As you may know, sample just aired the annual Hip-Hop Honors Awards Special, and BET is set to air their own award show on Oct. 23. You may also have heard that neither has nominated a single female rapper for anything.

The absence of women from these award shows is disappointing, but hardly shocking; female emcees no longer have a high profile. Lil' Kim, Foxy Brown and Remy Ma are better known for their tabloid troubles than their music these days. Long-awaited records by Eve and Shawnna have yet to materialize, and while hip-hop groups in the '90s from Flipmode Squad to The Firm often included a token woman, crews these days are almost always no-girls-allowed boys’ clubs.

Many of the great emcees of yesteryear have gone MIA and not many new artists of any prominence have come to take their place. Still, while obvious go-to awards show favorite Missy Elliott wasn't up to much this year, she did have that single from Step Up 2: The Streets, and both Trina and Li'l Mama had relatively well-received new albums. As I've written about before, Jean Grae finally released Jeanius, and it was one of the best records of the year, period. You'd think BET could have scraped together something. And VH1's show honors artists who've made historic contributions to the genre, so they were definitely allowed to dig into the past.

This problem is way bigger than hip-hop; because we live in a racist and sexist culture, there are limited spaces for black women in pop culture across the board. It's unsurprising that the music industry is not clamoring for female rappers — hip-hop as a genre prizes aggression and a quick wit. Put these qualities together in a black woman and it's way too threatening to a white supremacist patriarchy. Black women have and will continue to push through anyway, but it's not for lack of obstacles.

How's this for hip-hop royalty news: None other than Queen Latifah is set to release a new album in December — and she actually raps on it. After focusing on acting (and garnering an Oscar nomination for her efforts in 2002's Chicago) and releasing two well-received collections of pop standards (2004's The Dana Owens Album and 2007's Trav'lin’ Light) it seems that the Queen is ready to get back in the game for the first time in more than a decade. (Yes, Order in the Court came out in the summer of 1998!)

Queen Latifah grew up in Newark, N.J., and got into hip-hop as a teenager, beat boxing with the group Ladies Fresh. She went on to emcee with Flavor Unit, through which DJ Mark the 45 King heard her song "Princess of the Posse." He passed a demo on to Fab Five Freddy, host of Yo! MTV Raps, who helped Latifah sign with Tommy Boy Records and release her debut All Hail the Queen in 1989, when she was only 19. The rest is a Grammy-studded stroll down the Hollywood Walk of Fame (on which she was the first hip-hop artist to get a star).

Queen Latifah recently told RollingStone.com that she almost decided to call the upcoming and still-untitled project The L Word, "Just to mess with people's heads." Hmm. I'll just leave that one alone.

Where are the female emcees? The omission of women from the nominees at this year's VH1 Hip Hop Honors and the BET Hip Hop Awards has the media buzzing, but hip-hop fans know that this problem goes way back. The Grammys haven't even had a Best Female Rap Solo category since 2005 — they claim that not enough women were submitted for consideration.

Enter FEM (Females Earning Money), the brainstorm of radio personality Ed Lover and artist manager Uneek. FEM answers the "whatever happened to ..." question a few times and unites Babs Bunny, Lady Luck, Amil and The Lady of Rage in a kind of hip-hop supergroup, the likes of which we haven't seen for a while. Seriously, when is the last time you remember hearing about a new all-women rap group? The only example I can think of in recent history is Yo Majesty, and before that I need to time-warp back to the '80s. Seriously.

FEM are currently at work on a mix tape, which, according to Babs Bunny, will also feature MC Lyte, Rece Steele, Bahamadia, Mia X, Rah Digga and Diamond from Crime Mob. Quite the lineup! About the project, Babs says:

We respect all female MCs, but our main objective is to have females who have been in the game that have experienced it. That's why we won't go through too much catty stuff. We've been there, done that. … FEM, the movement, is trying to make change. We're trying to inspire women. We are not just looking for rappers. We're looking for vocal singers, females that make beats, female lawyers, female stylists, 'cause every artist needs a team. We're not trying to bash men, but we need dudes to support us and not control us.

How can you argue with that? Well, sadly and unsurprisingly, there's been some hate on the internet that ranges from "They're all washed-up" to appalling, unabashed misogyny. The latter is, pathetically, par for the course for women in the music industry, period. Come on, you're really not interested in what the Lady of Rage has been up to since Death Row collapsed around her?

Have you heard of Alina Simone? If not, this won't be the last time. The Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter dynamo recently released Everyone is Crying Out to Me, Beware, a collection of covers of songs by Russian punk-rock poet Yanka Dyagileva, to critical acclaim.

Alina’s riveting live shows capture the audience in thrall, despite the fact that most of us don't speak a word of the language she's singing in. The emotion comes across loud and clear, gallows-humor tales of passion and despair. Her sound is reminiscent of early PJ Harvey — spare, bluesy rock guitar framing a rich, hungry voice.

Born in Kharkov, Ukraine, Alina Simone came to the U.S. as a baby, growing up in Massachusetts. In addition to writing and performing music, she is an accomplished photographer. The detailed documentary-maker's eye she brings to her photography is evident in the literary still-life quality of her own songs.

New York City's harmonious punk band Looker will release Born in the Desert on Serious Business Records on Oct. 28, before embarking on a European tour. The album is Looker's follow-up to the well-received Born Too Late from 2007.

