feminist blogs

"Look dad, I made a modest studio apartment for my Malibu Stacey doll! This is the kitchen, this is where she prints her weekly feminist newsletter..."
-Lisa Simpson

You gotta love her.

Pro tennis player John McEnroe wants to look out for us ladies by ensuring that we don't hurt our dainty little arms picking up those big heavy tennis rackets. Better let the menfolk do it for us. In an interview, he said (among many other things):

"You're asking too much of the women. They shouldn't be playing as many events as men."

and

"They should be required to be in less events, there should be less events for the women. It seems it takes an actual meltdown on the court or women quitting the game altogether before they realize there's a need to change the schedule."

Thanks for looking out for us, John, but seeing as how you don't have a woman's body, I think it's a little tough for you to decide what we are and are not capable of.

Don't have too much time to blog, but I just wanted to pop in and wish everyone a
For those of you who don't know, August 26th was picked by U.S. Congress as Women's Equality Day because it was the day the 19th amendment was passed, giving women (though women of color were widely left out) the right to vote. Today marks 90 years.

If you're a reader of this blog, most likely you know the seemingly endless list of reasons as to why feminism is still necessary... the simple reason being, "WE STILL AIN'T EQUAL!" And let me try to make up for a fraction of the exclusion faced by most women by the mainstream feminist movement of the first and second "waves" by saying that equality is not fully achieved until it is achieved for ALL women: women of color, women with disabilities, immigrant women (including undocumented), LBTQ women, etc etc etc.

I realize many modern feminists have issues with the suffrage movement because women of color were largely left out, but instead of dismissing this day altogether, let's shape and reclaim Women's Equality Day to be a day of positivity in which we honor the sacrifices our foremothers* made, while looking ahead to the future and thinking about what we can improve.

What's everyone doing to celebrate Equality Day? I'll be here.

*My computer is telling me this word is misspelled, but "forefathers" is correct. Nice.

This week, Newsweek asked: Are We Facing a Genderless Future?

Although no one is keeping statistics, researchers who study gender say a small but growing number of people (including some who have had sex-change operations) consider themselves “gender neutral” or “gender variant.” Their stories vary widely. Some find that even after surgery, they simply can’t ignore previous years of experience living as another gender. Others may feel that their gender identity is fluid. Still others are experimenting with where they feel most comfortable on what they see as a continuum of gender.

I'm all for more mainstream and respected media outlets covering this issue because I think right now, far too many people view those who step outside of gender boxes as a small group of freaks whom, if we ignore, will eventually go away. But Newsweek is absolutely right: as more and more people realize that "there is no way that six billion people can be categorized into two groups," the group of people who define gender on their own terms is growing.

But I've said before: I personally don't aim for a genderless future -- instead, I hope for a society that embraces the right of each person to define their own gender. Seriously, can't we get rid of those tired and constricting "male" and "female" check-boxes on every form we have to fill out and replace it with a blank line instead?

Some of my favorite responses on Twitter to Sarah Palin's 100% ridiculous anti-feminist tweet.

Shakespalin: What's in a name? That which she calls a cackle By any other name would smell as rad

deliriumbubbles: "Cackle" is not a fucking unit of measurement. http://www.thefreedictionary.com/cackle

feminismxianity: We cackle because we are so rad

thatmags: Remember: It took a #cackleofrads to make women's #suffrage a reality 90 years ago.

KeithOlbermann: The cluelessness of @SarahPalinUSA is astounding, panoramic. W/out feminists she'd have virtually none of the freedoms she abuses daily.

Andy Borowitz: Dear Sarah #Palin: "Gaggle" means a group of geese. "Cackle" means what we're doing at you.

Jessiebeal: What the hell is a cackle? A coven + a gaggle?

Who hijacked term:"feminist"?A cackle of rads who want 2 crucify other women w/whom they disagree on a singular issue; it's ironic (& passé)
-Sarah Palin

Well Sarah, you certainly don't speak for my cackle. Fun is at #cackleofrads and #jointhecackle on Twitter.

I think I’m the only FFC blogger living in Texas, and I couldn’t have been more outraged when current Chief of Police David Brown made comments that seemed to blame drunk women for rapes, and their friends for not protecting them. Not, you know, the rapists. This Jezebel article should give some context, and you [...]

A New Pill Can Make a Baby Less Likely to Be Gay -- Will It Be Used to Change Sexual Orientation in the Womb?

I worry about this because not only can this magical pill reduce the likelihood of a gay offspring, but it can also ensure that little boys are masculine and little girls are feminine. Sounds far too Brave New World to me...

If you're a huge Degrassi fan like I am, be sure to catch tomorrow night's episode, which will be part one of two (part two airs Thursday night) of the first Degrassi episode to feature a transgender character.

Given that Degrassi has covered nearly every controversial issue under the sun, including abortion, drugs, sex, gay/lesbian issues, and even murder, I'm surprised it took them ten seasons to put a transgender character on the show.

Still, I'm stoked to see the episodes and I sincerely hope they're done tastefully. Here's an interview with the actress, Jordan Todosey, who plays Adam on Degrassi, a new character who is FTM (female-to-male) and deals with the backlash when his fellow students find out.

I saw this on Feministing, and thought it was pretty interesting. This domestic violence awareness campaign from London puts a specific emphasis on the responsibility of those who might hear or witness this type of violence to call 911 (or 999 in England) for someone who might not be able to.

They also use an interactive video to convey this message -- depending on if you "choose" (by clicking) to call the police or not, you will get a different ending to the video.

Trigger warning.