“The Hurt Locker Blows Up More Than Bombs”
Sunday, February 28, 2010. I wake up, brew a pot of coffee, and sit down to read the Los Angeles Times. Then my world shifts ever so slightly.
On the front page of the Calendar section, I see the headline, “Redeploying Gender.” Jumping off the page this time around, the gender in question is masculinity. Finally, splashed across the corporate page of a mainstream publication, gender is no longer code for women! I read this and it feels damn good.
– Excerpted from Shira Tarrant’s entry from The Huffington Post, March 2, 2010. Click here to read the rest of the article.
“California College: Up in Smoke?”
The fact is that our state and national future relies on a well-educated, conscientiously trained populace. Without it, we’ll have a few at the top with continued access to the goods and resources of society. The rest will be left scrambling. — Excerpted from Shira Tarrant’s entry from The Huffington Post, June 19, 2009. Click here to read the rest of the article.
“Guy Trouble: Are young men
really in crisis, or are these boys
just done being boys?”
These days, most men’s movie roles feature hard-talking, heavy-hitting leads. Or self-conscious, socially awkward types bumbling through social relations. Or there are the sweet-hearted slacker dudes glued to the couch—and maybe their bongs—allergic to steady jobs but true to their friends. Sometimes the men are a combination… — Shira Tarrant in Bitch magazine’s Spring 2009 issue. On newsstands now!
“Sonia Sotomayor:
The Answer Rhymes with ‘Fender’”
Look at it this way: If Sotomayor were a highly trained surgeon would she be called “too exacting,” “picky,” or “a clean freak”? We want surgeons who are focused, precise, and hygienic. We want Supreme Court justices who are forceful, assertive, and lucid. We also want surgeons and judges who care. These are not mutually exclusive qualities. — An excerpt from Shira Tarrant’s Huffington Post entry from May 29, 2009. Click here to read the entire article.
“Hip to Strip? Or is it time for men to stop watching?”
Yes, women go to strip clubs. We drink beer and eat wings at Hooters. We hire prancing men in Speedos for our bachelorette parties and Cardio Striptease is women’s domain at the gym. But the primary market demand for stripping, lap dancing, and other forms of fleshertainment come from men. — Shira Tarrant on The Huffington Post, May 9, 2009. Click here to read the entry in its entirety.
“Can High Necklines Cure Low Morals?”
The modesty movement makes some good points about the effect a hypersexual culture can have on women’s well-being and sense of self. …But by claiming that modesty is the only solution, and by overlooking long-term feminist efforts to expand both women’s access to sexual pleasure and the right to say no, the new-modesty hucksters are doing women no favors. — Shira Tarrant in Bitch magazine’s Winter 2008 issue. Click here to read the article in its entirety.
“The Little FemBlog that Wasn’t”
Because “What Is Third Wave?” was an independent study, and because my students and I were working closely together on our venture, it made sense to stay flexible with the pedagogy. When the “Sex Workers Art Show” came to town, we went. When we got hungry during a marathon theory-fest, we ordered pizza. When we realized we wanted a forum to continue exploring theoretical dialogue outside of our once-a-week scheduled meetings, we started a blog. — Shira Tarrant in The Scholar and Feminist Online’s Spring 2007 issue. Click here to read the article in its entirety.
“Men Speak Out on Gender, Sex and Power”
When I set out to collect a series of essays that are direct and expressive in their interrogation of masculinity and power, I posted my request to a number of relevant websites and listservs. I wanted to compile as diverse a selection as possible. Queries came from activist men, university men, men who used to be women, men from the South, men from the North, and men from places in between. — Shira Tarrant in Voice Male’s Spring 2007 issue. Click here to read the article in its entirety.
“Who’s Accountable for
the Abuse at Abu Ghraib?”
Pfc. Lynndie R. England has recently been among the most visible figures in the Iraqi prisoner abuse scandal. But why? And what does it mean in terms of gender politics that she is? — Shira Tarrant in the Sept/Oct 2004 issue of Off Our Backs: The Feminist Newsjournal. Click here to read the article in its entirety.
