Laurie Penny’s Funny, Sexy, Feminist Reinvention of ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’

Peter Z. Scheer / Truthdig Feb 17, 2015 The feminist, socialist, hilarious writer, who also goes by the name Penny Red, has this smart and comic reading of the "Fifty Shades" brouhaha. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

On Nerd Pain

Alexander Reed Kelly / Truthdig Jan 2, 2015 In response to a vulnerable personal comment on "nerd trauma and male privilege" published by MIT professor Scott Aaronson, New Statesman editor and columnist Laurie Penny wrote a compassionate and highly desirable essay on the experiences of pain, frustration and loneliness common to both nerdy males and females in general. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

What the Isla Vista Killings Have to Do With ‘Misogynist Extremism’

Staff / Truthdig May 26, 2014 When violent eruptions like the killings in Santa Barbara on May 23 happen, discussions in the news often -- as they have in this case -- focus on individual culpability as well as the assumed (and often substantiated) mental illness of the perpetrator. Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

Cybersexism Reviewed

Alexander Reed Kelly / Truthdig Jan 31, 2014 Rather than engaging "a transgressive subculture that embodies many of the internet’s most celebrated radical qualities," New Statesman editor Laurie Penny in her new book "blames the misogyny of geek counterculture on a host of unhip and easily mocked caricatures: conservatives, jocks, tabloids and traditional mainstream masculinity." Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

Note to All Men: Feminism Is About Choices

Staff / Truthdig Aug 19, 2013 In the modern-day discussion about misogyny, women are often accused of “reverse sexism.” This is usually because they apply their arguments about gender bias to “all men” and it hurts some people’s feelings. What if that’s the point? Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

Prominent British Female Journalists Receiving Bomb Threats

Staff / Truthdig Aug 10, 2013 Many women deal with verbal abuse their whole lives -- at home, at work or merely walking down the street. Now, some U.K. writers are meeting with a deluge of Internet threats for speaking their minds in public arenas. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

Where the Opposition Is Going

Alexander Reed Kelly / Truthdig Apr 4, 2013 As austerity pushed by Britain's Tory government whittles away jobs and benefits and increases poverty and despair, many Brits are asking where the resistance is. Journalist Laurie Penny knows: "There was resistance, and it was brutally and systematically put down." Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

We Value Belonging More Than Privacy

Alexander Reed Kelly / Truthdig Dec 22, 2012 In his new book on the global surveillance machine, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and co-authors fail to give the societywide fear “of being lonely and left out” its proper credit as a driver of totalitarianism, Laurie Penny writes on New Statesman. Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

Truthdigger of the Week: Laurie Penny

Staff / Truthdig Nov 26, 2011 Every social movement needs to guard against the inevitable attempts of mainstream media sources to warp its message, defend its targets and recast its members as lazy, crazy or fringy malcontents Luckily for the Occupy movement, British journalist Laurie Penny is more than capable of taking on, and taking down (more) . Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

British Journalist Squares Off Against Former Goldman Partner

Staff / Truthdig Nov 24, 2011 A rich banker who appears to have learned none of the lessons of 20th-century economic history A newscaster who snickers at an impassioned argument And a reporter dismissed as a young girl who will one day learn better This exchange between a former Goldman Sachs executive, a BBC correspondent and British journalist Laurie Penny (more)This exchange has the makings of an iconic moment for a generation struggling against a class that simply won’t listen. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

London Riots: They’re Paying Attention Now

Staff / Truthdig Aug 10, 2011 It's day four of riots and madness in the U.K., and if we want to understand what's happening, we'd best pay attention to young journalists like Laurie Penny, who wrote Tuesday: "Angry young people with nothing to do and little to lose are turning on their own communities, and they cannot be stopped, and they know it." Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )