No Comment: “Even Your Wife Can Turn on the DVD!”

Finally, someone has devised a way for women to turn on the DVD! Thanks, AudioOne, for making a product so simple even a woman can use it! On first blush, this electronics ad, submitted by Ms. reader Caroline in Lexington, SC, seems to be a real throwback to advertising of the 1950′s. Unfortunately, we may [...]

Apple’s “PeekaBoo Tranny” App Is an Exercise in Transphobia

Social justice advocates are often accused of exaggerating the oppression faced by marginalized people. In fact, hierarchies of bodies (thin over fat, cisgender over transgender, white over brown) are reinforced daily. That process is so common it has become nearly invisible to those not directly affected by it–but now, helpfully, Apple has provided us with [...]

Sex Trafficking: Is There An App For That?

When Craigslist shuttered the doors of their adult services section, the feminist blogosphere was divided: Was it a victory for anti-sex trafficking campaigns or a setback for sex worker activists? Regardless of their particular disagreements over the services provided by Craigslist’s adult section, most agreed that the deletion of the section would not stop the [...]

Let’s Play Abstinence–with Avatars!

This sure sounds like fun: You’re a 14-year-old Latina girl and your teacher offers you a motion-control bodysuit and invites you to enter a virtual world. There are life size avatars with whom you’ll “interact.” Wow! But this game, designed to teach girls to handle unwelcome sexual advances and peer pressure, set the feminist blogosphere [...]

Vibrators: Just One Reason We Need Women in Technology

My new favorite reason for getting excited about women in technology appeared in this year’s Grammy awards “swag bag.” The OhMiBod is a wireless vibrator driven by music from your iPod or MP3 player. Its designer, self-described “gadget girl” Suki Dunham, combined her very personal experiences with sex toys and years of working for Apple [...]

Cheating? iPhone Has an App for That

If you want to keep secrets from a relationship partner, you’re in luck: There’s a new iPhone and iPod Touch app for that. It’s called Tiger Text. The app automatically deletes sent and received text messages not only from phones but also from the server that typically stores messages. Its fortuitous name is purportedly not [...]