Blog of the Week - The Sexist

Every Friday TNG will feature a blog that has made surfing the internet more substantive and worth while. This week, TNG gives a big shoutout to TheSexist.

Amanda, founder of TheSexist, writes about her quirky, progressive and provocative blog:

I had been writing a weekly column about arts & nightlife for the City Paper called "Show & Tell" for about a year when my editor unveiled a new plan for all the reporters---from then on we'd be unveiling content in blog format, posting multiple times a day and writing extended pieces for the print edition of the paper. I had been struggling with the arts beat for, oh, about a year, and told him I'd love to blog but that I didn't think I could do it on D.C. arts. He instantly agreed to allow me to write about sex & gender, which had been my dream for a really long time.

Thinking up the name was excruciating: Imagine sitting in your office with a bunch of older men and making puns on sex terms. Some of the initial ideas still make me cringe---The Ballbuster; Dot.Come; Bloggy Style. Then one of my editors suggested The Sexist, and it sounded about right. It's still silly to refer to myself that way---my boyfriend makes fun of me by calling me that---but it helps me remember that my blog persona, the one that interviews anonymous 50-year-old Craigslist dudes looking for sex, is different from my off-line persona, which is mostly interested in eating fried chicken.

The blog's been around for less than half a year now, and it's still getting its legs. I try to keep it a good mix of ridiculous material and commentary on the important stuff---hate crimes, contraception access, rape, etc. The best stuff comes from reviewing local pro-life pharmacies, or sitting in court watching lawyers argue over a strip-club fire, or interviewing guys about how they plan to get laid on election night by evoking Obama. I'm interested in finding out where women really stand in our city, but the blog definitely is drawn to the more ridiculous aspects of our experience---the funny stuff and the really ugly stuff, too.

Oh---and let me add that the very best thing that's come out of this is getting in touch with other young feminists and GLBT bloggers and commenters, who are all contributing to a first draft of third-and-fourth-wave feminism, and who blow me away every day with their wit and insight.

People like Amanda are helping to create a new wave of social awareness, combining news and social atmosphere. Her views on current events and culture add to the growing group of people who want change, but don't take themselves too seriously.