of evil developed by a forensic psychologist. The graphic used to explain this scale eerily matches the range of human skin color, with the darker the color being the worse the psychopath. WTF.

• After Sally was caught masturbating on Mad Men this week, Feministe Guest Blogger Monica looks at the assumption that she must have been sexually abused.

• On Racialicious, Bitch contributor Andrea Plaid writes on Montana Fishburne, the daughter of famed actor Laurence and a sex worker.

• Carrie Polansky focuses on the popular discoursse surrounding disability and sexuality on Gender Across Borders.

• Via PostBourgie: Loryn Wilson takes a closer look at internet meme Antoine Dodson.

• Minh-Ha T. Pham hashes out the beauty in "eco-disaster chic" on Threadbared.

• ADI makes the case for net neutrality as a feminist issue on Women's Glib.

• Dennis Baron discovers the long history of the use of "ms." on, well, the Ms. Magazine blog!

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

It's time again! We're rounding up some of the most interesting things we read this week in another edition of On Our Radar!

• Muslimah Media Watch's Ayaan Hassan introduces us to the latest character from the Marvel Comics Universe: Faiza Hussain, a British Muslim super heroine!

• SKM ponders why Google didn't have a doodle to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the 19th Ammendment on Shakesville.

• One for the bookmarks: our fabulous TelevIsm blogger RMJ offers a great primer on cis, cissupremacy, and cissexism on Deeply Problematic.

• The title says it all: Sandip Roy writes on "Why 'Eat, Pray, Love' Makes Me Want to Gag" on Alternet.

• Gwen Sharp uses a karate studio's rejected advertisement featuring the gender policing of a young boy as a springboard to discuss the murky world of "unofficial/unreleased ad campaigns" on Sociological Images.

• Gebe Martinez, Ann Garcia, and Jessica Arons look at the "birthright citizenship debate" as a "thinly veiled attack on immigrant mohers" at the Center for American Progress. Take a look at Michelle Chen's piece on Colorlines for more about the debate.

• Amy Larocca profiles figure skater Johnny Weir for New York Magazine.

• Spoiler Alert: Carrie Polansky reviews the gender politics of the new film Scott Pilgrim vs. the World on Gender Across Borders.

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