America, This Is Your Rape Culture

“Me and a gun and a man On my back But I haven’t seen Barbados So I must get out of this Yes I wore a slinky red thing Does that mean I should spread For you, your friends your father, Mr. Ed” -Tori Amos, Me and A Gun My daughter had this funny thing […]

Feminist Friday…. Why?

Feminism… sigh….  Why has such an important word that signifies so many good and important things become so vilified? You would think that at this point in our country, in our culture, in society as a whole- that this discussion wouldn’t be necessary. But alas, it   is. It seems like you can’t read the […]

Feminism and the World According To Lily Allen

This morning I logged on to FaceBook to do some mindless meandering before reading some real stuff. I was numbly perusing postings about the weather (rain, again?) and someone’s cute kid doing something amazingly cute, when I saw an article from NME magazine that made me almost spit my coffee all over my computer. It […]

Self(ie)assured

“Brainstorm take me away from the norm, I’ve got to tell you something.  This phenomenon, I had to put it in a song.  And it goes like Whoa, Amber is the color of your energy, Whoa, Shades of gold display naturally…” -311, Amber I have a confession to make. I am actually a very open […]

Would You Type To Your Mother Like That? Women and the Internet

“Stand up like a man, You better learn to shake hands, You better look me in the eye now, Treat me like your mother.  Come on look me in the eye, You wanna try to tell a lie?  You can’t, you know why?  I’m dressed like your mother.” -The Dead Weather, Treat Me Like Your […]

The Other “F” Word…. Taking Back the Meaning of Feminism

“You gotta cry without weeping, talk without speaking, scream without raising your voice…” -U2, Running To Stand Still Be firm, but be polite.  Be funny, but tactful.  Be hard, yet soft.  Be strong, yet understatedly so.  Be direct, but soften it with a smile.  Be smart, but don’t be too obvious about it.  Run the […]

Comfortably Numb

“I will light the match this morning, so I won’t be alone.  Watch as she lies silent, for soon night will be gone…” A young girl, too young, has her innocence stolen.  Intoxicated.  Raped.  Videotaped.  Dumped, barely conscious, on a cold doorstep.  Betrayed by boys she thought were her friends.  She reports it to the […]

Yet Another Response to “FYI (if you’re a teenage girl)

This blog post  by a mom of teen boys has stirred something in a lot of people.  Some people are praising the message of modesty while others see disturbing ideals lurking beneath a mother’s warning.  I see a little of both sides and have my own thoughts on this mother’s tactics. I understand her plea […]