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Emancipation Croclamation
"Ber-rother!" indeed.The Anti-Bush
[Sorry, TG. I feel like I might be stepping on your toes with this one. I promise there's some reproductive stuff at the end] Republicans have decided to stop picking on Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid and start carping specifically at the president. House Minority...Gender Bending with the Swedes
For about a week now, I have been watching this music video directed by Johan Renck on a veritable loop, taking breaks to eat (well, I can and have eaten while watching the video, but I have to get up to get the food to bring it back to my computer), sleep, wait...Your Body is a Ramshackle Temple. Get a Boob Job.
Submitted without comment. Note the tasteful Nagel in the background.Ads for “That Time of the Month”: Europe vs. The States
At first, this ad for o.b. tampons, which was conceived by an all-male, Zurich-based marketing team, seemed gratuitous, distasteful, and disgusting. But then I thought about why I had that reaction, and suddenly, the Swiss seemed refreshingly realistic. Check out some...When a Woman's at the Wheel, Cue the Tense, Cinematic Strings
Check out this Goodyear television ad from 1970. There is scary music. Arrows and numbers fly through the air like so much foreign language! Off-ramps fly by! On-ramps shoot out cars like ping pong balls! Oh Gee! We're at an airport! Planes are like big scary cars...In the Shadow of the Valley: A Look at Locale and the Local Mindset through the Poetry of Plath
For many reasons, despite her rocky and sad life and background, Sylvia Plath's writing is often read by young, literary minded women in their teens or preteens, and is taken as an awakening, enlightening experience. The Bell Jar is the bible of reclusive,...Inner Beauty
I've long been interested with the aesthetics of scientific images of times past. The catagorical and meticulous taxonomic illustrations and etchings of plant life and anatomy, especially of the German school, are particularly fascinating. And the imagery that...Ads from Hell
I just have one question, Australia: how can a sandwich be bouncy?Pregnancy: U R Doin It Rong
The information for pregnant women in America is infinite, and not all of it is focused on pregnant women who are also members of young straight couples; that is to say, a significant amount of the information and imagery could be applied to young lesbian couples as...Trimming the Hedges
This is an actual lyric from a Schick razor commercial for a product that has mini clippers on the handle of the razor: "never feel untidy, just trim your Aphrodite." Besides being the absolute first incident in recorded history that the word...Everything that Sucks
East Longmeadow based radio station Lazer (with a "z") 99.3 claims to have "everything that rocks." They have Lazer sports, Lazer news, Lazer music, Lazer music news (Toby Keith gave Ethan Hawke a verbal smackdown!) and Lazer contests. The contest...Maddow about Tea Bags
Local hero Rachel Maddow can barely contain herself when she is forced to say "teabagging," over and over again, hear another woman say "teabagging," over and over again, and imagine old white Republicans "teabagging" Barack Obama.Visit...The “Amazon Fail” UPDATE BONUS UPDATE
Ironially, despite being named after a suspiciously Sapphic all-female warrior nation, Amazon.com has removed the sales rankings from titles that they have deemed "adult." Most of these titles deal with homosexuality, including Ellen Degeneres's...Artificial Decadence, or How to Balance Sex and the Inspired While on Stage
The nature of performance is a trinity of delicate balance; a juggling act in itself of realism, talent and hamminess. Any one third of this equation that outweighs the other can often send the act spinning out of control and can cause those watching to turn from...This is what a Tea Bagger Looks Like
No. Comment. Necessary.Beware Down There
Last time I checked, activities like tanning and waxing didn't hold the same sterilizing risks as hard-hitting sports like baseball or football, which require participants to don protective cups. But that's just the approach the marketers over at VJJ...Parturient Pride
Once in a while, I'll do a post about pregnancy, as it is a pretty significant women's issue. I have never been pregnant. In fact, I haven't even been a woman that long, but my ever developing opinion on how I like being a woman provides me with endless...Pop-Culture and Feminist Icon Dies at 86
This past Saturday the world lost Bea Arthur, 86, star of the groundbreaking 70’s sitcom Maude and the 80’s sitcom The Golden Girls. Arthur’s characters in both shows were much different than the traditional roles provided for women until...Marian Robinson Paints the Capital Red
Three months ago, a matriarch in her early seventies reluctantly agreed to leave her beloved routine and comfortable Chicago bungalow to move with her daughter and granddaughters to Washington D.C., where her son-in-law had just gotten a really good new job. Now, she...No Girls Allowed
Time reported on some strange folks on Monday. A woman left her dead husband's body sitting in a chair for a week because she believed that he was in a trace (he was a "spiritist"). A woman in Chicago sued her husband for divorce because he asked her to...Oh, Manny!
