Project Runway contestants are famously petulant – a montage of their eye rolls would probably be longer than a regular episode – but last week’s tantrum by contestant Ven Budhu sparked outrage when he brought his plus-size model to tears. For the “L'Oreal Paris Makeover My Friend Challenge,” contestants had to dress non-models, a challenge that always provokes groans from the designers, who are more accustomed to standard ... Read More

Women Against Rape, an organization founded in 1976 to provide legal and emotional support to victims of sexual assault, spoke out against the extradition of Julian Assange in The Guardian. “Whether or not Assange is guilty of sexual violence, we do not believe that is why he is being pursued,” they write. “Once again women's fury and frustration at the prevalence of rape and other violence, is being used by politicians to ... Read More

In a piece for xoJane.com, Lesley Kinzel argues that the outrage over blogs that promote anorexia – i.e. the efforts by Pinterest and Tumblr to take down “pro-ana” or “thinspiration” pages -- is actually making things worse. Shame, Kinzel points out, is a driving force behind eating disorders. So shaming anorexics by rushing at their blogs with flaming torches and scarlet “A”s may only encourage ... Read More

A blogger named Clarissa is pissed off about Pussy Riot. But not about the censorship that resulted in their public arrest and conviction: no, she’s pissed because they’re not the right kind of feminists.  “I would have been bugged by their actions no matter what, but it especially pains me that they have chosen to call themselves feminists,” Clarissa writes in a post titled “Do Ukraine and Russia Need ... Read More

We know that hormonal birth control doesn’t protect against STDs, but now it turns out it might actually increase the risk of infection. Whoa. According to the Guttmacher Institute, a group of researchers at the University of Washington accidentally discovered a link between hormonal contraceptives and an increased risk of contracting HIV during sex with an infected partner.  In conducting a trial testing the effectiveness of a ... Read More