I have Frances Blaisdell to thank. It seems a little bizarre to me to think that the flute was ever off-limits to women, because today it's such a female-dominated instrument, but that's how it was. Women weren't really allowed anywhere in orchestral music when she was young, but she managed to play her way in and open a lot of doors. I started playing the flute when I was 9 and continued all the way through college. I haven't really played since I graduated, but it was...

Apparently we're on some sort of reality TV bent here at BUST, because here's one more. An Oxygen TV poll reported that more women age 18 to 34 would rather win America's Next Top Model than a Nobel Prize. I think that, to get through this, I'm going to convince myself that this is the result of shoddy polling methods and a not-so-random sampling of women instead of a true measure of where the world is heading. The same poll says that 75% of women would shave...

Here's a real gem thanks to the Onion : ''Renowned Hoo-Ha Doctor Wins Nobel Prize For Medical Advancements Down There.'' The article is hilarious. It reads just like any conversation with someone who's uncomfortable with the real words for anything in the region of the, um, lady parts. I'll spare the potentially long-winded rant about the idea that womanly bits are dirty and we shouldn't talk about them. I'll also refrain from talking about feminine hygiene commercials and how I like to roll my eyes...

Speaking of horrifying TV shows, on my way out of the subway this morning I passed an ad for The Cougar. The premise? It's a dating show where a middle-aged woman selects her favorite from a group of much younger men. It's being hosted by Vivica A Fox. I hate the whole ''cougar'' label to begin with. Why is it worthy of a title when a woman dates a much younger man but not when the opposite happens? Why is Demi Moore open to more scrutiny...

You know how the media can't stop talking about Michelle Obamas arms? How they think it means she's 'strong-arming' her husband? how she's gonna win the arms race? how she's giving American women the right to bare arms? well, the arms themselves have decided to enter the fray of bad puns and semiotic limb deconstruction with a blog of their own. First Guns is a hilarious look at our cultural preoccupation with the First Lady's guns, in said guns' own words. From shaking a...

I survived WAM! 2009. More importantly, I had a wonderful time. Meeting and connecting with women I've looked up to for years (Abby Scher , Sarah Posner , Julia Serano ) and bloggers I love (Jill, Cara and Jack from Feministe, Sally from Jump Off the Bridge, Tammy from Bitch) in a space where everyone talks to everyone and new friendships form as quickly on Twitter as they did in the halls was inspiring. Speaking of Twitter, the WAM Twitter stream can be viewed here. Watching...

Hi BUSTies! I'm at the Women, Action The Media conference in Cambridge this weekend. I'll be blogging here periodically from the conference, but I'm also livetweeting the panels I'm hitting. I'm @seasonothebitch on twitter, so feel free to follow along and give me a shout if you're here too. ...

I snapped this photo outside of the Lower East Side Tenement Museum yesterday, and while I couldn't make the talk last night, I just wanted to give a belated shout-out to our sisters who died in the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire in 1911. The factory was a sweatshop employing young immigrant women who worked in sub par conditions for very little pay. The tragic deaths of 146 workers (including children) spurred safety and labor reform laws and also made the International Ladies Garment Workers Union...

Legal Momentum will be hosting a panel discussion on Women's Economic Equality: The Next Frontier in Women's Rights, at Cornell University ILR (16 East 34th Street, 6th Floor) on Thursday, April 2nd, 6:30 pm. Linda Hirshman, Heather Boushey, Mimi Abramovitz, and Irasema Garza will be discussing policy initiatives to advance women's economic equality and security in this time of crisis. Any insight into our economic landscape is especially important these days. Plus, the event is free! So mark your calendars... -Ali ...

75 years young today! xoxo ...