ImTheMarigold and Queen_George on Coming...

Editor’s note from Queen_George: Recently Harpy reader/commenter ImTheMarigold and I got together for a g-chat on the subject of sexual assault, and how difficult it is for survivors to communicate about their assault, even with their family and friends. I guess what we’re hoping here is...

Be A Bitch: To the New York Times Public...

Dear Mr. Hoyt: I am writing to express how disgusted I was by Dennis Lim’s February 12 article about Roman Polanski. Certainly, the Times has given plenty of coverage to Polanski’s crime, including a 2009 editorial which read: This case has nothing to do with Mr. Polanski’s work or his...

Have Yourself a Rapey Little Christmas...

Whilst shopping with my mom over Thanksgiving break, Baby it’s Cold Outside came on in one of the stores. I hummed along for a few moments but then remembered – damn, this song is rape culture under the mistletoe. The song is a duet; the lyrics (with the male part in parentheses) are as...

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...

Rape Rates Against Women and People with...

A 2007 study titled Drug-facilitated, Incapacitated and Forcible Rape: A National Study calls into question the methodology – and findings – of the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS), which is administered by the U.S. Bureau of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS). Studies...

You Are What You Eat...

None of us posted on this terrible story last week, but I’m sure many of you have heard or read about it:  A teenage girl was brutally gang-raped for two hours after a school dance in Richmond, CA, as up to 20 bystanders laughed, cheered and shot video of the attack. Some jumped in to participate....

Harpy Droppings: for Your Reading Pleasu...

Via don2g @ Flickr. Via Muslimah Media Watch, NOW Lebanon interviews Arab feminists Dr. Omaira Abou-Bakr and Hoda al-Saadi, after a conference for Arab women in Beirut. Both women are members of an Egyptian NGO called Women and Memory. An Amish woman has been charged with failing to report her husband’s...

Women who make false rape accusations *d...

You know who makes it hard on real victims? Those who use rare false accusations as an excuse to doubt all women. Those who shame sexual women and describe sex as “degrading” to women make it hard on real victims. Those who buy into rape myths make it hard on real victims. The rate 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....

Enough about Chappaquiddick...

I’m sure you know the story. In July 1969, on Chappaquiddick Island in Massachusetts, Senator Edward Kennedy drove his car off a bridge and into the water. Kennedy made his way to safety but his passenger, Mary Jo Kopechne, drowned in the overturned car. He fled the scene and called several...

Vultures...

Apologies for the insult, vultures. Via cotinis @ Flickr. What’s worse than cracking a sexist – possibly rapey – joke about one of Sarah Palin’s daughters on national television? Cynically using sex abuse as a bat with which to beat a political opponent over the head. That’s...

I Never Thought I’d See the Day...

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy I almost choked on my Cheerios this morning as I watched Matt Lauer’s interview with Sarah Palin on the Today Show. Because I found myself agreeing with her for once, and wanted to high-five her through the screen. I will...