Sympathy for the Rape Apologist?...

Yesterday, Harpyness reader Christopher F. wrote me about the firestorm of controversy surrounding a recent student column in the Daily Princetonian. In “The Real ‘Sex on a Saturday Night‘”, freshman Iulia Neagu explains that women who are raped while inebriated have only themselves...

Towards a Personal Theory of Change...

Via David Reece @ Flickr on a creative commons license. Last week a thing happened to me that I both wanted and dreaded: I was informed that my current employer wants me to leave my job in the coming months.  I’m just “not going to thrive in this environment.”  Which is fair enough,...

The Undateable: An Overshare...

Via tbdnyc @ Flickr. A couple weeks ago, my friend Anne passed me a copy of a book that comes out in March titled Undateable: 311 Things Guys Do that Guarantee They Won’t Be Dating or Having Sex. It’s a humor book, but what makes it so laugh-out-loud funny is that the stereotypes it mines...

The Award For Most Ridonkulous Op-Ed of ...

Gentle readers, I think we have a winner. 2009 ain’t over just yet, but today on CNN I encountered a personal essay that combines many of the things I frequently write about: women, relationships, skeevy dudes, language, the need to be a bitch and Beyonce’s “Single Ladies (Put a Ring...

Is Feminist Punditry Really Possible? (...

Lately I’ve been realizing that feminist discussions tend to go better in general when we all give each other the benefit of the doubt.  Just look at that sex work discussion we have two days ago before about comment 125 (although I admit, I have NOT been getting laid enough lately), and you’ll...

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,...

Forever 21–Now With Undermining!...

I’ve never liked the store Forever 21. The cheesy, youth-glorifying name grates on me: OMG, don’t get oooold! Stay 21 and sexxxy forever! Even worse, Forever 21 has an atrocious record of garment worker exploitation and creates cheap, unsustainably manufactured clothing that is distinctly...

Childless Artists and Other Half-Existen...

Heh. I searched for existentialism and this is what came up. Via lordsutch @ Flickr. Lately I’ve been contemplating – and actually planning, and taking concrete steps toward – taking my life in another direction altogether.  This direction is, to put it bluntly, rather more risky...

Maternity Leave as a Feminist Flashpoint...

I read Hortense’s piece at Jezebel about this UK survey – in which 74% of women surveyed allegedly said they believed childless women should be entitled to something equivalent to the standard six-months given for maternity leave in the UK – and sort of thought to myself: I smell some...

A Feminist Dilemma: Volume 2...

PhDork’s “Feminist Dilemma” post gave rise to some intra-Harpy discussion of my own recent feminist dilemma. Y’all can tell me what you think. Oh, and as a special add-on, I’ll tell you about the one time I was on the horns of a major dilemma, and instantly threw away all...

Sauce for the Gander...

An article on CNN today gives us a rather stunning example of how Islamic modesty and anti-speech laws–the bete noire of womanity–can brutalize men as well. Even though Saudi males are just about the most privileged menfolk in the world, it turns out even they are not immune to the threat...

Response from the Feminist Majority Foun...

Posted this afternoon on the Feminist Majority Foundation’s blog  in response to the shitstorm over Peg Yorkin’s pro-Polanski statement in the L. A. Times (comments on the FMF’s blog are enabled–I hope you’ll use them). Statement by Eleanor Smeal, President, Feminist Majority...