This is the fifth post in my SSA blogathon, and another reader request (as if I’d ever write it otherwise, haha). Don’t forget to donate! I don’t follow celebrity news/gossip much, so I knew this would be a bit difficult. However, once I searched deep within my heart I realized that there are indeed at …
Tag Archive: pop culture
Feb 05 2013
Creating More Accurate Media Representations of Stigmatized Identities
Greta recently wrote about Yes, We’re Open, a new indie film about a couple in an open relationship. She wrote: A lot of why it was frustrating can be summed up in the question I asked the filmmakers in their post-film Q&A: “Given that the template of San Francisco poly culture is that it’s hyper-ethical, hyper-processing, …
Jan 28 2013
How To Not Be An Asshole To Immigrants
Growing up as a first-generation immigrant in the suburban Midwest is weird. I was often the only person my classmates knew who had been born in another country, who didn’t have American citizenship, who spoke a language other than English or Spanish fluently, who wasn’t a Christian. I think people often unintentionally treated me as …
Jan 08 2013
The Role of Feminist Criticism
In one of my recent pieces, I criticized a particular aspect of the love stories often found in popular books and movies. Whenever someone critiques pop culture–especially from a feminist perspective–it raises a lot of questions for many people. Questions such as: Does it really matter that this work is “problematic”? Can you even have …
Dec 30 2012
Writing A Better Love Story: On Pop Culture That Romanticizes Unhealthy Relationships
Imagine this story. You meet someone you really like and fall for them immediately. They’re attracted to you too and the sex is great. But you want something more serious and they drag their feet. They’re emotionally detached, they forget to call, they make you do all the work of moving the new relationship along. …
Sep 17 2012
1 + 1 = 2: Why I'm Not Looking for My "Other Half"
I was listening to music today when I noticed something odd about the lyrics to many of the songs: Give me a reason to fall in love Take my hand and let’s dance Give me a reason to make me smile Cause I think I forgot how (Meiko) Who doesn’t long for someone to …
Sep 17 2012
1 + 1 = 2: Why I’m Not Looking for My “Other Half”
I was listening to music today when I noticed something odd about the lyrics to many of the songs: Give me a reason to fall in love Take my hand and let’s dance Give me a reason to make me smile Cause I think I forgot how (Meiko) Who doesn’t long for someone to …
Jul 28 2011
Mental Illness as a Spectator Sport
Our culture seems to have three ways of relating to people with mental illnesses–either they’re pathetic losers who need to “snap out of it”, or they’re crazies who need to be locked away (think schizophrenia in popular culture), or they’re here for our pleasure and entertainment. That last one is a relative newcomer, and that’s …
Jul 15 2011
An Indictment of Party Pop
Just when you thought I was finally done writing about alcohol and partying, here I go with yet another post about it! Before I start talking about party pop, though, I need to clarify what exactly I’m talking about, because apparently some people still don’t get it. Every once in a while someone who doesn’t …









Recent Comments