Feminism is all the rage on the Right these days! Well, sort of. Ham is reiterating critiques that were already expressed by feminist bloggers six months ago. But hey, welcome to the party.

And regardless of the source, the critique of HuffPo's cynical, pageview-grabbing tactics — trashy slideshows of starlet flesh alongside liberal politics — still holds water. As Andrew Golis (Yahoo blogging "czar" and a Mr. Feministing) put it on Twitter, "When someone at the Weekly Standard can do this clean a hit on you on feminist grounds, you've got a problem."

HuffPo's Misogyny: The NSFW Path To Liberal Journalism Success [The Weekly Standard]

Related: Huffington Post: Liberal Politics, Sexist Entertainment

Earlier: Does Huffington Post Use Sexism To Drive Liberal Page Views?

She lists off some recent stories from the site's "Entertainment" section to give you some flavor.

This one-sided liberal hate site has one fatal weakness-boobs. Let's check out some recent stories from the Huffington Post's entertainment section:

• Here are some photos of Natalie Portman's nipple.
• Here are some photos of Beyonce's nipple, complete with HuffPo-provided "NSFW zoom."
• Here are some photos of Pamela Anderson's nipple (hardly news, but a boob's a boob).
• Here is an entire page devoted to recently naked women (and Barack Obama).
• Here is a collection of zoomed-in photos of 23 celebrities' breasts, made into a fun game called "Guess the Celebrity Breast Implants?"

Pretty standard entertainment-section blog fare here-though HuffPo does go above and beyond with the "NSFW zoom." You don't see a Beyonce nipple that close just anywhere.

While Amanda's examples aren't all from the same day, it's a rare day that some coverage of a salacious story about an attractive woman doesn't make HuffPo's "Top Stories." An example, from today:
So, there's an auto-erotic asphyxiation story and Heather Graham opining about her love of Tantric sex. Gotcha. And on the day after Sarah Palin told Sean Hannity that she'd like to tell Obama voters, "I told you so," about America becoming a Socialist nation yet not being permitted to speak to a Republican audience, their front page story about her isn't atypical.
Not atypical, if one is running a gossip site.

Amanda acknowledges that the nip slip/hot chick page views are part of Huffington Post's business model, regardless of its politics. But she notes that the entertainment coverage often does have a liberal bent — it's just not often sensitive to women.

But look past the nipples, if you can, and you will find a clear liberal bent in HuffPo's non-boob Entertainment stories. Yesterday, the top three links on the Entertainment page could be considered GLBT interest stories: "Adam Lambert Confirms Rolling Stone To Address His Sexuality"; "WATCH: Neil Patrick Harris' FANTASTIC Tonys Closing Song"; "Gordon Ramsay Shocks Audience With ‘Lesbian' Rant About Journalist." Also on the page yesterday was blogger Jackson Katz's post directly addressing the objectification of women in entertainment, titled "Eminem, Misogyny and the Sounds of Silence."

Notably, most of HuffPo's bloggers aren't paid — and their coverage isn't highlighted with splash page retail space in the same way that the stories about sex and nipples are.

And while some people might call looking at nip slips a little mindless fun to drive in the viewers HuffPo desires to influence politically, Amanda isn't having it.

The problem is that people really do care about nipples. They care so much about nipples that the Huffington Post devotes pages and pages of photographs to them when women accidentally (or, you know, against their will) reveal them to the public. In that way, there's no difference between the religious conservative who is scandalized by a bare breast popping up in the middle of his football game and a liberal Web site which devotes its resources to naked chicks. A woman's body part is a priority. Real women's issues, not so much.

Somehow, "Come for the nipples, stay for the feminism" doesn't seem quite right to us either.

