Men's magazines are usually pretty predictable in that we can expect them to write mostly about things than manly-men love, like boobs and how to touch boobs and how to be like guys who touch a lot of boobs. Boobs. But I can say that I never expected "lads' magazine" Zoo Weekly to post GAAAAAHHHHH WHAT IS THAT?!?!

That is just... disturbing. No, wait. The comments left by their super intelligent fans are what's disturbing:


Luke and Andrew are my favorites. Real stand-up guys. Although Andrew might want to update his humor because I can't believe sexist douchebags are STILL using "women = sandwich makers" as their primary put-down of our gender.


The horrendous disembodied woman has since been taken down after a complaint issued by the Advertising Standards Bureau... because, y'know, they have standards and all. Seriously, Zoo Weekly should know that the only thing that can pull off the sexy-halved-woman routine is Beetlejuice.

Today, activists all over the world are gathering on bridges to show their support for gender equality. It might be too late to attend a bridge gathering near you, but you can see from this map just how many bridge events happened across the globe. Pretty incredible.

There are plenty of other IWD events to attend today/tonight, so find one near you.



Google even dedicated one of its famous doodles to International Women's Day.

Head on over to the IWD website for some cool stuff, including photos of women celebrating all over the world. And if you're a social media junkie like myself, read Mashable's "How To Support International Women's Day Using Social Media." By the way, look to your right to see IWD on Twitter.

Mashable also posted this nifty video from Equals that lists many of the ways women and men are not equal (and it features Daniel Craig in drag!)



Even if you just stay at home today, find a way to celebrate. Enjoy today, enjoy how far we've come, and enjoy the women who did so much to get us here.

Really, Virgin Atlantic? You couldn't have made a commercial without the horrific gender stereotypes? Apparently they want us to live in a world where the men are the pilots and the businessmen, and the (skinny, white) women are flight attendants dressed in short red skirts and stripper heels. Thanks, Virgin, for your big middle finger to the feminist movement.

Though I may not write about it too often, prisoner rights is a feminist concern. Women and non-gender conforming prisoners find themselves uniquely affected by a variety of issues: just take a moment to read about the all-too-horrific practice of shackling incarcerated women during pregnancy or the large amount of sexual assault inflicted on inmates with an unconventional gender identity.

But steps are being taken in the right direction to ensure that prisoners are treated humanely. Most mental health experts agree that the use of solitary confinement in prisons can result in long-lasting psychological damages. According to the ACLU, a bill was introduced in the Colorado state legislature this week to end Colorado prisons' use of solitary confinement. Some shocking numbers tell why this is clearly the humane thing to do:

In Colorado, 37 percent of those in solitary confinement are prisoners with mental illness or developmental disabilities – up from 15 percent just a decade ago. The more than 1,400 Colorado inmates in solitary confinement spend 23 hours a day in isolation, for 16 months on average, at an increased additional cost of up to $21,485 per year, per inmate.

Read a copy of the bill online.

The doctor who stepped up after the assassination of Dr. George Tiller is now facing serious intimidation from anti-choicers, who have made her their new target.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Spotted an article on Slate today that highlights a new book: Cinderella Ate My Daughter by feminist author Peggy Orenstein.

Her website describes the book:

The acclaimed author of the groundbreaking bestseller Schoolgirls reveals the dark side of pink and pretty in this wake-up call to parents: the rise of the girlie girl is not that innocent.

As a new mother, Peggy Orenstein was blindsided by the persistent ultra-feminine messages being sent to a new generation of little girls—from "princess-mania" to endless permutations of pink. How many times can you say no when your daughter begs for a pint-sized wedding gown, she wondered. How dangerous is pink and pretty anyway? Being a princess is just make-believe, isn't it? Does playing Cinderella shield little girls from early sexualization—or prime them for it?

I LOVE anything that questions the mass distribution of harmful gender role-reinforcing products to young girls that are far too easily accepted by society as "normal." Will be adding this to my reading list.

Huffington Post put up this video recently. It's a clip from a horrific show on TLC called "Toddlers & Tiaras" (which is about exactly what the title implies) that depicts one of the pageant mothers forcing her crying five year-old daughter to get her eyebrows waxed. The girl was traumatized from a previous waxing session during which her skin was ripped off.



Pure child abuse, and a prime example of how gender roles and beauty expectations operate in a vicious cycle. I'm sure this pageant mother's parent(s) forced the same twisted values on her. Even though I don't plan to have kids in my lifetime, sometimes I wish I could raise a daughter, if only to teach her that her self-worth goes beyond having well-shaped eyebrows.

Oh, and since it's Bad Ass Feminist Day (just because I say so), enjoy this blog post at Ms. about Sady Doyle's quest to get Michael Moore to fucking apologize already for calling the rape allegations against Julian Assange "all a bunch of hooey." Sady started the hash tag #MooreandMe on Twitter, where feminists are all a-gatherin' to tell Michael Moore just what we think of him (and of course there are some haters on the hash tag as well, but just ignore them). Four days into her anti-Moore campaign, Sady blogged:

No matter what they do to me, no matter how long Michael Moore ignores me, I am still going to be here outside the tower. At this point, if you want to fucking stop me from demanding that apology, you will have to get a gun and literally shoot me down. And if I survive that, I’m Tweeting from the hospital.

She's bold, to say the least. Check out #MooreandMe, it really is great fun.

And here's another bad ass feminist to round out your day: Nicola Briggs. Because if you haven't seen the video of her PWN'ing the pervert who sexually harassed her on the subway, stop what you're doing and watch it now.



Oh fucking yes.

Ack! I've fallen off the face of the blogosphere!

I'm still here. Bear with me.

And in the mean time, watch this video. It's a couple months old, but I just saw it and found it incredibly heart-breaking and, at the same time, uplifting. It's from the NoVo Foundation.

I hope some of you have been participating in the lovely Twitter hash tag #ihadanabortion, started by @IAmDrTiller. The tweeter behind @IAmDrTiller, Steph Herold, wrote:

When I started the #ihadanabortion hashtag, I was afraid no one would talk. You all exceeded my wildest expectations. LOVE!

It's phenomenal to see so many women sharing their experiences and breaking the silence around what should not be a taboo subject. It reminds me of when I helped organize an Abortion Speak-Out with my Feminist Collective when I was in college. Although face-to-face sharing is ideal, I love seeing modern technology used to connect women from around the world who might not get the opportunity to connect with one another otherwise.

You can read about #ihadanabortion on many sites, including Change.org, Chicago Sun-Times, and others. Wow.