The Skirt

Teeth gives us something to chew on

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 23:22:54 -0500

The Skirt

The Skirt on Outside the Loop Radio

Sat, 31 May 2008 20:28:50 -0500

A few weeks ago I sat down with Mike Stephan and Andy Hermann of Outside the Loop Radio, Chicago's Almost Above-Ground Audio magazine.

I had a great time chatting with the boys, and it's been a long time since I've been in a studio. What seems like centuries ago -- also known as freshman year -- I hosted a radio show with a friend in a dorm basement. I was much more impressed with them, though. Unlike me, they actually can work their mics.

The Skirt

Now Hiring: Womanly in the Workplace

Sun, 18 May 2008 17:37:20 -0500

The other night I was hanging out and playing pool with some of my friends – a typical Friday night activity. One friend and I were discussing the difficulties we’ve been having with our job hunts. Then she raised an interesting issue. She said she had an easier time finding a job years ago when she had longer hair than she does now. She doesn’t wear a lot of makeup and prefers pants to skirts. Even though she is a qualified and educated candidate for a job, she thinks it is her appearance that is deterring future employers.

The Skirt

Feminine Wiles Hurt Feminists

Thu, 08 May 2008 11:49:27 -0500

I have a confession to make: I have watched "A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila." I don't like the show and promise my effort to watch it is purely to contribute to bar conversations with other people. Too many nights were spent nodding blankly as people talked about the internet-sensation/reality-star's love life. So when the new season started, I became determined to watch. I have considered making a list of things wrong with the show - from the misleading portrayals of gender and sexual identity to the very premise that someone is giving a reality show to Tila Tequila.

The Skirt

Body Acceptance through Burlesque

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 07:40:32 -0500

“You’re taking a burlesque class?” my mother asks me over the phone. “But why?” I’ve been asking myself that same question for a while. I’m clumsy and awkward by nature. Overall, this seems like humiliation waiting to happen. But as I talked to my friends who are Chicago burlesque dancers, all of them have emphasized to me how fun and self-accepting burlesque can be. They have told me how performing the art of tease has given them self-confidence they’ve never had before and taught them to accept their bodies no matter what shape or size.

The Skirt

The Young Women’s Empowerment Project: Respecting Girls in the Sex Trade

Mon, 21 Apr 2008 15:48:12 -0500

The Young Women’s Empowerment Project is one of the most unique feminist organizations in Chicago and the country. The group is collectively run by girls and trans-girls in the sex trade and the street trade. YWEP describes its members as women from the ages of 12 to 23 who have been involved with “trading sex or being sexual for money, gifts, drugs, or survival needs including exotic dancing, escorting, phone sex, adult internet sites, survival sex and all the other ways girls can be affected by the sex trade and street economy.”

The Skirt