In May 2015, I wrote a blog for About-Face about Taylor Swift’s recently-released video for “Bad Blood.” In the post, I argued that the scantily clad women in the video were “devalued from being strong warriors to being traditionally sexy females with bodies that exist to be objectified.” I posted it to my personal social media pages, and… Continue Reading →
Free The Nipple does more for women’s bodies than any push-up ever could
A half-moon shaped incision was made and my nipple was flipped open. Then a slice of my breast was cut out, containing a tumor. It had to happen. The tumor was uncomfortable, at times painful, and without taking the whole thing out and analyzing it, cancer couldn’t completely be ruled out. I still think it’s… Continue Reading →
“Fat” is an emotion, according to Facebook
As a new member of Facebook, I frequently find myself flummoxed by its strange ways. Someone “liked” my “status”? I’ve been invited to play “Candy Crush”? Someone has “poked” me? Usually, with much grumbling and cursing in Yiddish, I find some way to adapt to the world of countable likes, crushes on inanimate objects, and… Continue Reading →
Give me Wonder Woman
I love superhero movies. I’ve eagerly awaited every new Batman movie, I’ve been following the Avengers franchise for years – and I was very excited, a few weeks ago, to go see Guardians of the Galaxy. I enjoyed it, but in one critical respect, I came away disappointed. Not in the story, or the acting…. Continue Reading →
Are breasts scandalous?
Did you know that bikinis used to be completely scandalous? When they debuted in 1946, their inventor Louis Réard couldn’t find models willing to wear them. Réard named them well — after an island atoll where the US had recently been testing atomic weapons, in the expectation that the tiny bathing suits to create a… Continue Reading →
Activists find novel ways to stamp out street harassment
It’s an unfortunate fact of our lives that women are often subjected to street harassment. Any woman can tell you that it’s hard to walk down the street without our appearance being commented on by absolute strangers. These unsolicited comments are at best annoying, and at worst, terrifying. But lately, I’ve been starting to hear… Continue Reading →
It’s Okay to ask for help
It’s often easy to put your mental health on the back burner. We’re all busy with school, work, friends, and family; how do you find the time to fit in an appointment with a therapist as well? For that matter, how do you decide if you need to visit a therapist or if you’re just… Continue Reading →
The renaissance of female empowerment comes from an unlikely source: advertisers
Feminine hygiene products have a history of questionable advertising. Lately, however, we’re starting to see some truly groundbreaking, entertaining, and original ads. The newest maxi pad video doing the viral rounds is this one from Always: Now, I’m not sure I would really consider this an ad for tampons or pads. In fact, they’re not… Continue Reading →
Training video shows simplicity of photoshopping bodies
Altering images via Photoshop has become so commonplace that the simple, all-encompassing term “Photoshopping” is now understood by just about everyone. But what exactly is Photoshopping, and how easy is it to do? This video, from the well-respected software training website lynda.com, shows exactly how to achieve a Photoshopped body in just a few clicks… Continue Reading →