I just finished re-reading Naomi Wolf's The Beauty Myth, which I haven't actually read since college women's studies class. It was pretty new then -- I distinctly remember Wolf visiting Northwestern's campus to fire us all up about the idea of Third Wave feminism -- and it certainly spoke...

Last July, my boyfriend Jesse and I moved in together. The next day, we went to New York City Hall and got "gay married" -- that is, we became (heterosexual) domestic partners. We're among the many straight couples who have become legally linked, mostly for health insurance and other practical...

I've been overdosing on Cosby Show reruns (6:00 - 7:00 p.m. EST weekdays on Centric!), and watching the series as an adult, I've discovered something surprising: It's feminist. Like way feminist. Like stridently feminist. The show overall is not an exercise in subtlety, of course -- Bill Cosby meant to...

We had just been chastised to keep our voices down; this was, after all, a meditation retreat, and we were supposed to be in silence. But my roommates -- two 60-something women named Joan and Linda -- and I were amped up on late-night (in this context, that's about 9...

Launching your own blog or online magazine provides one of the best venues for you to hone and showcase your own vision, voice, and views. (Like we do here!) In short, it's a way to make an outspoken lady's dreams come true, almost instantly, at very little cost (if you...

I spent the last two weeks meditating for several hours a day, maintaining silence, and chanting a hell of a lot -- such is the drill at my Zen temple's annual summer retreat. It's 24/7 spiritual development on hyperspeed, thanks to the lack of chatter, the lack of internet and...

I went into Friends With Benefits with my paws up, ready to hate it (and also ready to very much enjoy the relief of the movie theater's hyper-powered air conditioning).

I walked out wistful, hopeful, thoughtful, and desperate for the oppressive heat to counteract the ridiculously hyperactive air conditioning in...

Betty Ford had higher poll numbers than her husband when he was president, and we can see why: The former First Lady, who died Friday at the age of 93, could, quite simply, not have been a cooler chick. The famous rehab center bearing her name aside --...

After having a few recent conversations about whether men can even be feminist (The Sexy Feminist says: YES) and stumbling across this plea for guy-friendly feminist reading from a concerned girlfriend, we got to thinking: What does it take to be a feminist boyfriend? Let us count the ways:

1....

Two Disney spawn are making news this week yet again for playing against type. In one corner is the now-former Hannah Montana, 18-year-old Miley Cyrus, apologizing publicly -- via exclusive Marie Claire interview -- says she's sorry about the bong-hit seen 'round the web because some of her...

Disney changed children's television history by accident -- or, more accurately, by desperately seeking money. Walt and his brother, Roy, needed tons of funding to realize Walt's greatest vision -- a great, clean, destination amusement park for families to be called Disneyland. The TV networks had been pestering the animated...

The original Mickey Mouse Club of the 1950s was the spiritual breeding ground for the kiddie-star explosion of today -- it built the model by which Miley Cyrus, Zac Efron, and the like have risen to ubiquity. But as I document in my new book, Why? Because We...

The bizarre mouse-ear-flapped beanies that the 1950s Mouseketeers made famous were, as it turned out, a bit of a reverse-sexist proposition. They brought out the vainest impulses in the teen boys in the cast who'd slave over their pompadours daily only to have their coifs ruined by the ridiculous head-wear....

Throughout this whole Lindsay/Britney/Paris nightmare cycle we've been stuck in for lo these many months now, for all the talk there's been about the gals' very public breakdowns -- and man, has there been a lot of talk -- there's one glaring question that's scarcely raised: What does this say...