The Humor Issue
Letter from the Editor :
Here is a variation on the "If you were stranded on a desert island ...?" question.
Women's Humor
by Nina Burleigh with Ellen Snortland Janeane Garofalo sees no difference between male and female humor. “Funny transcends gender,” she says. Comedian Kate Clinton sees a definite difference. “I am an essentialist ... Women’s humor is more circular, narrative, not the punch line, more kind of interestingly connecting the dots.”
Dances With Wolves
by Catherine Orenstein Feminists in particular have long recognized that fairy tales socialize boys and especially girls, presenting them with lessons that must be absorbed to reach adulthood. But what exactly are those lessons?
Between A Woman And Her Doctor
by Martha Mendoza On Nov. 6, 2003, President Bush signed what he called a “partial birth abortion ban,” prohibiting doctors from committing an “overt act” designed to kill a partially delivered fetus. One of the unintended consequences of this new law is that it put people in my position, with a fetus that is already dead, in a technical limbo.
Touching History
by Ms. Readers
Documenting Women
by Amy Taubin For over three decades, women filmmakers have thrived in the documentary field as they still do not in Hollywood or the indie world. Plus: Sheila Nevins
Viagra Or An Rx for Sex?
What Women Really Want in Bed Let’s be frank: Women are not sexually “dysfunctional.” Let’s be clear: Many, many women are sexually dissatisfied. So, what turns us off?
Just Verdicts
by Marissa N. Batt Next time you search for an excuse to avoid jury duty, remember it wasn't that long ago that the 12 seats used to be filled only by men. So do what Oprah did: bring Anna Karenina and take a seat. Discuss >>
Summer Must Read List
Our August Amazons
by Michele Kort When the Olympic Games became a modern event in 1896, founder Pierre de Coubertin declared that women competing in “men’s” sports “would be impractical, uninteresting, unaesthetic and improper.” This summer in Athens, women athletes will come the closest they’ve ever been to parity with men.
Convincing the World
by Michele Kort If Anita DeFrantz hadn’t become the most powerful woman in amateur sports, she might have settled for being secretary of state. Ms. talks with the 51-year-old member of the International Olympic Committee about women's sports.
Taking Back the Whip
by Jessica Seigel Let’s say you’re swinging an 8-foot bullwhip — the kind that can reverse a stampede with a thunderous boom, yank the gun from the hand of your nemesis or vault you to freedom from a chandelier — and you unleash your first “crack!” You can feel pretty mighty in just a snap. I sure did.
Food, Farming ... Feminism?
by Elaine Lipson Putting food and feminism in the same sentence can make one wary. Wasn’t that part of the whole liberation plan — to make women less responsible for food? And what’s gender got to do with food choices and food production methods?
Backtalk
by Donna Brazile
One Funny Woman
by Elaine Lafferty
What's So Funny?
by Gina Barreca
