I know we’re all sick of hearing Todd Akin’s name, but I think you might not mind this latest bit of news about him. The Renegade Raging Grannies have brought us many saucy, awareness-raising songs about corruption and stupidity in the government. Their commentary on issues from war, to offshore drilling, to the rights of transgendered individuals (and lots more topics) makes me giddy with excitement. These are truly badass ... Read More

A 19th-century artist designed a "map" to the woman’s heart, “exhibiting its internal communications, and the facilities and dangers to Travelers therein." It may seem innocuous, but this piece of odd artwork spells out a lot about the culture's ideas of what was important to women back then. The map heavily emphasizes vanity and self-centeredness: Love of Display, Love of Dress, and Love of Admiration take up a lot of the ... Read More

Alicia Silverstone is already a successful writer with her book The Kind Diet, a guide to staying healthy and going vegan. Now she is writing two new books, The Kind Mama and The Kind Diet Cookbook. The Kind Mama will be about fertility, pregnancy, and post-pregnancy complete with info from doctors, friends, and other women, as well as her own personal parenting story. The Kind Diet Cookbook will be a companion to her first book, filled with ... Read More

This week the New Yorker features a piece written by Lena Dunham, the writer, actor, and director of HBO series Girls. It’s entitled First Love: Memories of an Elusive Boyfriend and is an account of her Oberlin college boyfriend who she met during her junior year. The first time they meet in the story, he walks into the cafeteria holding his male friend’s hand. He pursues Dunham and then she falls hard for him. They move in together ... Read More

With 3 members of Pussy Riot on trial in Russia, Madonna is the latest celebrity to speak out in support of them, urging the Russian court not to condemn the trio to prison.  The women, all in their 20s, are on trial for performing a song in a Russian Orthodox church protesting Putin and his support by the church’s leaders-- particularly Patriarch Kirill. The rockers’ prosecutor asked for a three-year prison sentence, ... Read More