The Beach Is Back...

Femmes courant sur le plage... Gentle readers, posting will be light for the next few days as the five of us again adjourn en masse—with dudes and dawgs in tow—to the Harpy Beach House. Things we will be doing instead of posting: * Grilling * Reading * Porch-sitting * ‘Smores-making *...

Newsflash: Chelsea Clinton’s Weddi...

Dear Media: please shut the fuck up about Chelsea Clinton’s wedding. As US readers all know—unless you’ve been living under a rock—the daughter of Bill and Hillary Clinton is getting married this weekend, and even non-tabloid news outlets have been in a hot and sweaty lather about...

Superheroes Fight A Real Evil...

Disgusting hatemonger Fred Phelps and his sick fuckwits from Westboro Baptist Church set their sights on Comic-Con in San Diego this weekend, presumably because its fanboys and fangirls include liberals, gays and gay sympathizers. Armed with their usual “GOD HATES FAGS”, “THANK GOD...

Latinas and Suicide...

Over on Barbara, Guanabee’s ladyblog, there was a brief but thought-provoking interview with Professor Luis Zayas, director of the Center for Latino Family Research at Washington University in St. Louis. Zayas has been studying the unusually high rate of suicide attempts among teenage Latinas,...

Commenters Suck (Except Y’all, Of ...

We love our commentariat, and, of course, the Harpies all met—first on-line and then IRL—because we were commenters on Jezebel. But the truth is, as Michelle pointed out in her post earlier this month on the Awl: “Internet commenters (and I’ve been one! Still am!) are assholes; on...

The Vatican Keeps Digging Its Hole...

And while we’re on the topic of women priests, the New York Times reports: VATICAN CITY — In its most significant revision to church law since a sex abuse crisis hit the United States a decade ago and roared back from remission in Europe this spring, the Vatican on Thursday issued new internal...

The Battle Over Women Bishops...

This week the Church of England’s General Synod—the parliamentary body that oversees the 80 million-strong Anglican Communion—voted down a historic settlement that would have created a system of second-class citizenship for female bishops. There are still no female bishops in the English...

Some Good News On Pay Equity...

The United States Department of Labor released a report this week on women in the workforce, including new information on pay equity. American women under 35 who work full time earn approximately 90% of what their male counterparts earn. But as a woman’s age increases, so does the disparity in...

Friday Fun Thread: It’s Like a Hea...

Y’all, it is HOT. SRSLY. Those of us on the East Coast of the US this week have been slogging through temperatures in the triple digits. I’ve got a horrible cold but instead of staying home from work, I’ve been going to the office simply because the office has air-conditioning and my...

But Is It Art?...

“What is art?” is guaranteed to whip up a good discussion, as I found out this past weekend when some art lovers took serious issue with my 4th of July post praising Mary Jackson, in which I committed the unforgivable error of suggesting that perhaps the sun didn’t shine out of Norman...

Nice Guys (TM) Finish Last–For Goo...

One of the best live discussions on-line is Carolyn Hax’s noontime advice session at the Washington Post. Carolyn herself is pretty awesome, and every now and then the noon discussion resembles good group therapy. Or a highly entertaining free-for-all. Or sometimes, people Get Told in truly delightful...

Real American Art...

Things are slow and celebratory here in the US today as we celebrate Independence Day—for me: urban rooftop barbecue!—but to celebrate America today, I wanted to share this story about American artist Mary Jackson, whose work goes on display at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African...