Rihanna’s Unapologetic “Shadow” Feminism, pt. 1

“…mistaking anti-social surrealism for social realism” (Kodwo Eshun, More Brilliant Than The Sun). People keep accusing Rihanna of this, that, and the other, when really she’s doing us such a favor that the least we could do is maybe buy…

Girls do run the world, but patriarchy keeps that fact quietly bracketed: Listening to Beyonce’s “Run the World (Girls)”

Feminist bloggers all over the political and aesthetic spectrum have been criticizing Beyonce’s “Run The World (Girls)” for proffering post-feminist falsehoods, for objectifying/sexualizing women in the video, and for limiting women’s “accomplishments” to traditional roles (like behind every “great man”)….

Crunk Feminist Revlections on generations of female rappers

I encourage you to read crunkista’s post on Crunk Feminist Collective. It raises some important considerations/issues/questions in discussions about different generations–and competition among different generations–of female rappers. http://crunkfeministcollective.wordpress.com/2010/12/01/lil-kim-vs-nicki-minaj/ Most interesting–and important, IMHO–is crunkista’s claim that the underlying issue here is…

Janel Monae vs. Shephard Fairey

Janel Monae vs. Shephard Fairey

As promised, here is an excerpt from a work in progress where I read Monae as critiquing Shephard Fairey’s appropriation/use of images of radicalized non-Western women of color. First, let’s put some images in play. They are, in this order:…

I miss bell hooks, too.

You should check out Gina Ulysse’s post in the Ms. Magazine blog, “Why I miss bell hooks”. A short excerpt: “Where was the feminist response to this incident? I don’t doubt for a minute that Black feminists talked about it…