* Ms. Magazine reporter Kate Noftsinger asks a panel of Lilith Fair artists a question:

“Who here identifies as a feminist?”

I got a long pause, followed by nervous laughter.

Finally [Brandi Carlile] spoke, “I don’t know, it means something different that it used to.”

Before I could ask what it meant now as opposed to then, [Sarah McLachlan] assumed the role of official spokesperson and began building a mystery:

"It’s a tricky question, because it’s been redefined and I think we all define feminism to a certain degree. We all define femininity. I think we’re able to have a little more balance. There’s still fights to be fought. There’s still inequality, absolutely. . . . I think as long as we’re being mindful and honest with ourselves and doing what we feel is right, and that’s a very personal decision for all of us, if we’re going forth with that intention, then we are; we’re being feminists, we’re being humanists, we’re being feminine. We’re being true to ourselves, in every way, in every facet of our personalities."

By conflating feminism with femininity, Sarah McLachlan officially lies squarely in the feminist tradition of Sarah Palin devotees.

* Metro Weekly profiles "the first out transgender Capitol Hill staffer."

* But, also in Metro Weekly, magazine co-publisher Sean Bugg is "terrified to write about transgender issues."

* In 1999, David Segal penned the definitive Buttman profile:

Ladies and gentlemen, hide your daughters: John Stagliano is strolling down a riverside walkway and he's got his mojo working.

Cradling a video camera in his hands, he sidles up to a curvy brunet and fumbles for a pick-up line. Gazing into the lens, the woman seems flustered at first, then amused, then — lo and behold — flattered. She follows him to a hotel room, and within minutes she is standing on a coffee table, peeling off her dress. A man knocks on the door and eventually there is a whole lot of naked writhing on a white couch.

Stagliano shoots. Stagliano scores.

* Sady Doyle channels Simone de Beauvoir-as-dating advice columnist.

Photo via Kashmera, Creative Commons Attribution License 2.0

Who says that fucking while feminist is a lost cause? On Ms. Magazine's blog, aspiring feminist journalist Alexandra Tweten (22, 5'7", green eyes) posted a dating ad on Craigslist specifically seeking feminist men. The experiment yielded 68 replies, and only two penis photos!

Tweten is looking for a guy who's more than just a feminist—he also must be liberal, between the ages of 20 and 27, and accepting of vegetarian thrift enthusiasts with a musical interest in  Sufjan Stevens. But hey, Tweten is a woman seeing a man on Craigslist! Based on the responses she received, I'm guessing that a lot of respondents read her post selectively, like so: "I'm a Midwest girl who moved out to LA recently to follow my dream of being a (feminist) journalist."

"I hope you wrote that ad from the kitchen, where you belong," wrote one guy; "Well, I’m definitely a feminist: I make sure they pay their own way, that they make the first move a fair share of the time, allow them to drive and make a fair share of the plans and decisions, even," wrote another. My favorite feminist lover has this to say: "I have been conditioned to know ladies are always right and mostly guys are just jerkoffs, i like ladies that share this opinion." Is it getting hot in here, or is it just a bunch of anonymous dudes sending photos of their penises to a feminist?

Tweten promises that she'll air some more positive responses to her ad in her next installment. In the meantime, who knew that the trolls who populate the moderated comments sections of feminist blogs are also actively seeking love in the personals section of the Los Angeles area Craigslist? You big lugs.

Photo via SarahDeer, Creative Commons Attribution License 2.0

I'm currently working on a story that touches on a lighter side of this problem—sex partners who don't quite understand how your birth control method actually works. If you've ever heard any bizarre theories about how exactly that pill stops babies from popping out of your ladyparts, please let me know.

But the tendency to place the burden for reproductive health on women reaches into far more serious territory. Case in point: Gardasil, the vaccine that prevents against HPV, was initially exclusively developed for use in young women, even though the virus affects 75 percent of men and women under 50. What's up with that?

In the new issue of Ms. Magazine, Dr. Adina Nack of California Lutheran University attacks the issue of the HPV vaccine's inconsistent application among men and women. According to a Ms. press release:

The CDC recommends “routine” vaccination for females ages 9-26 but, last October, after the FDA approved Gardasil for prevention of genital warts in boys and men, the CDC voted in favor of a lesser recommendation of “permissive” use in males that is likely to make the vaccine less affordable for men.

Translation: While the CDC permits use of this vaccine among both men and women, it only recommends that women receive the vaccination. The effect is that men will be less likely to elect to receive the Gardasil vaccine, and that health insurance companies will be less likely to provide adequate coverage for that use.

Gardasil is chiefly advertised as a method of preventing cervical cancer among women, an approach which glosses over the serious medical problems that HPV can cause in men—including genital warts, anal cancer, and oral cancer. There have been a few recent developments in providing access to the vaccine to young men. Today, in light of a Gardasil study that found the vaccine "successfully prevents deadly anal cancer in men," the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) met to consider the expansion of the HPV vaccine in men [PDF]. Yesterday, Health Canada approved the vaccine for use in Canadian men aged 9-26 in order to prevent genital warts.

Why have we been slow to recommend this vaccine equally to both men and women? Men's reproductive health has not traditionally been medicalized like women's bodies have been. Women are accustomed to being subjected to annual medical check-ups on the status of their sexual health, including what sort of damage HPV may be looking to exact on their cervix. Men aren't. So while I'm forced to receive my annual pap smear and raft of STD tests in order to receive a refill on my birth control prescription, my male sex partner is subject to no such requirement. When you start considering the possibility of injecting young people with three doses of a vaccine that, like all vaccines, holds possible side-effects, women are the natural recipient of such a remedy. Their bodies have already been engaged in these issues, while male bodies have so far been kept at a distance.

