Archive for the 'Issues in the News' Category

Viewers Guide to MTV’s Abortion Special: Send young women your love, but give Dr. Drew the side-eye


As Entertainment Weekly reported last week, MTV will air No Easy Decision, a one-time special about teens who have had abortions, tonight at 11:30pm EST, an unfortunate ratings graveyard timeslot. (Exhale, a support organization for women who have had abortions, has organized an excellent companion campaign, “16 & Loved,” where you can send your love and support to the brave young women profiled in the special, and through which young women can support one another. More on that below. Also at the bottom of this post: a viewers guide to help you watch the MTV special with a critical eye.)

Billed as a follow-up to the Viacom channel’s popular 16 & Pregnant and Teen Mom, the special will allow three young women who have had abortions discuss the reasons why they chose to end their pregnancies, and share their feelings about the experience. This is a long-overdue and needed addition to the reality TV discussion about teen pregnancies, nearly a third of which end in abortion — a fact that has been 100% absent on MTV until now.


Archive for the 'Issues in the News' Category

TSA-approved: You’re all safe from the explosive power of my breasts


Today’s my first day back from a spectacular whirlwind book tour, having done 12 Reality Bites Back events (readings, signings, panel discussions and book parties) in 8 cities in just under 3 weeks. I’m equal parts thrilled, inspired, and exhausted; I promise to post some report-backs, readers gallery pictures, and more once I get some rest.

But for now, something completely different. I want to share with you a quick reflection on the TSA controversy, based on my experience flying home to NY from D.C. yesterday on the heels of a large and dynamic crowd for the final reading at Busboys and Poets.

I Just want to share that I refused the backscatter cancer box at Dulles airport yesterday, and my fellow Americans are now all protected by the supposedly potentially explosive power of my breasts. Don’t you all feel safer?