“… [The Kardashians] also exhibit an attitude toward their bodies that can only be called revolutionary. Women have long asked for fair vagina representation in media, for their vaginas not only to be sexual objects but to smell and bleed and pop out babies, and on their show, Kardashian vaginas do all that and more, which is very different than other pop-culture vaginas.”

Speaking of Kim, is she becoming more political? [Fusion]

And Kanye West could actually be the best president the United States has ever seen. [The Guardian]

How SlutWalk Melbourne has evolved in the past four years. [Spook Magazine]

HIV on HTGAWM. [This Ain’t Livin’]

“I Feel Bad About My Nose.” [Broadly]

“How Political Was N.W.A., Really?”

“When asked if racism existed outside of Compton by SPIN magazine in 1990, Eazy-E replied, ‘The black police in Compton are worse than the white police. Chuck D gets involved in all that black stuff, we don’t. Fuck that black power shit; we don’t give a fuck. Free South Africa; we don’t give a fuck…We’re not into politics at all.’” [Talking Points Memo]

You can’t decry Straight Outta Compton for its misogynoir while also consuming Tyler Perry products. [The Root]

Move over #DivasRevolution: WWE is in the midst of a black revolution and it’s been right under our noses this whole time. [Uproxx]

Disability advocacy campaigns need to be inclusive of the people they’re claiming to help, not pitying of them. [Junkee]

Is Justin Bieber’s new song a pro-consent anthem? [The Cut]

In praise of gender-neutral public bathrooms. [Daily Life]

Women can be pedophiles, too. [Broadly]

Image via Rolling Stone.

August 22, 2015

On the (Rest of the) Net.

By Scarlett Harris ¶ Posted in On the (Rest of the) Net, On the Net ¶ Tagged abortion, Amy Schumer, animal cruelty, Ashley Madison, Camilla Peffer, Cosmopolitan, Daily Life, Down Under Feminists Carnival, Fusion, HBO, Jennifer Aniston, Jezebel, Judd Apatow, Junkee, Lena Dunham, Molly Crabapple, Rachel Hills, rape jokes, Sesame Street, sex work, The Cut, The Guardian, The Sex Myth, Trainwreck, Triple J Hack, WaPo, XOJane, Zero at the Bone ¶ Leave a comment

Judd Apatow makes the same sexist, conservative and boring movie over and over again. [The Guardian]

Is there ever a justification for killing an animal? [Jezebel]

Why I won’t work with Lena Dunham as long as she supports the criminalisation of sex work. [Molly Crabapple]

How do singletons feel smug now that longtime lonely girl Jennifer Aniston is hitched? [Daily Life]

My friend Camilla Peffer wrote about how her persistent acne wasn’t caused by a lack of self-love. As an acne-sufferer myself, I can totally relate to this. [xoJane]

Anti-choicers shouldn’t dare proselytise to women about abortion: we know about it all too well. [The Cut]

Sesame Street‘s move to HBO begs the question: what about kids and families without access to premium cable TV? [WaPo]

Telling a rape joke made me feel amazing. [Jezebel]

The double bind of wearing—or not wearing—makeup. [Triple J Hack]

Why you shouldn’t search for people you know amongst the Ashley Madison hacks. [Fusion]

The best of Aussie and Kiwi feminist writing from July. [Zero at the Bone]

ICYMI: The full transcript of my interview, originally published on Junkee, with Rachel Hills about her new book, The Sex Myth.

These are the books I’ve read over the past year.

Why Walmart and Rite-Aid in the U.S. shouldn’t ban Cosmopolitan.

Image via LA Times.

July 31, 2015

On the (Rest of the) Net.

