gender politics
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The Wounded Explaining the Wound: The Forced Sterilization of Women of Color Is No Small Matter
With things happening so fast in the world around us, the news cycle feels like a whirlwind moving from story to story overnight. Even reports as disturbing as allegations of mass hysterectomies in ICE detention camps disappeared from the national conversation as quickly as they came—though it could be argued that that aligns with a…
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Halle Berry Isn't Concerned if You Were Unhappy With Her Son Wearing Heels
With all the general feelings of frustration that come with the COVID-19 chatter, people are doing everything they can in order to keep their anxiety about the situation at bay. In Halle Berry’s household, she and her children are combatting fear with laughs—yet their attempt at entertainment brought out the worst in a few of…
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Fashion, Fluidity, Feminism and Pharrell: Music's Fashionable Multihyphenate Talks Masculinity With GQ
“I am my most comfortable self when I’m being a character,” says Pharrell in his cover story for GQ’s “The New Masculinity” issue, where the producer-entertainer-designer dons what this writer immediately characterized as “dorm room comforter chic”…albeit in a cloak from the collaboration between luxury outerwear brand Moncler and Valentino designer Pierpaolo Piccioli. “When I…
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Amid the Ongoing Battle Over Her Body, Caster Semenya Covers Out Magazine's Body Issue
“As long as I remember, it was all about being free,” Caster Semenya tells Out magazine, reflecting on the passion that drives her world-class athletic career. “When I do sports is when I feel happy. I feel free.” And yet, the sports world has also been a fraught one for Semenya, who has endured scrutiny…
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After Surviving R. Kelly, What Now? How About Trusting Survivors and Dismantling Systemic Misogynoir?
Three nights of television recently rocked the black community—surprising, since they detailed approximately three decades of well-known allegations of predation, exploitation and abuse by R&B artist R. Kelly. But if Lifetime’s record-breaking documentary Surviving R. Kelly finally put a human face onto the collective trauma so many women involved with the entertainer claimed to be…
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'This Is Personal': Steph Curry Advocates for Equal Pay in a Women's Equality Day Essay
Real talk? We hate that for many men, it seems to take becoming a “father of daughters” to understand basic concepts like consent, sexual harassment and equality. Even more frustrating is the fact that there are many fathers of daughters who will never make the attempt to understand, regardless. In fact, so pervasive is the…
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'I Really Stepped Into Myself': Lena Waithe Says Cutting Her Hair Liberated Her from Gender Norms
Lena Waithe doesn’t owe anyone an explanation for who she is, how she loves or why she cut her famous locs last month; but the writer, actress and producer graciously gave one to Vanity Fair’s cameras while on the red carpet for the Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s Grants Banquet on Thursday night. After joking that…
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The Sisterhood Ceiling: Are Women Holding Each Other Back by Avoiding Healthy Competition?
When it comes to workplace equality, is there one area in which women are actually complicit in holding themselves—and each other—back? That’s the question posed by an article in Glamour’s August issue, titled “Are Women Afraid to Compete with Each Other at Work? The answer is often “yes.” And the reasons stem as far back…
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Yes, We Cannes: The Lens Is on Equality at the World’s Most Fashionable Film Festival
Liberté, egalité, fraternité (“liberty, equality, fraternity”) is France’s motto, and equality has appropriately emerged as the theme of the 2018 Cannes Film Festival, taking place May 8-19 on the French Riviera. This year’s nine-member Main Competition Jury boasts five women, including Ava DuVernay, Burundian singer-songwriter Khadja Nin and this year’s jury president, actress Cate Blanchett.…
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Meeting in the Ladies’ Room: Tracee Ellis Ross to Interview Michelle Obama at United State of Women
Here’s a conversation we don’t want to miss: Black-ish actress and all-around brilliant bae Tracee Ellis Ross will interview our forever first lady, Michelle Obama, this Saturday, May 5, at the United State of Women Summit at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles—and we officially know how we’re spending this weekend. Now in its third…