Tagged: Gender

A series of differently shaped laser cut and engraved wood seals are arranged on a surface.

There’s Nothing “Natural” About Binary Gender

In light of the US government’s controversial proposal to define gender as a “biological fact,” a trans scholar and artist critiques the use of “nature” to limit the messy, multidimensional reality of gender identity and expression.

Kate Durbin, artist, takes a selfie while standing in thigh-height waves and wearing a yellow plastic dress with Hello Kitty icons and a long, green wavy wig. In the background, other women wearing white underwear and rainbow-hued long wigs also take selfies while standing in the waves.

The Pleasures of Teaching Plastic

Plastic shapes us even as it contributes to our destruction. A performance studies scholar shares her creative approach to teaching about plastic and identity in an unavoidably plastic world.

A collage of seven books covers to cite in the #metoo era

Citation in the #MeToo Era

An ecocritic had just finished a book chapter on Sherman Alexie’s poetry when accusations about his sexual misconduct went viral last spring. She asks if environmental humanities scholars should continue to engage with the work of abusers, and why certain writers and scholars come to dominate our archives in the first place.

A pile of eight emerald green laundry detergent Tide Pods against a white background.

When Laundry Detergent Was Edible

Long before Tide Pods, laundry soap was made from organic ingredients with familiar names and smells. When corporations started selling detergents made from synthetic chemicals, they had to redefine what clean smelled like.

The writer Kim Fu, author of "The Lost Girls of Camp Forevermore." Photo by Laura D'Alessandro.

Nine Women Who Are Rewriting the Environment

As we continue to celebrate Women’s History Month, here is a list of new and recent work by women writers whose environmental imaginations keep us all inspired, impassioned, and ready for whatever comes next.