Manny Ramirez will be suspended from 50 games because he tested positive for performance enhancing drugs. Is this just Manny being Manny? Or Manny being Manny, only better? I wonder how the man got to this point and how long it's been going on. I wonder if Dodgers...In the Eye of the Beholder; In the Brain of the Disengaged
Here's a video of the Miss Panama Pageant in which a contestant attempts to interpret a quote by Confuscius. Her horse-poo response is actually kind of ingenious; did you know that Confuscius invented confusion? Did you know he was simultaniously Chinese and...NOM Gets Pwned by Coiffed Pageant Organizer
I recently did a post about beauty pageants in which I briefly addressed Miss California Carrie Prejean and her not only intolerant but inarticulate (to use your words, Carrie, "no offense") answer to a question posed to her on the topic of gay...NOM's Ominous Ads
If you're curious, I've assembled all of the National Organization for Marriage's television spots. They smack of dirty political campaign smeariness. It's interesting that the lower-octaves, sustain-pedaled piano music used in these types of ads is...Yes We Can (But That Doesn't Necessarily Mean We're Going To)
During his campaign, Barack Obama spoke out about the absurd Puritanical case of official mass denial that is the “Don’t ask don’t tell” policy in the United States military. His reasoning was straightforward; basically, if they are willing to...Mike Huckabee, Bard-ass
Bassist Republcan former-governor Mike Huckabee and current Fox news host (seen here with this stalwart of advancing intelligent and aware conversations on women's issues) pretty much lost all political credibility after his mild-mannered display in the 2008...D-bag Defense
Any reasonably attractive young woman has suffered unwanted advances from men in bars, subways, grocery stores, etc. How to handle the situation is never quite apparent; do you ignore, say "no thanks," act outraged? In each case, depending on the persistence...Sotomayor Humbly Accepts Nomination to Supreme Court
In a move that would bring us our first Hispanic justice, a daughter of Puerto Rican parents and a product of a Bronx housing project, Princeton and Yale educated Sonia Sotomayor was nominated to the Supremem Court by President Obama this morning. The New York Times...Sheroes: Isabella Rossalini
She could be described as the best possible result of a power couple. Daughter of Ingrid Bergman and Roberto Rossalini, actress, model, activist and writer Isabella Rossalini (born in 1952) has turned out a career that has produced some remarkable photographs, a...Justifiable Hypocrisy?
I tried to sum up my feelings about the man who gunned down the Wichita abortion doctor George Tiller as he entered his church this weekend, but I could find no words more articulate than the ones printed on this woman's sign. Terrorist is the operative word....Orange You Glad I Didn't Say Cucumber?
This Vintage Ad from the eighties titled "Food Fight," tries to explain how not to cross the line when it comes to cucumbers (and maybe beards).Would Don Draper Approve?
This Volvo ad from the sixties makes some pretty blatant assumptions about the kinds of things women are concerned about (fur coats, swimming pools, and furniture). But the announcer has such a gentle voice that it's alright. Plus, it's Volvo! Feminists drive...Don't Douthat
This is Ross Douthat. He once wrote about a near sexual encounter with a woman who "resembled a chunkier Reese Witherspoon." This coming from a man who, judging from his picture, is the epitome of chunk. He was eventually disgusted to the point of not...Faux Arrousal All the Rage In 1970's Women's Undergarments
Now you can look like a bra-burning feminist without the pesky trash can fire.Bill O'Reilly Vs. Joan Walsh
Watching Bill O'Reilly makes me feel like a child who witnesses a grave injustice at the hands of someone bigger and stronger and popular. I feel helpless, frustrated, embarassed for not being able to stop it. Of course, this feeling manifests mostly as a...POV in Our Pants
Advertizers in more Europe-y countries than this one (I say Europe-y because of Canada, which is vastly not Europe-y, but it's cities are more like european cities than American ones) seem to have a somewhat lax attitude when it comes to acknowledging the...Dexterous President Swats Fly, Angers PETA
Just when President Barack Obama's Justice Department does something completely head-scratching that contradicts his campaign promises, he goes and does something like this: Proving that he is more than just mentally adroit, President Obama swats and kills a fly...Female Protesters and Observers Targets in Iran
In 2006, BBC reported that female students were overtaking men in the populations of Iranian universities. The country's relatively progressive attitude towards women is perhaps a remnant of a more "Western" Iran, the one written about at the beginning...R.I.P. Farrah
The woman responsible for this iconic poster has, reportedly, died. According to Entertainment Tonight, the former angel passed away this morning after a long struggle with anal cancer. She was 62.Girls: A Michael Jackson Tribute
watch the "Liberian Girl video" (with a great Paula Abdul cameo) here.R.I.P. Pina
