Full disclosure: I have been waiting for a decent film about the women’s suffrage movement for years. As a historian […]
No Safe Spaces: Missouri, ISIS, and What We Can Do About It
Before the terrorist attacks in Paris and Beirut a few weeks ago, I had begun writing an essay about race, […]
Yes, I’m a Wife, But You Can Call Me the “Current Supporting Spouse”
The year my second son was born, I went to work, and my husband stayed home. It was the most […]
Suffragette, T-Shirtgate, and a Taylor Swift Tweet: Breaking Down the Historical Problem of White Lady Feminism
Can rich, white ladies be effective feminists? In the court of public opinion these days, it seems the answer is […]
What’s on Your Feminist Playlist?
Music played a pretty important role in my life as a kid, but I always listened to what my parents […]
Placentophagy Isn’t New, But It Has Changed
Over the last several years, placentophagy has slowly crept into that vicious public media arena known as “the Mommy Wars.” […]
Exploding Myths About Medicine’s Wage Gap: Lessons From the Past and Present
It’s not news that women are paid less than men for comparable work, subject to variation across race, field of […]
How Dusty are Your Baseboards?: The Politics of Domestic Labor
Recently I attended a bridal shower that provided a rare occasion for chatting with girlfriends sans partners and kids. Upon […]
She probably doesn’t want my Progressive feminist sympathy, but I’m giving it to her anyway: Thoughts on the Republican Debate, Donald Trump, and Fox’s Megyn Kelly
Was it just me, or was Thursday night’s Republican debate deeply, deeply weird? The entire event seemed farcical, as though […]
Vagina Dialogues
By Elizabeth Reis
Students at Mt. Holyoke College are protesting the annual performance of Eve Ensler’s feminist classic, The Vagina Monologues. Their gripe with the play is that by focusing on vaginas, the play perpetuates “vagina essentialism,” suggesting that ALL women have vaginas and that ALL people with vaginas are women. Transgender and intersex people have taught us that this seemingly simple “truth” is actually not true. There are women who have penises and there are men who have vaginas. Not to mention women born without vaginas! Hence, these Mt. Holyoke critics imply, the play contributes to the erasure of difference by presenting a “narrow perspective on what it means to be a woman,” and shouldn’t be produced on college campuses.
