For Renee and Jesse...

We received an email at Harpy HQ this morning from Renee of Womanist Musings, who got the horrible news yesterday that her 20-year old nephew, Jesse James Cox, had died. The death of a family member is devastating, regardless, but when the loved one is so young, it’s especially bitter (I lost a...

“Nothing Short of Whore AnticsR...

Seriously, this is the funniest thing I’ve read all week:  “Vajazzling, The Newest Threat to Your College Son.” Becky covered this story a while back, and while I find the trend ridiculous, ugly, and did I mention ridiculous?, and ugly?, this take on it almost makes it worthwhile as...

Until we have equal pay, we have Equal P...

From the NCPE / Equal Pay Day Site Today, April 20, will be noted variously as Hitler’s birthday, the anniversary of the Columbine High School shooting in the U.S., and an excuse to get totally stoned  (huh huh huh, 4-20, geddit?).  More importantly, it’s also Equal Pay Day, which has...

LGBT Health Awareness Week...

I couldn’t get to this yesterday, but it’s still timely:  this week, from March 28 to April 3, marks LGBT Health Awareness Week in the U.S.   This year’s theme is “Closing the Gap,” the gap being the compromised health care that the queer community gets, in large part...

Book Recs: Enlightened Feminism & ...

Such as. I came across two new books yesterday that were immediately added to my birthday list, and that I think a lot of you will be interested in.  One is more scholarly, and the other more pop, although they otherwise have a similar thrust that will seem familiar, given the conversations going on...

WHER the Girls Are...

At some point over the weekend, I heard mention of an all-women’s radio station with the call letters WHER.  The reference was just in passing, but I did some time as a college radio DJ, and I knew I had to look into it. WHER was begun in 1955 (!) in Memphis by a couple of dudes, Sam Phillips,...

Prom (oting) Homophobia...

This month in Fulton, Mississippi, two girls wanted to go to prom together, and one of them wanted to wear a tux. When one of the girls—high school senior Constance McMillen—challenged the school’s written policy that prom dates must be of the opposite sex, the school board decided:...

Happy International Women’s Day!...

To our readers–and all women–around the globe. Today marks the 99th such observation, although the roots of International Women’s Day go back even further, to 1908, when 15,000 New York women marched for their labor rights (and my little socialist heart sings!). This year’s theme...

You Want To Go To There...

Mom, can I ask you a question? And so do I. I just got an email from the Dude with that subject line, about an event next Monday that is full of awesome.  If you’re in the NYC metro area, heads up! 1.  It’s taking place at the Bookstore/Cafe of  Housing Works, which is a great charity...

Not All Athletes Are Like Tim Tebow...

This football-playing dog is more open-minded than Tim Tebow. via ellenc995 @ flickr For those who are justifiably pissed at Focus on the Family — better termed “Focus on the Patriarchy, Ignore Women’s Needs,” which I suppose is not very catchy –running an anti-choice Super...

In Case Your Labia Were Wondering…...

Did you read my rant about “My New Pink Button”?  Did you think: Yeah, yeah, Becky, that was bitchy, but totally uninformative? Did you, like me, secretly wonder: What does that stuff actually do to a poor, unsuspecting vulva? Well, thanks to Amanda Marcotte for alerting me to a brave blogger...

Justice for Ruchika...

Ruchika Girhotra. The two weeks I was in India, I read the Times of India every day. The Times is the world’s largest English-language daily newspaper by circulation, with a readership of 13.3 million. It is of a decidedly progressive bent, and the stories are expressive, opinionated and don’t...