The feminising sexuality of 50 Shades of Grey. [ThinkProgress]
The feminist perils of Halloween costumes. [Thought Catalog]
Is there a new Steubenville? [Jezebel]
The penis as a weapon (NSWF). [Sociological Images]
Chris Brown’s rape perpetuates the myth that men are unrapeable. [Olivia Cole]
“If Men Could Menstruate” by Gloria Steinem. [Haverford]
Speaking of menses, if you like to wear your heart on your sleeve there’s now a t-shirt to celebrate getting your rocks off whilst on your period. Too bad it’s from the dubious American Apparel… [Birdee]
I’m going to Washington, D.C. in six weeks (New York in two and a bit!) and if the U.S. federal government shutdown is still in effect, Alyssa Rosenberg has compiled a list of non-governmental things to do in the city. [ThinkProgress]
Preorder your copy of Filmme Fatales issue three, in which I write about sex work in For a Good Time, Call…, along with many surely great pieces on feminism in film.
The season of the witch is upon us, what with The Witches of East End and American Horror Story: Coven premiering in the U.S. this week. The New Inquiry‘s latest issue is all about these supernatural ladies; subscribe for only $2 a month for all their witchy goodness. Some of the features are also available on their homepage.
Chris Brown was raped as a child; he was not “raring to go” and it was not “every boy’s fantasy”. [Feministing, Flavorwire]
Texas Governor Rick Perry claims his doddering wife “misspoke” and “put the wrong word in the wrong place” when she admitted that she thinks abortion should—or “could”—be the choice of a woman. It make me sick that Perry feels the need to infantilise and “correct” his wife for her apparent conversational faux pas because it doesn’t jive with his policies. Luckily there may be a new Governor on the rise for Texas, the unquestionably pro-choice filibustering Wendy Davis! [Feministing]
To rape-joke or not to rape-joke, that is the question. [Bitch Magazine]
Pop stars and “Naked Hot Body Fatigue”. [Jezebel]
Women in the World also discuss the feminism of Britney Spears’ “Work, Bitch”.
Was Sex & the City all in Carrie’s head? [Salon]
Follow the parody Twitter account, Sex & the City 3, by the same author. (While you’re at it, follow me, and stay tuned for some more SATC musings.)
Playboy: thanks for the memories (SFW). [Daily Life]
Bleak, but inspiring: “Freelancing & the Mythical Work/Life Balance.” [This Ain’t Livin’]
Why do they hate us? Christos Tsiolkas on Australia’s asylum seeker problem. [The Monthly]
Femen from the perspective of its activists (NSWF). [Vice]
I reviewed Domestic Warfare at Gasworks Arts Park as part of the Melbourne Fringe Festival for TheatrePress.
Image via I’m Charming You.
Where are all the educated rom-com heroines? [Thought Catalog]
While we’re on the topic of locating certain female characters, what about all the superheroines? [ThinkProgress]
And, the problem with female sitcom characters. [Women & Hollywood]
Who was the real Jessica Rabbit? [Messy Nessy Chic]
On zoos. [Meajin]
Attempting to use the female condom. [TheVine]
Still with contraception, the pull-out method is an increasing form of it. [Daily Life]
Image via Southwestern.
PETA get more anti-women with each ad campaign. [Daily Life]
On favouring the internet over books. I’m a rapacious reader; if I don’t get at least an hour’s reading time in each day, I will slowly start to go insane. Some of my friends tease me ’cause it can take me up to a month or six weeks to finish a book (the most recent was Stephen King’s Under the Dome, and what a waste of two months that was!), but that’s not taking into account the copious amounts of other reading I do. On a good day, I’ll devour every article on TheVine, Daily Life, MamaMia and Jezebel, and fit in some before-bed book reading. On the weekends I can get through The Age‘s lifestyle sections, long-form articles I can’t commit to throughout the week and magazines that have been languishing on my bedside table for weeks, on top of all the rest. I read probably millions of words a week. I don’t think there’s any harm in some of those words being from the internet. These days, reading is about so much more than books. Just so long as I can get a chapter or two in every night or on the bus, I’ll take my reading where I can get it. [Daily Life]
Reading letters to Ms. magazine’s editors from the 1980s. [The New Yorker]
The rise of the Trojan Horse TV show. [Film School Rejects]
I review Monash Uni Student Theatre’s production of Columbine. [TheatrePress]
Anna Gunn, the actress who plays Skyler White on Breaking Bad, weighs in on the vitriol directed at her character. [NYTimes]
Can you perform a gay anthem if you’re straight? [Jezebel]
The privileged male sexuality of “Blurred Lines”. [Collapse Board]
In defence of the make-up-free selfie. I like MamaMia‘s Body Positive campaign, but I think it’s just the concept of the selfie I’m a bit iffy about. I’m all for taking a photo of myself after exercise or of a body part that I’m self-conscious about, but I just can’t get behind selfies (so to speak). Maybe it’s also an insecurity about my face without makeup. Apart from my legs, my bare face is the body part I most struggle with. I love the structure of my face, and I think my eyes are my best feature, but I’m still sporting the scars from years of late-adolescence/early-adulthood acne which means I’m not ready to upload a make-up-free pic of myself for all the interwebs to see. Plus, I think selfies are kind of narcissistic—there’s a difference between a light-hearted holiday or dancefloor snap with friends and a duckface bathroom pic which just screams “validate me!” What do you think of the whole selfie phenomenon in general?
