Objectify This

  As Shakesville puts it, “Note to Timbuk2: If a man “steals” a woman’s virginity, it’s called rape. Even if it is “prom night” or whatevthefuck an underage-looking girl in a tacky party dress is meant to represent.” Ok, so I am thoroughly disappointed in Timbuk2. I really thought they were about something beyond the [...]

While browsing mollyringwaldblues, I came upon this gem. Enjoy. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBf6QFeEHU4&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fmollyringwaldblues%2Eblogspot%2Ecom%2F] This video caught my attention because it is an example of a behavior that I don’t see often in American popular culture. The portrayal of real agency of this type in a three year old girl is funny to us (and to the off-camera interviewer, [...]

The consistent and intentional failure of the United States Congress to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment is interesting, given that the text of the bill is just “Section 1. Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex. Section 2. [...]

Rape culture in Japan is much more extreme than  it is here in the States. There is a weaker taboo against ephebophilia, the “sexual preference in which an adult is primarily or exclusively sexually attracted to pubescent adolescents,” which has resulted in a culture of so called “lollipop” or “Lolita” pornography of prepubescent girls, of [...]

Thanks to GeekSugar for this interesting article about the Aphrodite Project, an innovative approach to empowerment for sex workers. The Aphrodite Project Website informs us that “the Aphrodite Project Team is pleased to announce the launch of Platforms, a new line of footwear specifically designed for sex work. Platforms are both an homage to Aphrodite [...]

On Tuesday, May 15th, Senator Sam Brownback of Kansas – a Republican presidential candidate who opposes, among other things, porn and gay marriage, was in a televised presidential debate. ” Tell me,” Wendell Goler asked Senator Sam Brownback during Tuesday’s Republican presidential debate, “Since you’ve opposed abortion in every instance except to save the life [...]

I recently conducted a series of interviews for a sociology project here at my college. I surveyed my female peers’ ideas about their perceptions of the likelihood of rape, and, as an afterthought, their views on feminism. Over and over, I heard, “Well, I think of myself as a feminist in the sense that I [...]