I wonder what the girls have to do in ex...

The boys at recess. Via Gauis Caecilius @ Flickr. Via PostBourgie comes the story of Cord Ivanyi, a high school Latin teacher who has begun instructing his students in “old fashioned etiquette.” The boys in his class open doors and pull out chairs for the girls and stand when a girl enters...

Harpy Book Club, February Edition...

photo via sarah.of.a.lesser.god This feature (for now in the custody of sarah.of.a.lesser.god) is our way of sharing those book titles, both fiction and nonfiction, that have been standouts in recent reading, and hopefully getting some from our readers in return. The focus is primarily, but not necessarily...

Why The Future Will Be Better...

I’ve been reading  Sonic Boom: Globalization at Mach Speed by Gregg Easterbrook, which has me feeling better in many ways about the world we live in. Easterbrook explains that despite the recent global recession, the future of humankind is definitely on an upswing: No matter how crazy and chaotic...

You Don’t Need to be a Woman to St...

A new year brings a new semester for me, and so far things seem encouraging. I don’t mean that in the academic sense (although I’m optimistic about that), but in terms of the demographics of my fellow students in two particular courses. Last year I was disappointed by the fact that there...

Parents of America, you are on notice!...

Forget hiding in an attic for two years and dying of typhus at Bergen Belsen – what’s really offensive about Anne Frank’s experience was her awareness of her vagina. Some unfit asshole in Culpepper County, Virginia became scandalized by Frank’s mention of her genitalia in The...

2 + 2 = Ummmm, ponies?...

Now we can blame Texas Instruments. Via stitched_pirate @ Flickr At the risk of academically crippling all of our elementary school readers, I’ll admit that math is not one of my strengths.  I don’t have any problems with daily computations, algebra and geometry are useful, but after trig? ...

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...

Helpful Terms, Unhelpful Tips?...

We got a nifty link from reader Hill Rat yesterday (thanks, brah) that’s right in my wheelhouse:  its about a research project focusing on gender bias, particularly as it relates to the academy. First, check out this Gender Bias Bingo Card.  Not funny, like the original Anti-Feminist Bingo Card,...

Harpy Hall of Fame: Catharine Macaulay (...

Catharine Macaulay was born in 1731 as Catharine Sawbridge, the daughter of a wealthy English landowner. In a time and place that lacked any systematic education for women, Macaulay took it upon herself to learn history by reading the books in her father’s library; her position as a member of...

School Daze...

It’s back to school season, and that means college women are being bombarded with the annual barrage of advice on avoiding sexual assault and rape. Colleges and universities have been holding potential victims of rape responsible for preventing attacks since they first recognized the problem....

You Don’t Need to be a Woman to St...

Hi, I'm Laura Ingalls Wilder and I seem to only be worth studying if you're a woman! via mrhsfan @ flickr Yesterday marked the beginning of my fall semester as I slog my way towards my BA. So far, so great. My first course is a gender studies class that examines women intellectuals, writers, and scholars...

Porky’s 3 Update: You Just Knew it...

Or maybe it's Animal House. Via NCinDC @ Flickr. I am pleasantly surprised to report that the Supreme Court ruled 8-1 against the Arizona school that strip searched Savana Redding. Redding, who was 13 years old at the time, was ordered to remove her clothes and shake out her underwear because she...