Some slighted feminists sick of receiving dick pics have decided to make them into an art exhibition. And that’s where the issue of consent comes in. [Daily Life]
The slave narrative of Orange is the New Black. [The Nation]
Still with Orange is the New Black, literature on the show. [Bitch Magazine]
SlutWalk Melbourne is next weekend, and last year’s speaker, Emily Maguire, talks about why she supports the movement. [SlutWalk Melbourne]
I reviewed Patricia Cornelius’ Savages for TheatrePress. Head on over and check it out, and then get to fortyfive downstairs quick smart!
50 not-so-obvious feminist pop cultural items. [Flavorwire]
Why do we treat the male contraceptive pill differently to the female pill? [Aeon Magazine]
Tony Abbott’s sexism is more than just a “gaffe”. [AusVotes2013]
Mark Ruffalo is pro-choice. [Stop Patriarchy]
What the Harriet Tubman “sex tape” means for black feminism. [Ms. Magazine]
Are politicians the new Ryan Gosling? [Daily Life]
And in the wake of last week’s “sex appeal”-gate, Cleo rates Canberra’s sexiest and unsexiest men. A step towards equality or should everyone just shut the eff up about it? [MamaMia]
Fuck “strong female characters”. [New Statesman]
Short and sweet this week.
Rape as a plot device. I’m reading Stephen King’s Under the Dome at the moment, in preparation to delve into the series which Clementine Ford cites in her article, and let me tell you, it is rife with unnecessary and gratuitous rape and violence against women. Even the characters’ inner monologues reek of misogyny. It should be interesting to see if the TV show is as heavily drenched in it as the print version. Judging by Ford’s article, it is. [Daily Life]
The racial politics of Beyonce’s hair. [Daily Beast]
Lady Gaga and cultural appropriation. [Jezebel]
Why do we care so much about other people’s sex lives, or lack thereof? [Jezebel]
Melissa Fabello makes some good points in her video about not wasting time on in-fighting about who’s a good feminist and who’s not, but you know me; I really think more people should proud to call themselves feminists and that not all supposedly feminist acts are created equal.
Speaking of, it’s no secret I’m Taylor Swift’s number one hater but over at One Week One Band the dissection of all things Swift is truly eye-opening if a bit fawning. I still think she’s a dolt with some seriously detrimental views about gender and sex, but it’s nice to look at her music from a different point of view for a change.
Anthony Weiner’s mistress, Sydney Leathers (what a name!) gives her top sexting advice. And it’s mind-numbingly mundane. [xoJane]
A call to arms for Twitter to do something about their complacency for rape threats and gender-based hatred from a woman who’s been there; the woman who was faced with a torrent of vitriolic abuse from Tyler, the Creator and his fans. [Daily Life]
Rachel Hills on Hugo Scwhyzer’s retirement from the online femisphere. [Musings of an Inappropriate Woman]
Bisexuality on The O.C. [Bitch]
Why are all TV serial killers’ victims women? [The Guardian]
Well, the 12th Doctor Who wasn’t a woman or a person of colour, as has recently been speculated, but is Peter Capaldi’s age progressive in itself? [TheVine]
Then again, maybe not. [Jezebel]
The sexual politics of Grindr. [The Guardian]
The Scarlett Woman 