Published inengendered·PinnedMember-onlyThe Erasure of Hillary ClintonIn 2017, when Hillary Clinton emerged after a well-deserved hiatus to resume public service, the calls for her to quietly leave the stage and take up gardening or knitting began to pour forth. After Hillary’s first post-election interview, RealClearPolitics’ A. B. Stoddard advised Democrats to tell Clinton that “she’s done…Hillary Clinton14 min readHillary Clinton14 min read
Dec 8, 2022Member-onlyReflections on GriefIn the November 22 New York Times, Jill Bialosky, still living with the grief of her sister’s suicide at the age of 21, takes issues with psychologists who say that lasting grief is pathological. The attitude is widespread in our “get on with it” culture. The American Psychiatric Association even…Ideas3 min readIdeas3 min read
Dec 3, 2021Member-onlyThree Abortions and the Real Agenda of “Pro-Life”(I gave this talk at a rally several months ago. I have a fractured wrist at the moment and can’t write something new about this week’s SCOTUS hearing. Sharing this instead.) Let me start by telling you three abortion stories. The first takes place in Chicago, Illinois, in 1964, in…Politics7 min readPolitics7 min read
Published inengendered·Sep 6, 2021Member-onlyWhere Did It All Begin, This Refusal to Grant Women Equality, Humanity?When did it all begin? The realization that the country was no longer under the control of those to whom it had been promised by God? Perhaps a long, long time ago, in some smoky room behind a church — or the staid living room of a wealthy plantation owner…Abortion2 min readAbortion2 min read
Published inengendered·Apr 16, 2021Member-onlyWho Would You Rather Go Shopping With, Ally McBeal or Villanelle?: Some Excerpts from my New Book on TVPowerful women have never been that hard to find in the movies or on television. Often, however, they are the villainesses: the schemers…Television12 min readTelevision12 min read
Apr 16, 2021Member-onlyWhy There are no Sports in My New Book on TVEvery book on the history of television has a chapter (or more) on sports. Mine doesn’t. The reason is simple: I can’t watch a sports event without smelling my father’s cigar. I don’t mean remembering; I mean smelling. Acrid, soggy chewed end in a large glass ashtray, my father’s cigars…Memoir3 min readMemoir3 min read
Published inengendered·Dec 27, 2020Member-onlyGeorgia’s On My Mind…As we near a hugely consequential election, I present a tribute to Georgia via “Designing Women,” excerpted from my forthcoming book on growing up with television. Discussing the history of representations of women and feminism, Susan Douglas describes this as the media “tak[ing] away with one hand what they…Georgia8 min readGeorgia8 min read
Published inDemocracy Guardian·Dec 11, 2020Member-onlyAn Apology from Kentucky to GeorgiaWe’re so sorry. We make great bourbon, but we let the country down. We didn’t get rid of Mitch McConnell. Why do we keep electing him? That’s something that’s baffled me since I came to Kentucky 26 years ago to take a position at University of Kentucky. And now that…Mitch Mcconnell6 min readMitch Mcconnell6 min read
Published inengendered·Dec 2, 2020Member-onlyI Wrote a Famous Book about Body-Hating and Never Mentioned my Own. Let me Correct that Now…Last year, I was asked to write a preface to a forum that my former graduate students, now successful teachers and writers, had put together for the journal Frontiers. It was published in March 2019. Now, in December 2020, as I’m struggling with pandemic weight-gain, I thought others might identify…Fat5 min readFat5 min read
Oct 29, 2020Member-onlyOne of us is“Pro-Choice,” the other is“Pro-Life.” We’re both Anti-Trump.A collaboration between Jenn Abel and Susan Bordo ***************************************************************** One of us is “pro-choice” and Jewish. One of us is a “pro-life” Christian. We put these labels in scare quotes because we believe it’s time to get beyond labels and move forward on our common humanity. Branding others is Trump…2020 Presidential Race4 min read2020 Presidential Race4 min read
