Feminist Crush

Embodying different Bettys colliding at the intersections of anger, sex, and "thea-tah", actors Anna Lamadrid, Tracey A. Leigh, and Elyse Mirto deliver a knockout blow to a thousand boring tropes about female identity in The Theatre @ Boston Court's production of Jen Silverman's brash, uncompromising, queer comedy Collective Rage: A Play in 5 Boops.

In That'swhatshesaid, a one-person performance using only female dialogue from the most-produced plays in America, performance artist Erin Pike acts out a brutal theatrical exercise in isolation, inviting audiences to observe the chaos and clarity that emerges when female characters are left alone with no male protagonists to support.

Tired of waiting for permission to screen her own films and desiring a safe space for feminist filmmakers and their movies to shine, indie auteur and actor Premstar Santana founded the Moonfaze Feminist Film Festival, an annual celebration of films that foreground a feminist viewpoint and showcase critical, political, cinematic takes on the many levels of oppression women, queer people, and people of color navigate every day.

In her new, semi-autobiographical television pilot Binge, actor and series creator Angela Gulner stars as Angela, a bulimic woman who drunkenly enrolls in eating disorder rehab where she must juggle her failing pastry shop, an affair with her therapist, and a cast of bizarre food-abusers, all while trying not to do what she does best: vomit.

Inspired by Susan J. Brison's book Aftermath about violent trauma and the body, visual artist and feminist Nancy Baker Cahill's current body of work SURDS features small and large-scale drawings that merge her interpretation of the human body as a complicated abstraction engaged in perpetual struggle with a mathematical concept in order to explore the human "rational" desire for understanding through order and logic, even when faced with a nonsensical act like sexual assault.

Fiercely intelligent and wildly funny feminist performance artist Kristina Wong takes on Tila Tequila's viral appeal, the highs and lows of trolling Donald Trump and his alt-right acolytes on Twitter, and the challenges of creating political theatre in a world where performance art and "real life" are increasingly becoming one and the same. 

Co-editor of The Feminist Utopia Project and playwright Rachel Kauder Nalebuff's radical work-in-progress play production, The Bumps, probes how we make meaning as we wait, casting pregnant performers at various stages of pregnancy and combining narrative and movement to chart how our understanding of motherhood has evolved.

By organizing women-led music festivals, devising educational programming in music, and amplifying the voices of women and girls who rock, musicians Anna Bulbrook (GIRLSCHOOL) and Mona Tavakoli (Rock n' Roll Camp for Girls LA) turn up the volume on feminist activism, fostering an empowering and supportive community of women-identified rockers.

Through her exploratory workshop Feminist Acting Class, presented as part of The Hammer Museum's Bureau of Feminism initiative, queer feminist playwright, director, musician, and performer Gina Young hopes to expand the roles for women and non binary people in the theatre by providing a space free from restrictive gender expectations for performers to experiment with roles that would otherwise be off-limits.

With Instagram account Bye Felipe, feminist journalist-cum-Tinder vigilante Alexandra Tweten calls out dudes online who turn hostile when rejected or ignored by inviting women to screenshot the harassing messages they receive when they tell men they're not interested.  

As artistic director of Chicago's The Viola Project, professional actor and teaching artist Skyler Schrempp cultivates confidence among middle school-aged girls by creating "a brave space" for young women to stand up, advocate for themselves, and demand inclusion through creative exploration of William Shakespeare's classic plays.

Chicago-based storyteller, educator, and sex positivity activist Alicia Swiz takes on takes on rape culture, slut shaming, and media's role in influencing our attitudes about women and sexuality.

Writer, producer, and co-creator of Amazon Prime's new animated series Danger and Eggs Shadi Petosky talks internalized transphobia, intersectional feminism, and the importance of recognizing our biases (and f***ing destroying them!).

For playwright Ellen Fairey and director Kimberly Senior, aging and ageism, the evolution of gender roles, and the need for safe spaces to express our anxieties about an ever-changing world take center stage in the Goodman Theatre's New Stages Festival production ofSupport Group for Men.

Actors Bri Sudia and Lauren Molina, in collaboration with Tony Award-winning director Mary Zimmerman, set the scene for sisterhood both on and off stage in the Goodman Theatre's production of Leonard Bernstein's classic musical Wonderful Town.

Through comedy, feminist improviser and creator of goodgirlsarentfunny.com Holly Mandel empowers funny women to say HELL yes, and... "f*ck it!", to bust their inner good girls, and to "build their own sandboxes" in which to play (No boys necessary!).

Chicana punk rock pioneer Alice Bag sounds off on making art out of rage, finding her feminist voice, and reveals "the greatest hurt" she could do to herself: to not live by her own convictions.

Writer and comic book creator Christy Marx chronicles the origin story of her "soul obsession" with super heroes, considers why Jem and The Holograms strikes such a chord with feminist fans, and offers her advice for breaking into the comic book industry's boys club (hint: Let nothing stop you!).

Transgender actor, writer, and comedian D'Lo raps about how hip hop inspired his feminism, storytelling as a tool for self-discovery, and his gratitude for directors who challenge him to face his stinky "shit."

The political is poetic as feminist writer and climate change activist Rebecca Solnit opens up about mansplaining, the change-making nature of "naming things", and why we all need an education in hope.