Noah Berlatsky

Illicit passions aren't less enjoyable because they're illicit. Quite the contrary.

Art without politics actually results in a sweeping Puritanism. For art to have power, it needs to engage with power, with politics.

"The look on Miley's face during Nicki Minaj's savage, expletive-laden rant says it all," Salon tweeted the day after the VMAs. Less than 140 characters, but still enough to link a black woman to a longstanding racial slur.

Bus ads comparing Muslims to Hitler have been replaced with images of a superhero. And not just any superhero.

A Ghostbusters with a female cast is a thorough violation of the spirit of the original. And that's a good thing.

While Atwood's feminist dystopia remains our favorite nightmarish future, Marge Piercy's Woman On The Edge Of Time is far superior.

It's not the gender that's the problem: It's the oppression.

Metal aggression isn't sexual, but existential. As a result, women in the genre are both rare and unexpectedly equal.

To understand this debate, it's important to consider historical context.

Is the gender of the philosopher a marginal curiosity—or is it more central?