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  • Watching the second episode of the current season of Survivor (this time set in the Phillippens, another tropical island location – shocking!) I had the usual thoughts inspired by my feminist thinking – Why are the majority of the women young, skinny and attractive? How come the women walk around in […]

    “Booty Blinded” – Sexual Politics on Survivor

    Watching the second episode of the current season of Survivor (this time set in the Phillippens, another tropical island location – shocking!) I had the usual thoughts inspired by my feminist thinking – Why are the majority of the women young, skinny and attractive? How come the women walk around in […]

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  • I was inspired to write this post by a chapter in  Cyberfeminism 2.0 – “Beyond Democratization and Subversion: Rethinking Feminist Analytical Approaches to Girls’ Cultural Production on the Internet” by Rosalind Sibielski. Sibielski, talking specifically about the production of fan videos by girls recreating Twilight (if you haven’t heard of this series, […]

    Feminism and Health in The Hunger Games

    I was inspired to write this post by a chapter in  Cyberfeminism 2.0 – “Beyond Democratization and Subversion: Rethinking Feminist Analytical Approaches to Girls’ Cultural Production on the Internet” by Rosalind Sibielski. Sibielski, talking specifically about the production of fan videos by girls recreating Twilight (if you haven’t heard of this series, […]

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  • I was in agreement with Nathan Jurgenson’s review of the film We Live in Public, which documents the “part art and part social experiments” created by Josh Harris: it “paints a far-too grim picture of living in public.” While Harris brilliantly sought to anticipate “what the world might be like when the Internet ‘took […]

    Living Legitimately: The Dangers of Embodiment on Facebook

    I was in agreement with Nathan Jurgenson’s review of the film We Live in Public, which documents the “part art and part social experiments” created by Josh Harris: it “paints a far-too grim picture of living in public.” While Harris brilliantly sought to anticipate “what the world might be like when the Internet ‘took […]

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  •  photo by juanpol Given that World of Warcraft (WoW) now has over 12 million players worldwide (myself included) I suppose I should not have been surprised at the scholarly attention given to the game (don’t believe me?). However, Jessica L. Beyer‘s article, “Women’s (Dis)embodied Engagement with Male-Dominated Online Communities,” in Cyberfeminism 2.0, was […]

    Feminist Playing WoW

     photo by juanpol Given that World of Warcraft (WoW) now has over 12 million players worldwide (myself included) I suppose I should not have been surprised at the scholarly attention given to the game (don’t believe me?). However, Jessica L. Beyer‘s article, “Women’s (Dis)embodied Engagement with Male-Dominated Online Communities,” in Cyberfeminism 2.0, was […]

    Continue Reading...

  • Though Adrienne Rick wrote “Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence” over 30 years ago, “compulsory heterosexuality” is alive and well. Despite the contemporary more popular theoretical view that sexuality is fluid and does not fit cleanly into labels of “heterosexual” and “homosexual” there is still an overwhelming expectation in American society that heterosexuality is the “default” […]

    Compulsory Heterosexuality: Coming out & avoiding rape

    Though Adrienne Rick wrote “Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence” over 30 years ago, “compulsory heterosexuality” is alive and well. Despite the contemporary more popular theoretical view that sexuality is fluid and does not fit cleanly into labels of “heterosexual” and “homosexual” there is still an overwhelming expectation in American society that heterosexuality is the “default” […]

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  • Reading Alondra Nelson‘s book Body and Soul: The Black Panther Party and the Fight Against Medical Discrimination was eyeopening, to say the least. To say my understanding of the Black Panther Party (BPP) was limited prior to reading this would be an understatement; I knew of them only as the violent, radical […]

    The BPP: Health Advocacy Hypocrisy?

    Reading Alondra Nelson‘s book Body and Soul: The Black Panther Party and the Fight Against Medical Discrimination was eyeopening, to say the least. To say my understanding of the Black Panther Party (BPP) was limited prior to reading this would be an understatement; I knew of them only as the violent, radical […]

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  • Class assignment: In groups of 3, produce a short video describing the kind of feminist health care clinic that you would create. Make sure to include: 1. Target Community Members (Low-income, families, etc), 2. Clinic Goals/Mission Statement, 3. Services Provided, 4. How you will handle payments for patients, (is it a […]

    East Harlem Young Women’s Clinic

    Class assignment: In groups of 3, produce a short video describing the kind of feminist health care clinic that you would create. Make sure to include: 1. Target Community Members (Low-income, families, etc), 2. Clinic Goals/Mission Statement, 3. Services Provided, 4. How you will handle payments for patients, (is it a […]

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  • How many women know the answer to this question? I’m guessing not many. As we watched the 1974 film “Taking Our Bodies Back” I’m sure I was not the only one witnessing an abortion for the first time. And it was shocking. Not because of how grusome it was, or […]

    What does an abortion look like?

    How many women know the answer to this question? I’m guessing not many. As we watched the 1974 film “Taking Our Bodies Back” I’m sure I was not the only one witnessing an abortion for the first time. And it was shocking. Not because of how grusome it was, or […]

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  • While reading the first three chapters of Sandra Morgan’s book Into Our Own Hands: The Women’s Health Movement in the United States, I was struck by a statemnent about the Jane Collective: “That’s how they thought abortions ought to be done: by women, for women, as acts of liberation and empowerment. [Emphasis […]

    Abortion as Liberation?

    While reading the first three chapters of Sandra Morgan’s book Into Our Own Hands: The Women’s Health Movement in the United States, I was struck by a statemnent about the Jane Collective: “That’s how they thought abortions ought to be done: by women, for women, as acts of liberation and empowerment. [Emphasis […]

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  • Click here to see a lovely diagram, entitled “Republican Guide to the Female Body,” posted by Nerve (an online magazine). This is, in visual form, the exact opposite of “Our Bodies, Ourselves.” It’s a guide written by men for women, with misinformation and lies, designed to make women feel anxious, […]

    42 Years, No Change?

    Click here to see a lovely diagram, entitled “Republican Guide to the Female Body,” posted by Nerve (an online magazine). This is, in visual form, the exact opposite of “Our Bodies, Ourselves.” It’s a guide written by men for women, with misinformation and lies, designed to make women feel anxious, […]

    Continue Reading...