By Scarlett Harris ¶ Posted in On the (Rest of the) Net, On the Net ¶ Tagged Bill Cosby, BuzzFeed, Caitlyn Jenner, Gawker, Grantland, Hermione Granger, HuffPo, Hulk Hogan, Hyphen Magazine, I Am Cait, Junkee, Legends Football League, Mashable, New York Magazine, Orange is the New Black, Rachel Hills, racism, Slate, Spook magazine, Sydney Morning Herald, Taylor Swift, The Atlantic, The Cut, The Sex Myth, World Wrestling Entertainment ¶ Leave a comment

Rachel Hill’s book The Sex Myth, released on Wednesday, is excerpted here. [Sydney Morning Herald]

And I interviewed Rachel on the book. (An extended version to come.) [Junkee]

I also wrote about how I Am Cait might be the turning point in reality TV. [Spook Magazine]

35 of the 46 women who have accused Bill Cosby of drugging and/or sexually assaulting them have been photographed for and told their stories to New York magazine. [The Cut]

How that story came about and how they recovered from the DDoS hack. [Mashable]

What happens to mass murderer groupies when their subjects are convicted? [Slate]

In the wake of last week’s Twitter hubbub, Taylor “Swift isn’t here to help women—she’s here to make bank.” [Gawker]

Is there room for the Legends Football League in the recent revolution of women’s sports? [Grantland]

A history of World Wrestling Entertainment’s racism. [The Atlantic]

Orange is the New Black fails its Asian characters. [Hyphen Magazine]

On the “racebending” of Hermione Granger. [HuffPo, Buzzfeed]

ICYMI: My thoughts on Hulk Hogan and racism in wrestling.

Image via Musings of an Inappropriate Woman.

July 10, 2015

On the (Rest of the) Net.

By Scarlett Harris ¶ Posted in On the (Rest of the) Net, On the Net ¶ Tagged A Bee of a Certain Age, Daily Life, Down Under Feminists Carnival, grief, gun control, HuffPo Women, Jezebel, Junkee, Kanye West, Kill Your Darlings, Kim Kardashian, Magic Mike, Magic Mike XXL, marriage equality, Orange is the New Black, Pennsatucky, Pitchfork, rape, Rihanna, sexual assault, social media, The Cut, The Guardian, The New Yorker, TheVine, TV Tonight, UnREAL, Vulture ¶ Leave a comment

“To be Rihanna… To be a black woman and genius, is to be perpetually owed.” [Pitchfork]

Why we find the sexualised violence of #BBHMM so disturbing. [HuffPo Women]

The Supreme Court of the United States’ landmark decision to legalise marriage equality nation wide is great, but the freedom to marry should also mean the freedom not to marry. [The Cut]

The Kim Kardashian sex tape flag at Kanye West’s Glastonbury set shows women’s sexualities aren’t their own. [The Guardian]

Has Kim changed… or just the way we think about her? [Daily Life]

Orange is the New Black and a defence of rape scenes:

“My hope is that going forward we can have a Pennsatucky Test for rape scenes much like the Bechdel Test. Is the victim’s point-of-view shown? Does the scene have a purpose for existing for character, rather than plot, advancement? Is the emotional aftermath explored? As long as sexual assault continues to be a scourge of our society, TV shows ought to mine the subject; it’s important we keep the conversation going. Just take care of your characters. Don’t rape ’em and leave ’em. They deserve to have their trauma acknowledged. They deserve to have their stories told.” [Vulture]

“The Personal Politics of Public Bathrooms.” [The Cut]

Grief in the time of social media. [Kill Your Darlings]

Why does TV suck at understanding the internet? [Junkee]

To celebrate U.S. series UnREAL‘s renewal and debut on Australian screens on Stan, read about how the show flips the reality TV script and how it’s pushing the boundaries of female masturbation. [Vulture, TV Tonight, The New Yorker, HuffPo Women]

Mums with guns. [Jezebel]

Magic Mike XXL was released this week and I wrote about the original here. [TheVine]

The latest Down Under Feminists Carnival has much more Aussie and Kiwi feminist goodness to keep you satisfied. [A Bee of a Certain Age]

Image via Pop Sugar.

May 8, 2015

On the (Rest of the) Net.