As Nack notes, advocating for men to take control of their reproductive health can only help women:

“Feminists have a vested interest in advocating for policies and circumstances around the world that shape men’s ability to develop healthy sex lives, which, by definition, has to include respect for the rights of those with whom they partner, regardless of gender,” says Patricia Rieker, Ph.D., a sociologist at Boston University and Harvard Medical School and coauthor of Gender and Health (Cambridge University Press, 2008).

Nack's piece is entitled, "Why Men’s Health Is a Feminist Issue." And women's health is a men's issue, too. As Nack notes, we can't be solely concerned with how STIs will affect our own bodies when we're responsible for spreading these viruses to each other. "Women’s health—especially reproductive health—is usually the focus of sexual-health discussions but men’s health also deserves women’s attention—and not just because women care about their sons, male partners and male friends," she writes. "It almost goes without saying that women can also be infected by their intimate partners, and since the great majority of women primarily have heterosexual relations, that usually means by men."

Dear [Possible Donor],

Feminists have an unprecedented opportunity to move forward. At this transformational time in history, Ms. is determined to be on the frontlines, keeping feminists armed with the knowledge we need at this historic time.

Ms. is opening for the first time a Washington Bureau—and we need your help. [Link to page suggesting a donation of $35 to $5,000, by Visa, Mastercard, or American Express to help open Washington Bureau].

Our nation must and will make massive changes. But change is never easy. To help ensure it is the change we need and want, feminists must organize, organize, organize. And we must be armed with rapid fire, behind the scenes knowledge from a fearless feminist lens. Ms. is determined to meet the challenge.

We want Ms. reporters in the White House and the halls of Congress. Imagine President Obama or Speaker Pelosi calling on a Ms. national correspondent at their press conferences [Link to page suggesting a donation of $35 to $5,000, by Visa, Mastercard, or American Express to help fund questions to Nancy Pelosi].

Ms.—together with its daily online wire service and MsMagazine.com—must gear up and ratchet up its unique analysis and investigative reports. [Link to page suggesting a donation of $35 to $5,000, by Visa, Mastercard, or American Express to help fund unique analysis and investigative reports]. This is our moment. For so long we feminists have worked, picketed, and taken action for real change. We must maximize the opportunity now [Link to page suggesting a donation of $35 to $5,000, by Visa, Mastercard, or American Express to help maximize opportunity].

Please help Ms. meet the challenge of our times and establish a Washington Bureau. We can make a difference. We can reform the debate with information so powerful it cannot be denied. [Link to page suggesting a donation of $35 to $5,000, by Visa, Mastercard, or American Express to help empower undeniable information].

Please make a special, tax-deductible "This is our Moment" contribution to Ms. today. Put Ms. reporters on the frontlines. [Link to page suggesting a donation of $35 to $5,000, by Visa, Mastercard, or American Express to help fund our moment].

For a strong feminist media and future,

Katherine Spillar
Executive Editor

P.S. Please help Ms. open our first-ever Washington Bureau. [Link to page suggesting a donation of $35 to $5,000, by Visa, Mastercard, or American Express to help fund unnecessary postscripts]. Feminists must be empowered with rapid fire, behind the scenes reporting from a fearless feminist lens. Help Ms. meet the challenge and open our first-ever Washington Bureau.

If Sarah Palin and Barack Obama teamed up to kill "feminist" this election cycle, Kathryn Jean Lopez will have it spinning in its grave. In a National Review piece detailing her experience at last week's "March for Life," Lopez calls Pope Benedict XVI the "real face of feminism." She writes:

Ms. Magazine got some attention—and grief—recently for putting Barack Obama on its cover in a Superman pose and announcing “This Is What a Feminist Looks Like.” After these last few days in Washington—and knowing what I know about the beauty of the Catholic view of women—I’m tempted to do the same with, say, Pope Benedict.

Lopez goes on to write that "all you need to do to realize the harm abortion does to women is browse around the net." Let's do a little clickity clicking of our own, shall we? When you click on Lopez' link on "the beauty of the Catholic view of women," you find a piece she wrote in 2003 declaring Mel "Sugartits" Gibson a feminist, too! "Mel Gibson might be my favorite feminist," she writes. "If he's not number one on my list, he's pretty close, in competition with Pope John Paul II." Because "feminist" is now simply secret conservative code for "anti-feminist."

"It is time that we take back the term 'feminism' and restore its dignity and honor . . . maybe Ms. and the former national women’s movement will return in the sequel as Superwomen once again," wrote one complainer. "This seems designed to mock people who supported Hillary Clinton during the Democratic Primary," wrote another.

When did "feminist" become code word for Hillary Clinton? Is it possible that these people simply never want to have a feminist president? Don't we want all of our presidents to identify as feminists (except Sarah Palin, who will never be president and does not understand the meaning of words)?

I want a female president, too. But there's a difference between a female president and a feminist president. We've got one. It doesn't mean we're going to stop working for the other one.

"[T]he easy to please feminists over at Ms. Magazine put Barack Obama on the cover and gush like teeny-boppers that Obama is some Feminist Super Man who will, presumably, save us little wimin," wrote the Tennessee Guerilla Women.

"[O]h, the irony of picturing a feminist as a superMAN," wrote a poster on Hillary's Village.

"This seems designed to mock people who supported Hillary Clinton during the Democratic Primary. Why does Ms. want to do that now?" writes Feminist Law Professors.

I'm not offended by the cover's assertion that Barack Obama looks like a feminist, but I am disappointed that his Vice Presidential pick and fellow feminist Joe Biden hasn't received the same ridiculous superhero photoshop treatment. I implore you, Ms.: release a Biden version! Check out my blinged-out Biden entry, after the jump:

Glitter Graphics

You're welcome!