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Why Gaga’s Bowie Left Me Empty

Last night, Lady Gaga donned a bright red wig, a hell of a lot of makeup, and partnered with Intel to bring a David Bowie memorial medley to the Grammys. The only thing seemingly left out of a show complete with forty years of Bowie iconography was Bowie, himself. I...

It’s Just Hair

One of my friends has been battling breast cancer this year. First she lost her hair, and then she lost her breasts. She commented on how the loss of both forced her to redefine (to re-find) her femininity, since what defines a woman’s sexuality–her very...

Pretty Little Transgenders

[SPOILERS AHEAD!] Back when Basic Instinct premiered in 1992, it was met with massive outcry by many in the GLBT community who alleged that it portrayed lesbians as violence-prone killers and deviates. Rita Addessa, executive director of the Philadelphia Lesbian and...

Why Your Hipster T-Shirt Doesn’t Make You a Feminist

Mark Ruffalo’s delightful response to the “I Am Not a Feminist” phenomenon, in which he castigates the current trend of women (and maybe also men?) to distance themselves from the feminist label (“You’re insulting every woman who was...

Marilyn Monroe: Artist and Auteur

In honor of Marilyn’s birthday (and she is always Marilyn to us, never Miss Monroe), an essay from my archives:    Six weeks before she died, Marilyn Monroe did a photo shoot with Bert Stern for Vogue magazine. These photos show a Monroe more natural,...