On Saturday, June 15th, 2013, I was with About-Face and supporters as we stood scantily clad in front of Victoria’s Secret on Powell in San Francisco for our latest action, called Operation Real Bodies Real Love. Wearing only our bras and underwear, we were making a statement about what real bodies look like (and how… Continue Reading →
Activist Eve Ensler believes women are more than a sum of their parts
If I say Eve Ensler, you probably think about The Vagina Monologues, the sassy play Ensler created about various women’s experiences—er, having vaginas—and all the A-list actresses that performed this brilliant work worldwide. But when I saw Ensler speak last week in support of her new book, In the Body of the World, she wasn’t talking… Continue Reading →
Don’t let the genre fool you — Game of Thrones is full of feminist surprises
Game of Thrones is hot right now and I’m into it! For those of you who haven’t caught on to the Game of Thrones craze, let me tell you, it is much more than a medieval fantasy/action series. For those that may be surprised to see Game of Thrones being praised by a feminist, I’d… Continue Reading →
Facebook falls flat in fighting gender-based hate speech
I am an avid Facebook user (is anyone reading this not?); it is an integrated part of my everyday life. So when I heard that Facebook had agreed to better control the content on their site and eliminate gender-based hate speech, I was thrilled. Or so I thought. When I learned that they had only… Continue Reading →
Why Jes Baker is totally a fat positive hero
Jes Baker is okay with being fat. Get over it. That’s just the message the 26-year-old Behavioral Health Professional recently sent to Abercrombie & Fitch CEO, Mike Jeffries (anyone else tired of hearing that guy’s name?). But she also sent that message to society itself. Jes has garnered millions of views on her blog, The Militant… Continue Reading →
Who run the (advertising) world? (Beyoncé)
A couple of weeks ago, Beyoncé debuted her new song from a forthcoming album, “Standing on the Sun” in a commercial for H&M. Earlier in the year she launched a new $50 million campaign with Pepsi, including commercials, visual ads, and limited-edition Beyoncé Pepsi cans. Of course, Beyoncé also sang at President Obama’s Inauguration and… Continue Reading →
A relatable disclosure of an eating disorder from NYC powerhouse
It’s not easy to disclose an eating disorder, much less discuss in detail where you feel its origins are and how you coped with addressing it. Doing this as a public figure—and a political one at that—is even more difficult. As someone who researches eating disorders, I have to say, I was both proud of and… Continue Reading →
From the diary of the 6th grade “slut” — The UnSlut Project
“I can’t dump him now, because then people would think I am even more of a slut than they already do. How could one mistake cause my life to crumble like this?” Would you publish your diary from when you were a pre-teen on the Internet for the entire world to read? This is exactly… Continue Reading →
A damsel in progress: analyzing BioShock Infinite’s Elizabeth
From Peach to Zelda, the damsel in distress is a classic video game figure. Countless games have featured the helpless princess in need of rescuing, and despite its blatant sexism, the trope is still widely used. When Irrational Games’ BioShock: Infinite was released March 26th, female character Elizabeth seemed to be just another damsel in… Continue Reading →