Huffington Post: Liberal Politics, Sexist Entertainment [Washington City Paper]

The "quiz" itself is a slightly-wordier version of what we expect from questionnaires that promise general answers for extremely personal and specific life situations. Here's one of the 10 questions:

Lust and love are as different as night and day. If your partner only wants to see you in the wee hours of night, it's lust. If this person wants to spend the more precious daylight hours on weekends with you, you're heading towards the real-deal love, baby! If not, suggest some afternoon activities to explore doing together, so you can get to know each other beyond Dinner 101 Conversations and their accompanying after-dinner-treats — so you can suss out for sure if it's love or lust.

Real-deal love, baby! The HuffPo has spoken, as all-knowing and calmly confident as Cosmo on its sagest day. Other pearlies: Does he make you your best you? Also: good looks fade. None of them wrong, per se - cliches do tended to be rooted in some essential truth - but all in all, a baffling little document. The love/lust divide may be the Greatest Mystery Of Our Age (albeit not a confusion anyone I know has really been prey to - falling in love with bad people is more of an issue) but a greater mystery is...Christmas-appropriate though it may be, why the hell is this on HuffPo?

Karen Salmansohn is a popular pop-psych writer, and it's not remarkable that she should contribute to the blog, but as a famous LOLCat once said - srsly? This is just the latest in a series of very odd posts on the liberal catchall. True, Arianna Huffington's baby has always been an eclectic assemblage of serious-minded opinion, celebrity bloviating, entertainment and the occasional outlier - it's this which renders it an idiosyncratic and often essential read. But in the last few months we've seen tabloidy critiques of middle-aged epidermi, catty makeup commentary and now, guides to one's (presumably left-leaning and gender-unspecific) Man. It's not that there's anything wrong with an answer-life's-questions quiz, but the assumption behind this kind of thing in a teen or fashion mag is that it's a young population eager for answers, not precisely the sort of intellectual curiosity we would have thought the HuffPo credited their readership with. Unless there's been a great outcry from the masses (and Oprah) for a way to distinguish between Lust and Love - in which case we stand corrected. And possibly basing a marriage on Lust. Quiz: Are You In Lust Or Love? [Huffington Post]

• Karl Lagerfeld is directing a silent movie. Obviously. "Expect a fast-paced, laugh-packed and loose interpretation of Gabrielle Chanel’s adventures between 1913 and 1923." Riotous, we're sure. [WWD]
• We had heard, of course, about the new Chanel fishing rod. However! Until now we had not seen its quilted case and dainty tackle box! [Fashion Week Daily]
• Hermes heir grabs a pilot's crotch, punches him in the face. This was perceived as interfering with the flight. [NY Times]
• Lauren Conrad's fashion show was apparently standing room only. Although given that the front row was propped up by Lo Bosworth and Holly Madison, we're guessing it wasn't exactly Anna Wintour clamoring to get in. [Yahoo News]

• The new high-end J.Crew store really nails the pulse of the times: "The first thing you see inside the store is a jacket covered in hand-painted French sequins to look like tortoiseshell, with a price of $3,000." Again, if you had that kind of money...wouldn't you go somewhere else? [NY Times]
• Want to watch a weird cartoon Mariah Carey ask you to design a dress for her perfume/breast cancer awareness/publicity? Look no further! [MariahCarey.com]
• Marc Jacobs on heels: "I don't always wear high heels...I always get nuts when women go, 'Oh, men don't know what it's like — women in heels, women in skirts, women in dresses — what it's like to suffer for fashion.'..Although I've always wanted to be taller, which is the real reason I wore them, I also thought I can show that I, too, will suffer for fashion." Natch he found the pain a small price to pay. [NY Mag]
• In other Marc Jacobs news, he's getting into swimsuits. [WWD]
• You'd think I'd kind of give an automatic thxbutnothx, but these whimsical temporary tattoos by artist Julia Pott are so bizarre and almost Edward Gorey-delicate that I'm actually drawn to them. Not to wear one, but, you know. [Nylon]
• Pierre Cardin: "The future of fashion is sleeveless...Who needs sleeves anymore? You need to be able to move and be comfortable. To layer. Seasons don't exist like they used to. Now it's cold in summer and hot in winter...Fashion needs to look forward." [Media Bistro]
• Michelle Kwan is starting a clothing line. But before you roll your eyes - it's athletic wear! [New York Magazine]
• The HuffPo further explores its newfound fascination with middle-aged women's flaws by examining Sarah Palin's blush. [Huffington Post]
• Gisele nets Dior Spring. That's a coup to a moddle, btw. [Fashionologie]
• Independent]
• Harper's Bazaar is studded with crystals. Does that make it harder to recycle? [MagCulture]
• Liz Hurley's the new face of Blackglama Furs. We know someone who's not going to take that lying down, and his name starts with a "P." [The Sun]
• Calvin Klein breaks into furniture with two lines, lower and higher-end. It looks kind of like you'd expect. [NY Times]
• Bobbi Brown's latest beauty guide sounding suspiciously like her other beauty guides. [WWD]
• Heidi Klum's got milk. "Posing with a prize-winning milking cow, she wears a traditional Bavarian maid's outfit and pigtails in the image." [VogueUK]
• We were psyched that Fashionista did a spread on "winter day dresses," but the token cheap ones are by far the worst. [Fashionista]

