Feminist Current

The latest from A Voice For Men’s “activism” files is a smear campaign against a protester they are calling “Big Red.” “Big Red” (nothing sexist about that name) is a woman who dared to speak out (USING SWEAR WORDS, OH NO) against Men’s Rights Activists’ anti-feminist agenda. For those who are unfamiliar with this situation, [...]

A piece published in the Toronto Star over the weekend may have led you to believe it would, as the headline: “Feminists take opposite stands on prostitution” alludes, explore different feminist positions on prostitution and prostitution law. The author, Rosie DiManno (“one of the Star’s best and most prolific writers“!), immediately trips all over herself [...]

Tom Matlack, who I’d pretty much forgotten about because, well, because he’s irrelevant, is at it again. And by “at it” I mean, of course, whining about the mean, mean feminists. It’s his thing. Some history on me and Tom: Back in January, Matlack, who is the co-founder of MRA-lite site, The Good Men Project, [...]

An article was published recently in The Independent looking at the Nordic model in Sweden. The journalist, Joan Smith, took a ride in a squad car to see how a model wherein the buyer is criminalized and the prostitute is decriminalized actually worked. What she found will likely be met, by any progressive, intelligent, feminist [...]

Yesterday, The Nation and Tom Dispatch published an epic, historical look at the successes of the feminist movement over the past fifty-odd years and the long road ahead. In the article, Ruth Rosen points to various male “behaviours” like rape that, while once were viewed simply as “custom” were redefined, thanks to the feminist movement, [...]

Valentine’s Day is tomorrow. I’ve got to write something, I tell myself. But what can I say? Inspirational messages aren’t really my bag, but neither is hopelessness. In truth, I’m a romantic. A skeptical romantic, but a romantic nonetheless. Romance is awkward for feminists. It’s defined by bullshit like proposals and lingerie and heterosexuality and [...]

I’ve become increasingly frustrated by what feels like a barrage of articles coming from self-described progressives claiming that feminists are the real enemy of sex workers. It seems as though some of those who position themselves as ‘sex worker rights activists’ are intent on creating rigid divisions among women, placing the prostituted woman in a [...]

If you haven’t yet heard about revenge porn, you’re lucky. Notorious dickbag, Hunter Moore, is big into the revenge porn game. He can be credited with mainstreaming the concept of punishing your ex by posting their nude photos online without their permission via his website, IsAnyoneUp.com. Doesn’t take much to get rich these days, just [...]

Oh gosh, where to begin. The New York Times‘ ‘Room for Debate’ started it by asking the perpetually boring and irrelevant question: “Does makeup help or hinder a woman’s self-esteem?” and then they punished us all further by giving The Good Douche Project’s Tom Matlack the final word on what you should do with your [...]

We, in feminist land, like very much to encourage folks (particularly media-type folks, as they have a pretty significant role in framing discourse) to use correct language. Or, at very least, language that describes something real. In my last post, for example, I talked about the fact that many mainstream news sources reported on the [...]

By now most of us have either articulated for ourselves or read any number of critiques about the trouble with Naomi Wolf’s Vagina. It’s fair to say that, to many feminists, Wolf has lost the plot. So when I read this post, wherein the author argues that she has been abandoned by feminism because “feminism…cares [...]

Though many of the more oppressive aspects of marriage have been removed, the institution itself continues to represent and reinforce a patriarchal and heteronormative ideology in many ways. Marriage seems barely relevant in this day and age and yet we continue to marry. In fact, one of the key struggles towards gender equality appears to [...]

As feminists, sleeping with men is always going to be a little fraught. Not getting to the actual act, per se – jumping into bed with people we feel like jumping into bed with can be pretty straightforward – rather the politics surrounding feminists having sex with men within the context of a patriarchy as [...]

This episode of Feminist Current features an interview with communist, atheist, feminist, activist, and writer, Sunsara Taylor. Sunsara co-hosts a radio show called Equal Time for Free Thought on WBAI, writes for Revolution Newspaper and and sits on the Advisory Board of World Can’t Wait. She recently initiated a call to action at stoppatriarchy.org and participated [...]

On this episode of Feminist Current, Meghan Murphy speaks with writer, radical feminist, environmentalist and food activist, Lierre Keith. Lierre is the author of The Vegetarian Myth: Food, Justice, and Sustainability which argues that agriculture is a relentless assault against the planet. Derrick Jensen, who was on the show a couple of weeks back, said [...]

This article was originally published on the Deep Green Resistance News Service and was reprinted with permission from the author.   Seven years ago, I was headed out to do my laundry. It was early, before dawn, and the laundromat was across the street. Entering the building, I saw a young woman gasp, before crouching [...]

The relatively recent development of the anti-bullying campaign has been almost universally accepted as something that is unquestionably “good”. These campaigns are politically correct, they are focused on kids (a largely unhateable group), and they are relatively easy to get behind for most people, (with the exception of some religious groups) particularly those who consider [...]