Vanity Fair

Happy Friday! Why not start your weekend off with a sampling of feminist news from around the web?

• Domestic and intimate-partner violence has led to 90 women's deaths since the massacre in Newtown, CT in December. Hey gun lobby, tell us again how firearms make people safer from violence? [Huffington Post]

• After a series of murders of transgender people in the city, the Washington D.C. Mayor's Office of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Affairs announced a partnership with the U.S. Attorney's Office that will "enhance USAO’s ability to bring criminals to justice in cases where hate or bias might have been a factor in a crime committed against an individual from the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community." [Autostraddle]

• Lilith Magazine—"Independent, Jewish, and Frankly Feminist"—has a snappy new site. [Lilith Magazine]

• Were you wondering what that weight-watching, wine-swilling scamp Bridget Jones has been up to lo these many years? If so, you're in luck come November, when Helen Fielding's new book hits the shelves. [GalleyCat]

• Tech entrepreneur Jason Calcanis responded to Jamelle Bouie's piece on how an "implicit network" affects the diversity of tech journalism with an obnoxiously escalating series of tweets that hit nearly every square on the How Not to Talk About Race bingo card. [Gawker]

• Lulu, a new app that allows users to exchange information about dateable men, is drawing ire from users of Reddit. Apparently creepshots of unsuspecting women and girls is cool, but reviewing men is "straight-up harassment." Let's just say they're both awful and leave it at that?

• Guess what, mothers over 35? Your decrepit old uteruses are the reason for growing rates of birth defects in European countries, according to a new study that definitely won't be used to scare the crap out of women who might want to delay childrearing. [Mommyish]

• In news that probably won't surprise anyone, Vanity Fair's annual Hollywood issue once again relegates actors of color to the lesser two-thirds of its gatefold cover. [Clutch]

• Famous ginger beanpole Anne of Green Gables has been recast as a sultry blond on the cover of a new edition of the young-adult classic. [BuzzFeed] What's next, book publishers, Pippi Longstocking with a razor-cut bob and a belly shirt?

Anything we missed? Let us know in the comments, and have a great weekend!

Though I wouldn't admit it to just anyone, I really like Judd Apatow. Sure, he's partially responsible for comedy's obnoxiously named Frat Pack, and with it the continued celebration of adult men who act like bratty adolescents—but he also brought us Freaks and Geeks and Bridesmaids, and he appears to share my hardcore crush on Paul Rudd. Plus, Apatow is the rare sort of dude's dude who puts his money where his mouth is when it comes to supporting women in comedy. He's not batting a thousand by any means, but he's produced a fair share of work by women, and he generally seems like a pretty smart guy. That's why I was excited when Apatow was announced as the guest editor of this month's Vanity Fair. That excitement was a little premature.

There’s a lot to love about Tina Fey’s sexy-geek image. For instance, "Geeks can be sexy!" is an awesome message, as is "Sexy women can be geeks!" (Okay, maybe there are only two things to love.) I think it’s safe to say we get it: She’s hot. She’s smart. She’s hot, yet smart. And vice-versa.

But Fey’s sex appeal is no accident — it’s the price she paid for fame. In January’s Vanity Fair feature, Maureen Dowd gushes about "how a tweezer, cream rinse, a diet, and a Teutonic will transformed a mousy brain into a brainy glamour-puss." Dowd thrills at the success of the makeover that made Fey fit for the camera, and her enthusiasm for weight loss and designer clothes is unsettling. No one wants to picture Liz Lemon doing Weight Watchers...