I’ve been waiting for this since Monday, actually. Jezebel has weighed in on the Bright Young Things backlash: “The Right Wing Disinformation Campaign Against Victoria’s Secret” All week, I’ve also grown increasingly antsy about how the discussion of the story got more and more hyperbolic and the age of the girls discussed dropped from teens … Continue reading
It’s been a busy, crazy week, but many good things have happened. In the realm of popular culture, there’s going to be a Veronica Mars movie and a Clarissa Explains It All novel called Things I Can’t Explain. Veronica Mars is one of my favorite TV shows as an adult and Clarissa was one of my … Continue reading
Great interview with Junot Diaz, author of Drown (on my comps list, woo!), The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, and This is How You Lose Her. Access to education is not just an international issue, there are people fighting the fight here in the U.S. as well.
Please see my response to the backlash against the backlash here: Click! [Quick update/clarification: Victoria’s Secret is pointing out that the Bright Young Things line is not explicitly for teens, it’s just part of their PINK brand. Nonetheless, their CFO has stated that they are marketing toward 15 and 16 year old girls (see below) … Continue reading
When I saw the trailer for The Call starring Halle Berry and Abigail Breslin (embedded below), I was kind of horrified. It looked so violent and like it played upon very real fears about abduction and violence against girls. Yet, because I study the portrayal of girls in the media, I also felt that I … Continue reading
Two great finds today. 1) I read an article at Feministing saying that “The majority of women voters consider themselves feminists”. I think what’s especially great about the information is that they polled both with the woman’s personal understanding of feminism–because there are many feminisms and feminism is a lived experience as well as a political … Continue reading
File under: Why We Need Feminism. Badly. Earlier this week, the verdict in the Steubenville, OH rape trial was handed down and the two teenaged, football playing boys accused of the crime were found guilty. Surprisingly, many media outlets focused not on justice or on the victim, or on how we can raise young people … Continue reading
Happy Sunday! (Also, Happy St. Patrick’s Day) I’m still working through a ton of papers and things getting ready for my conference season starting soon. Posts will resume this week. In the meantime, watch this TED talk by Tavi Gevinson, editor of Rookie Mag. It’s wonderful! (found via Upworthy and my friend Nevada on Facebook) … Continue reading
Happy International Women’s Day! In the last week, I’ve run across a handful of great images inspired by or remixing Rosie the Riveter that I’d like to share. We can do it! I found this one (left) when I was conferencing with students, many of whom are researching World War II. It was posted prominently … Continue reading
Ph.D.s and Pigtails 