We're asking you to add a 15-word or less phrase to a gender speech that we will create in this post. Please number your comments. Our beginning will be part 1. The first comment, therefore, should be numbered 2. The comment after that should be 3. Each comment should build on what the previous comment expressed. Make sense? We realize the comments can often be wonky, so if there are several number 2s and 3s and 4s, that's totally fine. It will be a wild west feminist free-for-all!

We said we'd start, so here goes nothing.

On August 26, 1920, women were given the right to vote in the United States. We've come along way since then, but the current campaign for president has unearthed just how much misogyny is acceptable in public discourse. We live in a country where women still make less money for doing the same jobs; where sexual abuse and harassment continue to run rampant through every city and state; where only 14% of the senate is female. We need to keep fighting to make these inequalities dissipate and to do so means never giving up the struggle.

Now you go!

Help Us Write "The Gender Speech" [Huffington Post]
Obama Race Speech: Read The Full Text [Huffington Post]

Earlier: Why There Will Never Be A Race Speech About Sex

He claims:

When it came time to raise my own little girl I made sure to expose her to sports, cars and soccer balls. She could've cared less. Three-year-old Ava was passionate about cooking, baking, her nails, edible makeup and anything having to do with princesses. I was terrified she was going to grow up to become a Republican."

The hot accessory right now is a sparkling tiara, reports The Seattle Times. "Something shocking happened last year," says Susy Korb, executive vice president and creative director of famed jeweler Harry Winston. "We sold two tiaras within two weeks in the U.S. These were real people, accomplished people, celebrating life's milestones with tiaras." But Korb doesn't connect the dots between worshipping Sleeping Beauty, Snow White and Belle with the desire to wear a crown. "Americans didn't grow up with royalty so it's not quite as loaded in meaning," she says. Ah, but we do have royalty in this country, and their realm is in bedtime stories and animated flims. We're serfs in their kingdom at young, impressionable ages. Still, part of being a kid is dreaming of fantastical lives; lion tamer, firefighter and yes, princess. Does princess-worship mean that little girls will grow up thinking a prince will rescue them from doing housework? Or is it simply, as Ellis posits, a phase? And raise your hand if you've ever worn a tiara, just for fun. (I have 3.)

In Defense of Princesses [Huffington Post]
Tiara mania: C'mon Princess, You Deserve One [Seattle Times]
Related: Bonfire of the Princesses [Huffington Post]

Eariler: Why Barbie Is Bad
Marriage Is Not A Fairy Tale
Who's To Blame When Your Fairy Tale Doesn't Come True?

To say you're not a feminist is virtually the same thing as saying you're a racist.

