The Kids Are Alright...

At least, this kid is definitely alright. And he’s also right. 10-year-old Will Phillips of Arkansas has hit the national news thanks to a CNN interview in which he explains that he refuses to stand and recite the Pledge of Allegiance until gays and lesbians have equal rights, particularly marriage...

Lessons for Girls...

I got a tip from international reader Endora about a piece in a recent issue of the Guardian discussing our (schools’?  feminists’?) responsibility to girls to tell them that they almost certainly will not be able to “have it all,” to use a phrase I loathe. We’ve discussed the value of single-sex...

Our Labia Look Just Fine, Thanks....

Immortalize your lovely labia at Vulvalovelovely @ Etsy. Click on photo for link. Commenter aspiringexpatriate recently sent me an e-mail entitled: I don’t even know what to say. It included a link to a BBC News article entitled “New Warnings on ‘Perfect’ Vaginas.” The...

Not strictly feminist, but…...

So I just clicked over to Feministe and found to my surprise a comment thread going utterly nutbar over the question of trying terrorists in the SDNY.  It’s full of the usual paeans to the American Constitution (which, Sir John A. Macdonald help me, I will never fully understand, there are tons of...

Plus ça change…...

I’ve been working on a project about women writers to amuse myself, and came across the following, quoted in an old Harper’s Magazine “reading” section: Novel-writing has of late years devolved so largely upon women, that it is quite rare to meet with a well-matured and carefully...

Friday Fun Thread: Guilty Pleasures...

Lego Titanic? Lego-nardo DiCaprio? Awesome. via knolleary @ flickr Given that today’s weather here in New York City is gray and nasty, I have the urge to curl up with my comfort blanket (named Gandalf for the wizard in Lord of the Rings, of course) and a cup of cocoa and watch a movie. Not just...

Abortions for Me, but Not for Thee...

At least until today.  Or whenever the paperwork between the RNC and their health insurance company, Cigna, goes through. Since 1991, the RNC has included coverage for elective abortions in their employees’ health insurance, even though they could have opted-out, according to some smart (and smart-ass)...

How to be an Assweasel 101...

Twice in the past 48 hours I have had the displeasure of reading pathetic, poorly-written attempts at humor in college newspapers. The target of the writers’ screeds, of course, is women. It’s amazing how many people think misogyny is fresh and new and “edgy.” The new shame...

A Room of One’s Own: Part One...

Last week the New York Times ran a great article about the remaining few women’s residences in New York City. Women’s residences were founded in the early 20th century as a way for single, working women to have a safe place to live. Yes, there was a healthy streak of morality policing at...

Wisdom from MoDo...

No, really.  The Harpies are, generally speaking, un-fans of NYT columnist Maureen Dowd.  But as I’ve been musing over some life-changing decisions lately related to my career and financial security, I recalled another quote I remember reading somewhere.  I looked through my books of quotations,...

Sodom and Gomorrah and Uniban...

A group of college students at Bandeirante University (Uniban) in Brazil performed what can only be described as a Biblical skit on Sunday. When Geisy Arruda showed up to class wearing a minidress and “heavy makeup,”  hundreds of her fellow students launched into a sexist panic, gathering...

Nope, Not a Joke...

Well, not purposefully a joke.  But if you want to have a little laugh-’til-you-cry-’til-you-laugh-’til-you-puke experience this morning, look no further than what is quite possibly the smelliest piece of faux-feminist (ex-kyooze me, “feminine-ist”) shit ever deposited...