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Monthly Archives: April 2012

On Anesthesia, Assault, and Fear

Please note that this post has a strong content warning for rape, sexual assault, mutilation, and medical assault. I’m in the process of preparing for surgery in June, which seems to require reams of paperwork and endless discussions with people in white coats who suck out your bodily fluids and wave devices at you. The surgery […]

Choosing to Cut the Cake: Theory Versus Praxis

(Content note: Discussions of racism below the cut, including graphic imagery.) On her Tumblr, Flavia frequently discusses feminist ethics and praxis; she talks about the transformation of theory, ideas, and dreams into concrete action. She also touches upon the critical importance of accountability among the feminist leadership, and feminists in general, and her coverage of […]

How To Win Friends and Influence People: The Secret Service In Colombia

Yes! We have no bananas The history of US involvement in Colombia has been filled with violence and the exertion of colonial power. We have peeled back its surface and bitten down hard on a soft, creamy core. We have consumed it and we have dressed our consumption in a sweet sugary glaze to make […]

Autism Speaks–But You Don’t Have To Listen

April is Autism Awareness Month. Are you aware of autism? Excellent, we’re done! Just kidding. Let’s start over. April is Autism Awareness Month. Originally developed in the 1970s, it’s designed to educate the public about autism and what it means to be autistic, demystifying autism and fighting ableism directed at autistic people. Like a lot […]

The Right Can’t Play Innocent With Clinic Bombings

On Tuesday, Wisconsin voters went to the polls for their Presidential primary, but that wasn’t the only big news out of the badger state; the media were also focusing on the attempted bombing of a Planned Parenthood clinic in Appleton. Fortunately the device was small and no one was injured, but investigators are taking it […]

Behold the power of the penis! Erotica, porn and escorts for cis straight women

[Content warning for language use and descriptions of sex acts that are certainly NSFW] Last night my Twitter feed was ablaze with a debate over the merits of the erotic book everyone’s talking about: Fifty Shades of Grey. Some people like Garland Grey or Jessica Luther rightfully pointed out that one of the reasons the […]

Betty Draper Francis Needs Your… Ice Cream? A Few Notes on the Evil TV Ex-Wife

So, Mad Men has begun. And, this weekend, we finally got our first look at Betty Draper. For those not spoiled by the Internet and its countless “Fat Betty” jokes: She’s gained weight. And I am beginning to fear that I may have to redact my previously stated love of Betty Draper Francis, Bitchmonster at […]

Emily’s Girl Talk presentation

So on Thursday, I gave a presentation at the wonderful Girl Talk night in San Francisco, now in its fourth year.  The show’s curated by Julia Serano, Elena Rose (Little Light) and Gina De Vries, and was a night of fantastically witty, clever women and one tenderhearted genderqueer in DavEnd.  Amazingly, the show’s curators have already […]