By Scarlett Harris ¶ Posted in On the (Rest of the) Net, On the Net ¶ Tagged Beyonce, Bruce Jenner, Cher, Daily Life, Feminaust, feminism, Floyd Mayweather, For Harriet, Glee, Grey's Anatomy, intimate partner violence, Junkee, Mother's Day, Nicki Minaj, porn, reproductive rights, Salon, Sofia Vergara, Spook magazine, The Guardian, Twitter ¶ Leave a comment

In praise of Cher’s Twitter account. [The Guardian]

Women who choose not to have children are “just frivolous people who are wasting our lives away until we add to the world’s population.” [Salon]

Further to that, Sofia Vergara is well within her legal and moral rights to destroy the fertilised embryos she created with her ex. [Daily Life]

Should we be showing porn in schools? [Junkee]

I also wrote at Junkee about the end of Glee and, with it, its atrocious treatment of minorities. And storytelling.

Do we only care about the plight of black women when they’re on our TV screens? [For Harriet]

Why are self-proclaimed feminists like Beyonce and Nicki Minaj supporting woman-beater Floyd Mayweather? [Spook Magazine]

I wrote this a couple of Mother’s Days ago: the divide between second- and fourth-wave feminism.

My last “Welcome to Monday” for feminaust is jammed packed with goodness.

ICYMI: “Some Thoughts on Bruce Jenner”.

Grey’s Anatomy‘s top ten deaths.

April 25, 2015

On the (Rest of the) Net.

By Scarlett Harris ¶ Posted in On the (Rest of the) Net, On the Net ¶ Tagged #givedivasachance, Amber Rose, Batty Mamzelle, Bitch magazine, Daily Life, dating, Diva, feminism, Junkee, men's rights, misogyny, Musings of an Inappropriate Woman, rape, sexism, Spook magazine, Uproxx, WWE ¶ Leave a comment

I am blocking people that write nasty degrading comments below about women. I will not tolerate that on my Twitter feed.

— CJ Perry (@TheCJPerry) April 22, 2015

A WWE Diva tweeted about sexism and misogyny and the internet proved her theory. [Uproxx]

Have all fictional women on TV been raped? [Batty Mamzelle]

Another piece in defence of Amber Rose. [Bitch]

The men’s rights movement doesn’t help men at all. [Junkee]

Calling out racism is great, but we need to be mindful that we aren’t perpetuating stereotypes and speaking for minorities when we stand up for them. [Daily Life]

Why are Aussies so shit at dating? [Spook Magazine]

Is working on your art while your partner supports you anti-feminist? [Musings of an Inappropriate Woman]

March 27, 2015

On the (Rest of the) Net.

By Scarlett Harris ¶ Posted in On the (Rest of the) Net, On the Net ¶ Tagged #givedivasachance, Alberto El Patron, Cinderella, Columbia Journalism Review, Daily Life, Debrief Daily, diability, Disability & Representation, Drew Galloway, feminism, Feministing, Flavorwire, Gangrel, Gloria Steinem, I Play Wrestling, intimate partner violence, Jezebel, Junkee, MamaMia, mansplaining, Mary McCarthy, Medium, misogyny, Monica Lewinsky, Mr. Ken Anderson, Musings of an Inappropriate Woman, NPR Monkey See, Outback Championship Wrestling, Reading Our Way to the Revolution, RendezView, Ricardo Rodriguez, Scotty Too Hotty, sexism, Shonda Rhimes, The Cut, The Group, The Guardian, The Hoopla, The Kardashians ¶ Leave a comment

Measuring the success of podcasts. I’m actually the host of Outback Championship Wrestling’s first podcast, launching today, featuring interviews with former World Wrestling Entertainment Heavyweight Champion Alberto El Patron and former WWE Superstar and current TNA star Mr. Ken Anderson. I am under the impression that it’s the first woman-hosted wrestling podcast apart from Renee Young’s 30 Years of WrestleMania podcast last year. So even if you don’t like wrestling, head on over to support a sister. [Columbia Journalism Review, YouTube]

I also recapped last Friday’s show, featuring the abovementioned wrestlers as well as Drew Galloway, Ricardo Rodriguez, Scotty Too Hotty and Gangrel. [Outback Championship Wrestling]

