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206 Posts
Notes Photo May 25, 2011

History and Herstory: Pie Town Pics Revisited

Critics of feminism have long suspected that the ultimate goal of the movement is to get rid of men. Their fears seem to be confirmed by artist Debbie Grossman’s “reimaging” of Russell Lee’s iconic photographic series portraying families in the rural New Mexican community of “Pie Town. Feminism, however,...

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Notes Photo May 18, 2011

Picturing Arnold the Philanderer = Very Old News

Why anybody, especially the media, would even bat an eye over yesterday's disclosure of Schwarzenegger's love child and at least a ten year infidelity occurring right under the nose of his wife and his family is ludicrous.

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Notes Photo May 10, 2011

Radical Fundamentalism and the Need for Erasure

If the erasure of Hillary and a female White House aide by Brooklyn’s Orthodox Hasidic newspaper, Der Tzitung, from the White House “Security Room” photo is informative at all, it’s to tell us that religious fundamentalism is alive and well in America, too. If it serves a constructive function, on...

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Notes Photo March 29, 2011

Beyond Riveting

There’s nothing more “do it yourself” than being a woman scientist, and depicting Fried as Rosie does more to underscore her difference from other scientific geniuses than it does to suggest that science is no longer a boys’ club.

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Notes Photo March 21, 2011

Her AK

If it was just a guy firing straight into the air, this never would have made the wires.

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Notes Photo March 15, 2011

Hillary's Ecstacy

The sexualization of Hillary lives on.

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Notes Photo March 9, 2011

Feminism and the Mid-East: What Mostly Happened in Tahrir Square Yesterday

Am I saying that women are less susceptible to violence, harassment and intimidation in Egypt than before Mubarak fell, or that some men didn't attack women or chase them out of the square later in the evening? No, I'm not. As opposed to the idea the photo somehow missed...

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Notes Photo January 10, 2011

Going Forward: Civility and the Picture of Rep. Giffords (and Commander Kelly)

What makes this event so profound, and perhaps even a game changer in terms of the enmity and gridlock in Washington (not to mention the career trajectories of divisive figures like Palin, Limbaugh and the like) is the natural counterpoint, visually and character-wise, that the previously little-known Gifford stands...

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Notes Photo January 3, 2011

Navy Raunch and Post-DADT Crackdown: Relieving Sexual Tension For Real

Looking at the screen shots of the then-second-in-command, we see the worst exploitation of power, Honors barging into the shower to witness two males soldiers lathering each other or interjecting himself into another scene of two women in the suds.

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Notes Photo December 28, 2010

War Update: Bubblegum

This isn't the first time we've discussed the Military's female units operating in Afghanistan, and particularly, domestic media's fawning fascination with them. I'm wondering if this photo leading an MSNBC video, however, doesn't cut a couple different ways.

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Notes Photo December 5, 2010

SNL's "Cold Opening" Goes Wild on Hillary's "Private Parts"

Certainly, the “private parts” of male politicians have served as punch lines for late night comedians, but those jokes typically lampoon something that the male politician did. These jokes about Hillary Clinton make fun of something that she is.

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Notes Photo October 4, 2010

Got a Tired Occupation on Your Hands? Feminize It.

In the end, female marines with guns are, well, simply marines with the guns.

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Notes Photo September 18, 2010

April Rabkin: Election Posters Highlight Propaganda Surrounding Afghan Election

It is an inspiring sight, at first: the streets of Afghanistan are saturated with campaign posters. They're on storefronts, roadside billboards, even festooning lampposts like holiday streamers. Democracy must be blooming, right?

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Notes Photo August 7, 2010

Drudge Uses Fake TSA Photo in Gay Baiting Napolitano

After nailing Drudge for gay-baiting, why does Sullivan actually feel the need to factually disavow the sleazy inference of the juxtaposition -- that Napolitano couldn't have been secretly leering at body scan images? And then, Drudge's timing and the explicitness of the scan are also curious.

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Notes Photo August 1, 2010

Beyond the Cover: Further Thoughts on TIME’s "Women of Afghanistan"

I'm wondering how much the wildness and sensuality in a photo like this serves to foster empathy for a child in today's Afghanistan versus how much as it lifts Zohal from the world she occupies and splices her into a stylish, Westernized fantasy scene that hip Western media consumers...

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Notes Photo July 26, 2010

Brendan Hoffman: Eyes on Haiti's Rapes

They were willing to identify themselves to a foreign journalist and tell their stories: "They felt that, at least someone is asking and concerned," but Brendan felt, "I wanted to preserve their anonymity as much as possible. So I shot really tight and cropped in on the eyes." Because this...

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Notes Photo July 24, 2010

Sell Like a Man, Man

The disappointment of the Old Spice Guy ad campaign is that the progressive image of black masculinity is only funny—and only makes sense—when it is wedged into another narrative (one as familiar as the racist story that Old Spice Guy tries to displace). Women desire (and are most desirable...

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Notes Photo July 16, 2010

Style Expert Beck See Michelle's Oil Concern as a Put On

I do think Michelle's outfit that day (whether a less- or more conscious choice) is interesting. If anything, though, I think Beck got it exactly backwards.

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