Some other blogs I like

In addition to Trans Political and Difference Blog by Dan4th, which I reviewed previously (here and here, respectively), I thought I'd share with you some of my other favorite gender-related blogs. Let's start with Genderfork, an unusual blog focusing on androgyny. Genderfork is primarily visual, as it's main entries are photos of androgyny submitted by users. Photos come with captions and users are encouraged to comment on them. Along the right side is running commentary on photos and other comments. Genderfork has begun regularly profiling users, including a photo (of course) and information such as prefered gender pronouns, what the individual identifies as (male-to-female, bisexual, gay, straight, genderqueer, etc.) and what they would like others to understand (usually something about the non-binary nature of gender or how non-normative people are people too). The site was formerly run by a girl named Sarah, but is now managed by a team of volunteers recruited from users (yes, complete strangers are cooperatively running this cool site!). What I like most about this blog are the photos, since most other blogs I have seen do not use many pictures at all. One gets a more complete sense of how people are conceiving of androgyny through the heavy reliance of photos accompanied by brief commentary on what it means to be androgynous.

Next up is Bitch, Ph.D. The title alone draws your attention, but the image at the top of the home page of two little girls - one flipping you off and the other laughing - grabs you and won't let go. This blog is also a team effort, with a core of five bloggers, one of which I believe is male (but don't quote me on that) who post and Twitter at will. Readers can get multiple posts everyday plus Twitter updates - you'll never run out of Bitch, Ph.D. attitude. Did I say attitude? Roaring attitude is more like it (not that I'm complaining, I rather like it). The bloggers here do not hold back on expressing their emotions, and expletives do fly:

What the flying fuck, people? Can't a fat woman eat a motherfucking salad without incurring comments from all and sundry?

from The Salad Police, or

Sorry to interrupt all the happy randomness but what. the. hell.
Cop beats the crap out of teenager because she's 'lippy' and kicked her shoe off?

Welcome to fucking adolescence, asshat.

(And the video is not pretty. I am getting really sick of this shit.)

from a quick note entitled posted by ding (sorry, no permalink available at this time).

Bitch, Ph.D covers anything of concern to feminists that pops up in the news, in their personal lives, or posts on other blogs, and no matter what the topic, they reserve the right to be themselves and say exactly what is on their minds. They have been online since 2004 and are well established in the online feminist community. Technorati gives them an authority ranking of 667.

The third blog I would like to draw your attention to is One Trans Show, by Riki Wilchins. Wilchins happens to be one of my favorite authors and activists. Wilchins is the founder of Transsexual Menace, an activist group know for protesting at court hearings and holding vigils for murdered transexuals across the country. Wilchins is also the founder of GenderPac, an advocay organization for gender equality - for all genders and all ages. The author of several articles and books, Wilchins is a well known and highly visible persona in the trans world. Though she doesn't post very frequently - less than once a month - having an RSS feed for this blog is a must for those times when she does post. Wilchins work is always sharp, brutally honest and to the point and often humorous as well:

You have to say these weird things to get surgery. You can have a tummy tuck, tooshie lift, face lift, ear bob, eyebrow lift, nose job, boob job, and enough Botox to paralyze the facial muscles of a charging bull elephant but no one says you have to go see three psychiatrists.

But if you tell them you want to have a surgery down there – a “groin job” – suddenly you’re sick with something called “Gender Identity Disorder.”

This is the medical diagnosis you have to get if you’re going to get surgery. Otherwise it’s considered “elective,” like Viagra.

Ooops, sorry, no. That’s always covered because old men getting erections is critical to the foundation of our very social fabric.

Wilchins is also able to take theory from Michel Foucault or Judith Butler and show you how to apply it to your daily life. In fact, she wrote a whole book for that very purpose, Queer Theory, Gender Theory. This is one blog you won't want to miss!

Finally, you should check out The Bilerico Project, a standard in the realm of lgbtq blogging. This is how they describe themselves:

The Bilerico Project is the web's largest LGBTQ group blog with 50 lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and genderqueer contributors. The Project is the coming out and together of LGBTQ activists, politicos, journalists, novelists, advice columnists, and video bloggers.

This blog is necessarily much more than a blog. In addition to several blog posts a day, there is a regular advice columnist and a couple vloggers as well, one of which covers Hollywood, stuck in here and there amongst ample lgbt-focused advertising, featuring several bare-chested men. There are two extensive blog rolls, one featuring Blogads Network bloggers and the other listing the blogs ofBilerico's contributers and supporters and a section of recommended reads. Thechnorati gives them an authority rating of 531, they have a traffic rating by Alexa of 137,331, and Feedburner shows 2580 subscribed readers; I would say they are doing well.

Of all the gender-related blogs I have seen since staring my own blogging project, the six I have profiled are a diverse lot, covering trans, lgbtq, feminism, and androgyny, with a healthy mix of politics, legal concerns, entertainment, science, and personal experience for your reading pleasure and needs. Some are well-established, some are fairly obscure, but each has something unique to offer readers. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!