Movable Snipe: Beyond Penis Envy

Apropos of Feministing's Buffy clip, allow me to say that it's not my revolution if I can't stake to it. Is there a single feminist out there who doesn't love Buffy? A single sentient, Buffy-experienced human being? I am unashamed to admit that I misted up at the end of "Innocence"; think that Season 7 was a massive triumph; bought the Slayer Collection box-set on Amazon pre-order; and have a treatment ready to go for Season 8: War of the Slayers. Mutant Enemy, give me a call. (And, remember, Willow is a Tribeswoman.)

But back to Feministing. The first I heard of the blog was the boob-controversy that you reference. For the uninitiated, or those too lazy to click through Melissa's links, Jessica 'Nisting recently met with Bill Clinton and posed, along with some fellow bloggers, for a photograph. A conservative blogger named Ann Althouse found comfort in a pixilated version of motorboarding, absolutely obsessing over Jessica's chest and calling her feminism into question over the burning issue of whether or not Jessica was posing with her best boob forward.

The contretemps became a perfect illustration of why Feministing is an energetic blog: Jessica's response took an inane comment from Ann and explored its deeper significance. You see that in the blog's excellent deconstruction of things like the doggystyle table or the rather hideous vagina urinal. Maybe it's a case of the boy trying to be more feminist than the editrix here, but I was a contributor here, I wouldn't be sparing the bile — this dreck merits way more exploration and invective, and I wonder why it doesn't receive it. Do you think, Melissa, that expressions of feminism carry way too much imposed baggage of "humorlessness," and the self-imposed instinct to avoid the charge can lead to a measure of self-censorship? For my money, the perfect feminist statement remains Crass's brilliant album Penis Envy. Just try to front on "Berketex Bribe."

But we may be a bit wide of the mark when we focus on Feministing's chosen subjects of coverage. What makes it work, I think, is the interplay of the different posters, who have a clear enough sense of the mission of the site — which is as you describe, Melissa — to allow their individual voices to harmonize. There's a voice to Feministing that you don't get on other feminist blogs. Anyone who's ever contributed to a group blog knows this is way more difficult to pull off than it sounds. At any moment, I expect the dozen or so Feministers (Feministas?) to burst out a round of "Walk Through The Fire." But maybe that's just the slayage in me.

Spencer

[Movable Snipe is a Daily Shvitz feature wherein two writers spend a reading a handful of blogs and offering constructive (or savage) criticism in epistolary form. This week's Snipers: Spencer Ackerman and Melissa Lafsky.]