My Valentine's Day experience is pretty similar year-to- year. (This is to say that I've spent every Valentine's Day trying to get over the fact that it's Valentine's Day.) I've always struggled not to be overly cynical of the entire day; being a feminist has often made accepting cultural messages about sexuality and relationships difficult. Since most of my activism has been directed at changing that landscape, I am glad to be taking steps toward doing that this Valentine's Day with THE LINE. THE LINE Campaign is an...

“On March 14, 2010, for the first time ever, jokes will be told topless in the name of breast cancer,” states the press release for Generosititties, a night of comedy dedicated to raising money (and awareness) for the Young Survival Coalition. YSC is an organization dedicated to increasing the "quality and quantity" of life for women diagnosed with breast cancer before the age of 40. The show, produced by comediennes Amy Beckerman and Leah Dubie, will feature many up-and-coming NYC comics—all sans shirts. “I’ve never performed topless…in...

An awesome fact: a woman, Lindsey Van, holds the record for the longest ski jump (between both men and women) off of Whistler, BC’s ski jump, which was built for the 2010 Olympics. Van, a 25 year old woman from Park City, Utah, trains six days a week, eleven months a year, in her discipline—and she won’t be able to compete in the ski jump in Vancouver. Why? Because she’s a woman. From an article on Time.com, according to the International Olympics...

"As for a man’s cheating, 'that’s a thing that girls let slide, because you have to,' said Emily Kennard, a junior at North Carolina. “If you don’t let it slide, you don’t have a boyfriend.'"Sounds like a quote from Cosmo right?  It's from a New York Times article, "The New Math on Campus" by Alex Williams.  Basically, the article is saying that a horrible outcome of women outnumbering men on college campuses is that girls can't get a date on Friday night.  The article paints...

Live in New York and looking for something to do on Valentines Day that doesn't involve cheesy cards and heart shaped boxes?  Belt out all your favorite hits by Stevie Nicks, Bikini Kill, the Muffs, Le Tigre, the Gits, the Breeders, and more at the Anti-Valentines Day Riot Grrl Women Fronted Cover Band Show. It all goes down on February 14 at the Loft, 1087 Broadway.  For the Birds, an awesome New York-based feminist collective, will also be tabling their distro at the show. Give what you...

Here's a depressing story - and yet another reminder of how girls the world over are persecuted simply for being, well, girls. Turkish police have recovered the body of a 16-year-old girl they say was buried alive by relatives in an "honor" killing carried out as punishment for talking to boys. Medine Memi, was found in a sitting position with her hands tied, in a hole - pictured here - in her family's garden in the south-eastern province of Adiyaman.An informant told the police she had...

Ladies, meet Markus: the first man you can legally hire for sex in the U.S. The Shady Lady Ranch in Nevada hired the "prostidude" after winning state and county approval to employ male prostitutes.  This 25-year-old former Marine found himself outpacing a few other good men, and now he can be yours—for $300 an hour. Here's the intimate details on Markus, according to Markus: Before accepting the position he had a brief stint as a porn actor (he only lasted two scenes), he waited until age 23...

This past week, several members of Congress re-introduced the International Violence Against Women Act, a bill designed to support international programs to end violence against women. From an article on Politico.com, co-written by Senator John Kerry (D-MA) and Representative Bill Delahunt (D-MA), as well as Larry Cox and Kerry Kennedy (from Amnesty International USA): "IVAWA will support innovative programs that challenge public attitudes and cultural practices that perpetuate and condone violence against women and girls. In settings where women are prevented or discouraged from seeking justice,...

Yep, it's Rush Limbaugh being distressingly offensive again. Apparently, someone called into question his judging the Miss America pageant, being as that he seems to hate women in every way, shape, and/or form, so he went on Fox News (where else?) to explain that he supports women. What? The transcript and video from Think Progress: CARLSON: So for those who were critics of you in judging this pageant, and saying that you haven’t been a supporter of women in the past — LIMBAUGH: Oh, I’m a huge supporter...

It’s a terrifying thought: being put under anesthesia and, while you are under, having unwanted or unnecessary procedures performed on you. But according to an article in Canada’s the Globe and Mail, it’s exactly what’s happening in many Canadian teaching hospitals—medical students are being instructed to perform gynecological exams on unconscious women. In the US and the UK, written consent is required, but in Canada, according to the article, “guidelines state that pelvic examination by trainees is ‘implicit.’” This practice went unnoticed until 2007, when a...