A history of the Kardashians in magazine covers. [Jezebel]

#GiveDivasaChance in video games. [I Play Wrestling]

A partial list of the 22 women who have died at the hands of their partners in Australia this year. [The Guardian]

Shonda Rhimes on the importance of seeing your “tribe” “normalised” on TV. [Medium]

The cinematic history of Cinderella. [NPR Monkey See]

Next-generation feminist blogs you should be reading. [Musings of an Inappropriate Woman]

Gloria Steinem on Mary McCarthy’s The Group. [Reading Our Way to the Revolution]

Men don’t trust women because emotions. [Daily Life]

As The Hoopla folds and MamaMia‘s Debrief Daily and News Ltd’s RendezView launch, here are some headline ideas in case they run out. [Junkee]

“He Monica Lewinsky’d all on my gown”: the 128 rap songs her name has made a cameo in. [The Cut]

“Why Don’t Men Read Books By Women?” [Feministing]

Mansplaining is just the tip of the trolling iceberg. [Flavorwire]

Disability is a feminist issue that’s just not getting enough attention. [Disability & Representation]

ICYMI: Why do we have to celebrate the engagements, weddings and birth announcements on the road well-traveled?

March 13, 2015

On the (Rest of the) Net.

By Scarlett Harris ¶ Posted in On the (Rest of the) Net, On the Net ¶ Tagged #choreplay, #givedivasachance, Amy Gray, animal cruelty, Bitch Flicks, BuzzFeed, Coach Beiste, Daily Life, diversity, domestic violence, Emma Pillsbury, Flavorwire, Glee, Grey's Anatomy, How to Get Away with Murder, International Women's Day, Junkee, MamaMia, Mia Freedman, Pesky Feminist, Private Practice, Quinn Fabray, Roxane Gay, Scandal, Shonda Rhimes, television, The Guardian, The Monthly, TheVine, work/life balance ¶ Leave a comment

Grey’s Anatomy. Private Practice. Scandal. How to Get Away with Murder. I ask if Shonda Rhimes has a mistress problem. [Junkee]

I wrote about how to make sure your beauty cabinet is full of cruelty free goodies. [TheVine]

What this season’s new crop of diverse shows means for the future of television. [Flavorwire]

Roxane Gay was in Australia and she had lots of smart and funny observations of our culture. [Junkee]

The problem with #choreplay: men are human adults who should know how to do housework and want to live in a clean, somewhat orderly environment, not robots who do chores to get sex from women. [The Guardian]

Further to that, why are we urging women to lean in to unequal labour dynamics? Shouldn’t we be trying to figure out a system of work and wages that benefits more than just white, middle class men? [Buzzfeed]

Leisure time is a feminist issue. I know it certainly is for me. I hate cooking so I make sure I’ve got enough food to last me lunches and dinners on the days I work ’cause the last thing I want to do is come home and spend my spare time preparing food. On the work front, I’m really busy with three jobs (day job, freelancing, Outback Championship Wrestling) and I was recently offered at (paid!) internship but I had to turn it down because I’m already burning the candle at both ends. And that’s the reason I won’t have kids: I don’t want to be an angry, resentful mother like my own mother sometimes was because I don’t have enough time for myself and no one appreciates me. So in a nutshell: I can relate. [Daily Life]

Australia has a dire domestic violence problem. [The Monthly]

Amy Gray gave the International Women’s Day address at the Queen Victoria Women’s Centre in Melbourne. Here‘s the transcript. [Pesky Feminist]

Mia Freedman laments the criticism she receives from the “packs” of “Twitter feminists” every time she says something about women. Did you ever think that’s because the things you say about women are worthy of criticism? [MamaMia, TheVine]

Quinn and Emma are the characters Glee should have written as trans men, not the predictable and oft-shat on Coach Beiste. [Bitch Flicks]

ICYMI: World Wrestling Entertainment will never #GiveDivasaChance as long as they employ and celebrate intimate partner abusers and rapists.

Image via ABC.

February 6, 2015