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young women

Inconsequential Girlishness: An Interview with Chally

Audio post by Kjerstin Johnson, Submitted by Kjerstin Johnson on April 29, 2010 - 5:55pm; tagged blogosphere, Feminist Intersection, intersectionality, teens, young women.

My full-length interview with Chally, who talks about her love of sci-fi, why it's problematic to have feminist "icons," her experience as a teen in social justice movement, and of course, the internet! (The post title is tongue-in-cheek, by the way, she's anything but, as you'll see.)

Read Chally's work at Zero at the Bone, FWD, Radical Readers and Feministe. Interview transcript and links to Chally's blogs recs after the jump!

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Ladies' Camp Rock

Wrocking ’n’ Rowling with wizard- and  Twilight-themed bands

Article by Tammy Oler, Illustrated by Krista Messer, appeared in issue Consumed; published in 2009; filed under Music; tagged Bella Rocks!, fandom, Harry and the Potters, Harry Potter, music, Twilight, Twirock, wizard rock, Women in Rock, young women.

You only have to look to the history of Star Trek– inspired music—ranging from surf-punkers No Kill I to the Klingon heavy-metal band Stovokor—to see that fantasy and science- fiction fans have made music devoted to their obsessions for generations. Nothing in the history of fandom, though, can compare to wizard rock, a thriving subculture of musicians and fans devoted to Harry Potter–inspired rock ’n’ roll. But don’t let the name fool you: It’s witches, not wizards, who dominate this scene.

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Problematic PSAs

Love / Shove post by Kjerstin Johnson, Submitted by Kjerstin Johnson on February 10, 2009 - 12:51pm; tagged commercials, internet, media, sexuality, young women.

The other night I saw this in a bar, and could not figure out what it was a commercial for (especially since I couldn’t hear the sound!) It seemed kinda fishy and it turned out it was:

It’s from a 2007 PSA campaign put together by the Ad Council and the U.S. Department of Justice and National Center for Missing & Exploited Children to Prevent Online Sexual Exploitation (mouthful!) I know I’ve seen at least a couple more and they all leave a bad taste in my mouth.More after jump...

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The Great Cover-Up

Can High Necklines Cure Low Morals?

Article by Shira Tarrant, Illustrated by Liza Corbett, appeared in issue Lost & Found; published in 2007; filed under Books; tagged asking for it, fashion, modesty, moralizing, promiscuity, sexuality, sluttiness, virgin/whore, young women.

Can High Necklines Cure Low Morals?

Lost & Found

In an era when it’s possible to turn on the television on any given night and see a clutch of bikini-clad women crawling over their male prey (ABC’s The Bachelor), a sex-toy demonstration (HBO’s Real Sex), or a 9-year-old showing off her moves on her parents’ personal stripper pole (E!’s Keeping Up with the Kardashians), Wendy Shalit’s assertion that modesty has made a comeback seems a little, well, optimistic.

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Editors' Letter: Puberty

Those Awkward Years

Article by Lisa Jervis, Andi Zeisler, appeared in issue Puberty; published in 1998; tagged puberty, young women, youth.

Those Awkward Years

Puberty

It’s a refrain we’re sick and tired of hearing: Feminism doesn’t speak to young women. Girls just aren’t interested in feminism. Self-proclaimed feminists lament it; non-feminists think it proves that feminism is not only unimportant, but outdated. This simplification of the concerns of girls may make for a good sound bite, but it begs for some serious examination. 

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