It is the summer the icons died, it seems. Some are calling it "starmaggedon," but that phrase just doesn't sit so well with me. After the news of the passing of MJ, Farrah and Ed McMahon this weekend, the news on monday seemed a little less snarky....Sarah Palin Breaks Up With Alaska, Says “It's Not You, It's the Media”
As my esteemed collegue, TG, points out, Sarah Palin's "reasons" for resigning as Governor of the state of Alaska don't quite make a lot of sense. In her grand tradition of making sounds that resemle words and sentences strung together in a...Grandfathered In
Paul Melanson, an irate grandpa from Orono, Maine, is upset. He is upset because the Maine Human Rights Commission ruled in favor of a transgendered MTF student who attends the same high school as his grandson. The commission rules that the transgender student was...Qualified Female Public Servant Obama's Pick for Surgeon General
There have been reports that Dr. Regina Benjamin, a physician in rural Alabama, is President Obama's pick for Surgeon General. She will be the third official female surgeon general (Audrey F. Manley was appointed as "acting" Surgeon General after Clinton...Just Focus
Sonia Sotomayor is holding it down. If you haven't been watching them already, you should check out the Senate Judiciary Confirmation Hearings online. Stuart Smalley is there. Shortly after 2 p.m. today, when the Committee and Sotomayor returned after an hour and...Umlaut A Go Go
Last night I ventured up route 9 to have what I knew would be a perplexing experience. I saw Bruno Sacha Baron Cohen's third feature-length adaptation of one of the fictional characters on Da Ali G Show. Ali G Indahouse was the first, and it did not impliment the...Feminism, Atlanta Style
Alexyss K. Tylor is nothing less than a hoot (you want to check out her youtube channel). She hails from Atlanta and her rants about gender roles, sex, and the power play between men and women (or their respective genitalia) are often incendiary… she even smokes...Body Snarking: A Sexist Endeavor UPDATE
Fox News' Neil Cavuto and guest Michael Karolchyk recently debated whether Dr. Regina Benjamin is too fat for the "symbolic" position of Surgeon General. Neil introduced the segment like this:Brilliant, dedicated, experienced and, oh yeah, fat. The...Meta-Media Shower
According to Sarah Palin, one of the reasons she chose to resign, a year shy of the end of her term, is “the media” and all the attention “it’s” been paying to her family and personal life. To this I say, of course many involved in...Song of Herself: Sarah Palin's Farewell Speech
Yesterday, CNN counted down to Sarah Palin's farewell speech by showing this y2k-style countdown clock in the corner of the screen, complete with a grinning Sarah Palin head. This was frustrating to me, because it confirms that CNN has been influenced by Fox, and...Australian Mother Embarrasses Daughter, Scars Her For Life
The tabloid-style media coverage in Great Britain and Australia frightens me. They take the worst elements of TMZ, mix them with a little Jerry Springer, throw in a dash of self-righteous indignation, and add a syrupy pun or two. It's really quite fascinating. The...Spanish Toymaker's Take on Breastfeeding Advocacy
Bebe Gluton, literally "gluttonous baby," is a new doll that was recently introduced in Spain. The inoccuous looking baby doll also comes with a little girl sized halter-top with pink daisies that represent nipples. The doll makes sucking noises when it...Sole, Korea: Officials Tackle High Heel Friendly Streets, the Gender Gap
Officials in Seoul, South Korea will paint almost 5,000 parking spaces throughout the city pink, indicating they are for women only. The proximaty of the spaces is designed to help high heel wearing women navigate Seoul, which would boost employment mong women and...Erin Andrews: Female Victim or Female Sportswriter Victim?
"There is something about the mix of television, women and professional sports that is almost toxic, and it appears to numb the sensibilities of otherwise civilized men," says Susam Remier for the Baltimore Sun. The thesis of her recent piece is that nothing...The Real Women of Mad Men
Last night's third season premire of Mad Men was an event. The break between seasons was painfully long. It left fans with unanswered questions–the main one, of course: who is Don Draper? In the first few minutes of last night's show, we got a little...Meetings in Towns. On Mars?
The town meetings on health care have left me flabbergasted. Barney Frank has had much the same reaction. This woman is the second in two days who I've become aware of who's invoked Hitler at one of these town meetings. The first was based in Las Vegas. Her...Democrats Who Get Pregnant Should Abort, Says One Pro-Lifer
This Virginia gentleman expresses his views on abortion. He claims that he is not pro-life, and that he supports the abortions of fetuses conceived by Democratic and liberal parents. "I could think of nothing worse," he says "than to have these people...The Real Women of Mad Men: “Eat our sweet meats, drink our wine.” *Spoiler*
I didn't anticipate Ted Kennedy's death last night, which I learned about after I re-watched Sunday's episode of Mad Men in order to write this post. His involvement in the government since the era of the show, however, and the tragic themes of his life...E-Edition
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