On HU

A trans man on what Sailor Moon means to him.

Remember Colombiana? It was terrible.

We’re going to do a roundtable on Joss Whedon; more details to come!

P. Marie, Zoe Samudzi, and Julia Serano on feminist exclusion of black and trans women.

Jaz Jacobi on why the silly wonderful Weisinger Superman is the greatest Superman of all.

Eric Berlatsky on how continuity precludes real diversity in superhero narratives.

Em Liu on Bruce Lee and the desexualization of Asian men in Hollywood.

Winter Soldier is a vacuous piece of crap that makes me hate my country.
 
Utilitarians Everywhere

At Playboy I wrote about:

—(not) being an ally.

—Black widow, slut shaming, and why one strong female character isn’t enough.

I talked about how racism is partly a question of etiquette on the Matt Townsend show.

At Pacific Standard I wrote about how public policy has made Indiana’s HIV crisis worse.

At Ravishly I wrote about:

—how the genderless utopia isn’t really a utopia at all.

—Mariah Carey’s new video and gender without bodies.

At Splice Today I wrote about constantly marketing yourself as a freelancer.

And the Salem’s Lot study guide I worked on for Shmoop is online.
 
Other Links

Pauline Kal-El on why superhero comics in general, and Catwoman #23 in particular, are terrible.

Emma Kidwell on video games looking to attract a more diverse audience.

DeRay Mckesson reveals Wolf Blitzer to be a racist tool.

Gerry Conway on how DC works to screw creators out of royalties.
 

On HU

Featured Archive Post: Pam Rosenthal on Jo Baker’s Longbourn — literary fiction or romance?

Shonen Knife forever.

Ginsburg and Breyer have doomed us all.

Nate Atkinson wonders whether the superhero genre, or any genre, can be racist in itself.

Stephan Gary on ARTS video games, neoliberalism, and randomness.

Chris Gavaler on the X-files and super doctors.

The Premiere of Agents of Shield is really racist.

Episode 2 of Agents of SHIELD is also really racist. They’re on a role.
 
Utilitarians Everywhere

This was kind of an insane week. I had six pieces published in one day, which I think is a record…and the Playboy piece on Laverne Cox went semi-viral on twitter.

For Pacific Standard I wrote a piece on the importance of sex workers and former sex workers doing research on sex workers.

For Chicago Magazine I wrote about how Chicago’s torture reparations fit into the case for reparations for African-Americans.

At TNR I wondered why all the hate for Superman?

At the Life Sentence I explained why cozies are morally reprhensible.

At Reason I wrote about how Daredevil sacralizes torture.

For Playboy I wrote about:

—how the structure of twitter is optimized for abuse, and needs to be changes.

— how poptimism does’t limit music criticism; attention does.

—Laverne Cox posing nude and how radical feminism often fails black women and trans women.

At Quartz I wrote about how searching for happiness makes you unhappy. Also evil.

At Ravishly

—I wrote about Daredevil and how white saviors need injustice.

—I argued that to puncture the cult of motherhood we need to value other relationships, not independence.

At Splice Today I wrote about how Orphan Black’s male clones are kind of boring stereotypes.
 
Other Links

I think with all the above I’m a little link-exhausted…but if you have pieces you’d like to share in comments, that’d be great.
 

Wonder Woman News

Liz Baudler reviewed my book at New City.

On HU

Featured Archive Post: Michael Arthur on Magical girl anime.

Linke on Valerie D’Orazio and Goodbye to Comics.

Me on Insidious and why you need sin in your horror films.

Chris Gavaler on superheroines old and new.

Me on Orphan Black, Pam Rosenthal’s The Edge of Impropriety and how the closet shapes genre fiction.

Matt Healey on Green Fairy and searching for great furry genre fiction.

Patrick Carland on Steven Universe and narrative arcs in animated series.

Shonté Daniels on the mediocrity of Mario Party 10.
 
Utilitarians Everywhere

At the New Republic I wrote about how indie music defines itself through whiteness.

At the Atlantic I wrote about Trevor Noah and the petty etiquette of discrimination.

At Urbanfaith.com I wrote about Anthony Heilbut’s wonderful history of Gospel The Gospel Sound, still great some 40+ years later.

At Ravishly I wrote about:

—adolescent brain science and its limited applicability to policy

—Lena Dunham and how anti-Semitism has been abolished in America.

—the terrible new A&E show about saving sex workers.

—online abuse and privilege

—Azealia Banks’ whiteface video and appropriation

—CBR’s list of the greatest female comics creators and the surprising ways its different than their overall list of greatest comics creators.

At Splice Today I wrote about:

—Scott Walker, better a liar than a warmonger

—Lena Dunham, Stephin Merritt and weeping on the corpse of meritocracy.
 
Other Links

Katy Lee on Japan and blackface.

Robert Jones Jr. on DC’s Cyborg and racism.

Ijeoma Oluo on how your fave is problematic.

The Sun Times on efforts to move forward with torture reparations in Chicago.

Wonder Woman News

I am reading in New York on Monday! Hope to see some of you all there.

And my friend Bert Stabler posted some pictures of me reading in Urbana last Saturday. I stand before impressive windows.
 

 
On HU

Featured Archive Post: Caroline Small on Nina Paley, Jonathan Lethem, and how copyright kills culture.

Best Music of the Year So Far

Me on Gilette ads and gender roles.

Me, on Icon and what black superheroes can’t do.

Chris Gavaler on Houdini’s superpowers.

Brittany Lloyd on ecofeminism, Allende, and Nicolay.

Roy T. Cook tries to define comics, those pesky suckers.

Kailyn Kent on the unbearably apt whiteness of the “Wes Anderson” X-Men spoof.
 
Utilitarians Everywhere

At Urbanfaith.com I interviewed Mikki Kendall about diversity in comics, sci-fi, and YA.

At Ravishly I wrote about:

—Chris Hedges, Wonkette and how hatred of sex workers sells.

—why the Handmaid’s Tale is overrated, and Marge Piercy’s great A Woman At The End of Time.

—Batgirl and changing audiences in comics.

—how Starbucks should have a conversation about class and making workers do emotional labor for no pay.

At Splice Today I argued that the left should spend less time on the strategy of privilege discussions, and more time on their truth.

At the New Republic I wrote about Sensation Comics and why Wonder Woman needs her lasso of control back.
 
Other Links

Thor is selling better as a woman.

Katherine Cross on gg’s crusade against blocking.

Claire Napier on Chris Sims’ harassment of Valerie D’Orazio.

Sarah Nyberg on being outed and harassed by gamergate.

James Parker on trying to make G.K. Chesterton a saint.