crimes of fashion
Prominent third-wave feminist activist and writer Jennifer Baumgardner (
Manifesta: Young Women, Feminism And The Future) made a splash three years ago when she distributed a controversial t-shirt that had, writ large on the front: "I Had An Abortion," and was worn by Gloria Steinem, Ani DiFranco, and countless women's studies majors and Take Back the Night attendees. Baumgardner is making headlines again today with a new tee, one that says
"raped" on it. The letters are smaller this time — it's a pale pink shirt with an illustration of a safe, and inside the safe is a note emblazoned with the words
"I was raped" — but the spirit of provocation remains the same. "By having an object like this," Baumgardner explains to the
New York Times, "that's so mundane, it sort of forces [rape] into everyday conversation."
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broadsides
- Rumors are flying that Britney Spears might appear on Sunday's Emmy Awards to apologize for her performance at the VMAs. WTF? What does she have to apologize for? She gave a shitty performance, she didn't go on a racist tirade or run over a crowd of schoolchildren. Britney, babe, don't let those assholes convince you to humiliate yourself even more for their ratings pleasure. Go home, take a shower, and play with your kids. [US Weekly]
- A 16-year old buy trailed a group of girl runners from his high school and yelled, "Keep going, or I'll rape you." The girls showed the little fucker they weren't scared and took down his license plate number and called the cops. Take that, punk. [NBC5.com]
- Holy crap, Beth Ditto from The Gossip writes an advice column? Awesome! [Guardian UK]
- Teen girls who diet are more likely to become smokers. Well, duh. If there's anything Kate Moss ever taught us it's that smoking fights hunger pangs and looks super sexy. [Reuters]
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broadsides
- The STD of yore, syphilis, is back, baby, and on the rise in New York City! This obviously has nothing to do with Zach Braff being in town all summer. [NY Times]
- Kate Hudson may think that men are whores by nature (and that it's okay!), but nerds beg to differ. UC Berkeley math professor Dr. David Gale says it's mathematically impossible for men to have more sexual partners than women — we would tell you more about the handy-dandy equation he uses to back up this claim, but we didn't quite get it. [NY Times]
- An alarming percentage of women are unaware that HPV can cause cervical cancer and even fewer know that there is a vaccine available. Now you know ladies, so get thee to Dr. Pap Smear and thank us later. [BBC News]
- A 13-year old Egyptian girl died during a circumcision procedure, only a few weeks after a similar death prompted health officials in the country to ban the heinous practice. [Fox News]
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Jezebel
On October 16, 1916, Margaret Sanger opened America's first birth control clinic in Brooklyn. Within 9 days, the clinic was raided and Sanger was jailed for a month for "maintaining a public nuisance" and flouting the Comstock Act of 1873. Upon release, she reopened the future Planned Parenthood, and was arrested again. Sanger's activism sprang in part from the hypocrisy of wealthy people using illegal birth control while it was unavailable to those who really needed it. While her organization's early "more from the fit, fewer from the unfit" stance is an ugly reflection of the times, Sanger's courage and conviction resulted in an invaluable legacy we can all stand to appreciate right about now. Good "day" trivia, right? [Wired]
