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Factory Girl

Dora the Explorer and the Dirty Secrets of the Global Industrial Economy

Article by Lois Leveen, Illustrated by James Hindle, appeared in issue Genesis; published in 2008; filed under Broadcast; tagged children, Dora, global economy, global trade, globalization, NAFTA, tv.

Dora the Explorer, eponymous Latina star of the animated Nickelodeon series, is a bilingual problem solver who confidently traverses unknown territory in every episode. In “City of Lost Toys,” a typical episode, Dora sets out to find her missing teddy bear, Osito, and other toys her friends have lost. She’s helped along the way by her sidekick (a monkey named Boots), her trusty map, and a group of magical stars she and Boots catch. The first landmark Dora reaches on her journey is a Mesoamerican-style pyramid where she must complete basic counting and arithmetic problems.

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Multiply & Conquer

How to Have 17 Children and Still Believe in Jesus

Article by Kate Dixon, Illustrated by Kris Chau, appeared in issue Singular + Plural; published in 2007; filed under Social commentary; tagged children, jesus, procreation, tv.

When she was presented with the state of Arkansas’s Young Mother of the Year award in April 2004, Michelle Duggar was 37 years old and seven months pregnant. A USA Today profile on the award ceremony noted her current reproductive status by describing with notable amusement how she “waddled” into the Capitol building to accept the honor.

Hold on—a USA Today profile? Of a stay-at-home mother receiving an award in Little Rock? No offense to the great state of Arkansas, but surely there must be more to the story. And there is: 14 other children, to be precise.

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When Tyra Met Naomi

Race, Fashion, and Rivalry

Article by Hawa Allan, Illustrated by Caitlin Kuhwald, appeared in issue Green; published in 2007; filed under Social commentary; tagged competition, fashion, fashion models, media, race, tv.

One of the last places I expected to hear an engaging antiracist and feminist critique of the fashion industry was on The Tyra Banks Show. But on a January 2006 episode, there was Banks, sitting couch-to-couch with supposed archnemesis and fellow supermodel Naomi Campbell, discussing the forces that years ago had pitted the two women against each other on the assumption that America had room for only one black top model.

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Compromising Positions

Gender by design on Merge and Mix It Up

Article by Kathleen Collins, published in 2003; filed under Broadcast; tagged battle of the sexes, design, gendered space, home decorating, tv.

Mass media, particularly so-called family television, from Bewitched to Everybody Loves Raymond, has long portrayed the home as women’s domain, an ultra-feminized realm in which housewives bustle and cluck while their hapless husbands do little more than hand out spending money and retreat to the most masculine part of the house: the study, or their favorite chair. There’s no denying the cult of the man’s chair in TV history: Those who knew Archie Bunker knew never to sit in his chair.

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Fan/tastic Voyage

A Journey Into the Wide, Wild World of Slash Fiction

Article by Noy Thrupkaew, published in 2003; filed under Books; tagged erotica, fan fiction, fantasy, gay, gender, gender bending, homoerotic, homosexuality, queer, romance, sci-fi, science fiction, slash, slash fiction, tv.

The kiss was not at all like Kirk had expected... “Spock, wait... wait,” he whispered desperately.... “I can’t... We can’t... You... God, Spock... I want you. Don’t you understand? I want you so much!” Kirk still couldn’t believe that the Vulcan knew what he was getting himself into.

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The Buffy Effect

Or, a tale of cleavage and marketing

Article by Rachel Fudge, appeared in issue Issue #10; published in 1999; filed under Broadcast; tagged Buffy, tv.

In the early 1990s, vampire mythology, horror revival, teen angst, and kick-ass grrlness congealed in a new figure in the pop culture pantheon of the paranormal: the vampire slayer. Not just any vampire hunter, mind you, but Buffy, the Valley-dwelling teenage slayer.

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Editors' Letter: Issue 10

"How Do You Feel About Porn?"

When we put this question into our reader survey, we expected a wide variety of responses. And we got them.  

“I write it/act in it”: 6 percent 
“I like to look at it”: 36 percent 

“It’s ok for other people, but it’s not my bag”: 30 percent 

“I don’t like it, but what other people do is their business”: 20 percent 

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Scrambled Signals

Rivka Ketzel Solomon reﬂects on a childhood deﬁned by her parents’ activism, Ms. magazine, and T&A tv

Article by Rivka Ketzel Solomon, Illustrated by Hugh D Andrade, appeared in issue Fighting Back; published in 1999; filed under Activism; tagged activism, childhood, comics, family, gender roles, media, second wave, socialization, tv, tv women, why pop culture matters, wonder woman.

When i was growing up in the ’60s and ’70s, it didn’t matter that my parents were some of the earliest feminist leaders on the East Coast, that I grew up watching their activism from up close, or that I saw them live (not just profess) equality between the sexes. It didn’t matter that I was a girl hooked on Ms. magazine from the very first year it was out, that I regularly flipped through my mom’s copy of Our Bodies, Ourselves, or that I ravenously collected Wonder Woman comic books.

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Whee! #2

Some Cockle-Warming Tidbits

Here’s to Roseanne’s succinct feminist history lesson... Seventeen is actually giving good advice these days. Question: “I masturbate often. Am I normal?” Answer: “Completely normal... 3rd Rock from the Sun may be a wholly silly show that underuses the comic talents of Jane Curtin and overuses the familiar aliens-on-earth premise... We never thought we’d see a classic of masturbation literature on national tv...

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Mad As A Wet Hen #2

A Roundup of Media Affronts

“So now you can eat like one of the boys, but still look like one of the girls,” says the male voice-over touting Baked Lays potato chips while supermodels stuff their faces on screen... Oh, boys, did you know—Twix bars are the new way to get rid of those pesky, materialistic, shallow, shopping-obsessed females in your life... Eating is a masculine activity, part two: Wendy’s Big Eaters ads. Chunky men eat while the announcer talks about how big the meals are... On Caroline in the City, four men discuss post-break-up ettiquette. Dell, Caroline’s ex-boyfriend, is pissed because she has a date with another man... Eating is a masculine activity, part three: On Wings, Helen and Joe are babysitting for a little girl. Joe offers her ice cream...

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