Christie doesn't see it that way, brushing off such detractors as part of a "puritanical, antisexual, antimale" wing of feminism. Playboy has always been a progressive company when it comes to sexuality, but it's definitely stepped it up in the 35 years since Hefner became president, says Good:

The company filed an amicus brief in Roe v. Wade, was the only corporate sponsor of Masters and Johnson's groundbreaking sexuality research, and has come out strongly in favor of gay marriage. Both the company and the Playboy Foundation provide large-scale support for civil liberties, sexual health, reproductive freedom, gay rights, and women's rights.

We did close to $1 billion [in sales] around the world last year in just our consumer products, and most of that was products sold to and worn by women. There's clearly, then, an embracing of the brand, particularly by fashion-conscious young women who see it as being fun and sexy, but also as being accessible, sophisticated and representing quality.

XXX CEO [HuffPo]
Portraits [Good Magazine]

Um, boys don't produce semen until they reach puberty - and even the most precocious male is not going to reach puberty before leaving the womb. Nor have any actual baby boys suffered malformed reproductive tracts as a result of phthalate exposure.

Vogue writer Robert Sullivan reports that 'Most recently, [Shanna Swan] and a team of scientists published a paper hat showed the prenatal exposure to phthalates - one type of endocrine disruptor found in plastic bottles and toys, among other things - adversely affects genital development in boys.' But if you read the study, Swan did not find any adverse genital development - all the baby boys in her study were normal. What she found were a number of correlations between phthalate metabolites in the urine of pregnant women and a biomarker in their children which she believes supports the *hypothesis* that phthalate exposure adversely affects genital development in males. But as Swan admitted, the "reliability" of the biomarker in humans 'has not been established.'

Are Vogue Editors Sniffing Too Much Nail Polish? [Huffington Post]
Related: 'Harper's Bazaar' Is Large, It Contains Multitudes [New York Magazine]

Now if there was just a way to photoshop the Iraq war, or New Orleans, or healthcare...

There is... it's called Fox News.

July Redbook Wins Website's 'Most Photoshopped' Contest [HuffingtonPost]

The Huffington Post's Hannah Seligson published an interesting piece today on the issue of women — particularly those in the public eye — and their weight.

Seligson argues that culturally, we engage in a dizzying pas de deux when talking about weight, moving between "ogling over rail-thin models" and "overcompensating with a bizarre brand of body empowerment that seems gratuitous."

In some ways, our cultural dialogue about weight resembles yo-yo dieting. On one hand we indulge our appetite to talk about weight, ad-nauseum, and then loudly and all too conspicuously applaud women, like [Jennifer] Hudson, who aren't a size two.

Seligson goes on and calls out Vogue editor Anna Wintour for describing March cover girl Jennifer Hudson as "...a style icon whose happiness in her own skin is something we can draw strength from." While we agree with Seligson's argument, what she doesn't address is the fact that the media's new lovefest with "normal"-looking women seems to be specific to women of color...or women over 50, a focus which feels unsettlingly patronizing, at least to us.

Take Glamour editor Cindi Leive's March letter from the editor, which featured a prominent picture of Jennifer Hudson in her role as Effie in Dreamgirls. Citing Hudson and Ugly Betty's America Ferrera, Leive wrote:

...it was such a pleasure to turn on the Golden Globes and watch as one after another, women with all manner of bodies took the stage to claim their awards.

Are we the only ones not only sick of the cultural obsession with weight but with magazines applauding the normal-sized (and usually black or Hispanic) women who sometimes appear in their pages? Magazine editors rejoicing in the fact that women like Jennifer Hudson, America Ferrera and Tyra Banks don't suffer from eating disorders sounds suspiciously like those patronizing, clueless people (John McCain, are you listening?) who refer to Barack Obama as "articulate". It's an easy way for them to take something normal (i.e. having a healthy relationship to food, or speaking clearly) and give a person of color a pat on the back.

Almost makes us want to stick our fingers down our throats and...well, you know.

Weight: Not A Weighty Topic [Huffington Post]