Childhood friends Boshra AlSaadi and Nicole Greco interlock their buzzing riffs and lilting harmonies with effortlessness, while bassist AJ Lambert and drummer Robbie Overbey hold down the driving rhythms with ease. With their unabashedly poppy, rough-and-tumble gems, they could have made a great split LP with the Phil Spector-era Ramones.

Born in the Desert's production comes courtesy of Erik Paparazzi (Cat Power) and trades in the stripped-down production of the previous album for lush and jagged soundscapes. They play infectious short stories wrapped in rock candy. For a taste of the sound, imagine the Buzzcocks sitting in with the Shangri-Las. Then sprinkle a generous handful of Joan Jett grit on top, and you're starting to get there.

In news that should excite at least 80% of you, Sarah Michelle Gellar is returning to television in a project for HBO — and it actually looks promising. The star has been cast in The Wonderful Maladys, which will follow three siblings in New York City who lost their parents when they were children.

Gellar is set to play one of the siblings, a role that screenwriter Charles Randolph wrote specifically for her. He describes the character as having "a kind of zealous immaturity — like a drug addict with a to-do list." Sounds like it has potential, and I, for one, can't wait to see what Gellar does with the part.

This will be Gellar's first foray back into TV-land stardom since Buffy the Vampire Slayer ended its brilliant seven year run in 2003 and spun off into an addictive series of comics. Randolph is best known for his work in film, writing 2005's The Interpreter and 2003's The Life of David Gale.

I can't be the only one who responded "Huh?" to news that Jodie Sweetin (aka Stephanie Tanner), is shooting a reality show with her husband, Cody Herpin, about their home life and the raising of their child. The fact that she was once on Full House must seal the deal — this one has "fascinating" flashing all over it.

I'm not trying to diss Stephanie Sweetin, though, as she pulled through her public meth addiction and went on to have a creatively named child (Zoie Laurel May Herpin). If she wants to be on TV under reality circumstances and can get a network to buy the thing, more power to her, I guess. I suppose her fans and the rubbernecking crowd might constitute a large enough viewership to limp through a season.

I do, however, mildly object to Sweetin's comparison of her project to Tori Spelling's Tori & Dean: Home Sweet Hollywood, noting that her own show will be "more rock 'n' roll." Hey — who held the last fire on Earth while wearing frightening, flammable-looking shiny clothing in that Powerman 5000 video? Not the middle Tanner child! If we compare the child stars, we will come to the conclusion that, comparatively speaking, Tori is way more rock. How rude!

In 2008, Jean Grae released Jeanius, one of the year's best albums. Now the album's follow-up, The Evil Jeanius (dig that subtle title), will drop Sept. 30, and Grae won't see a cent from its sales.

Grae is your favorite rapper's favorite ghostwriter. "More ignored than the homeless on a train begging for change/more credit due to me than a store that doesn't exchange," as she says. She who acknowledges her "dykey fans" on "Mean" and belongs on everyone's top five emcees list, who shows up the great Talib Kweli on every track they do together, blew Akrobatik, Lif and El-P out of the water on the stunning "Post Mortem."

This latest exercise in artistic exploitation comes to us from the Babygrande label, which previously pulled the same thing with The Orchestral Files, a deluxe double CD deal that Grae claims she'd never heard a word about till it was already in stores. I actually paid for the thing, in a misguided effort to support one of my favorite artists. Grae deserves support, so save your cash for Jeanius and get these rhymes some other way if you're a "completist" (as you should be).

It's been a colorful summer for Ms. Grae. According to an interview with the Village Voice, the label that actually does pay her decided that the track "My Story," a brilliant and brutal autobiographical tale of abortion and miscarriage, would make a great video. The treatment they gave her had a bizarrely upbeat ending, and when Grae balked, they just shrugged and went on with the show without her:

The most hurtful thing being that it's such an important song. The personal part of me baring my soul is fine. The political aspect of it — you couldn't have a more pro-choice song. So now, in essence, what you've done is taken the choice away for the video for the song called "My Story." I think it's the most disrespectful thing ever.

Identical twin sisters Sarah and Claire Bowman have been writing and performing music together since they were young girls in Iowa. Sarah moved to New York City in 2004, where her acoustic strumming, incisive lyrics and expansive voice became ubiquitous in the anti-folk scene. She was soon joined by Claire and, billed together as The Bowmans, the two took off with their rich, silky and sometimes eerie harmonies.

Love for The Bowmans seems to be spreading all over the U.S. and Europe, due largely to their constant touring. Their live show is truly magical, at turns heartbreaking ("The Kitchen Song" and "The Slumber" have been known to bring tears to my eyes), joyful and hilarious. Sarah commands the stage with a quiet authority, matched by Claire's frequent, refreshing role as comic foil. If you're lucky, you'll be treated to Claire taking lead vocals on "The Porker Song," a plea for vegetarianism from a stuffed pig's point of view that dates back to the early Iowa days. Really.

Television and radio are starting to get up to speed. Music from The Bowman's 2007 debut LP, Far From Home, has been featured on a number of programs including "the lesbian episode" of MTV's Engaged and Underage.

People have also gotten familiar with the twins through Sarah's occasional night gig in the second chair of cello-rock band Rasputina, for which The Bowmans have also opened on many an evening. This year, they were asked to play the Paste Magazine Rock and Reel cruise alongside luminaries such as Shawn Colvin, Emmylou Harris and Patty Griffin.

The Bowmans are prepping to enter the studio again to lay down some new tracks. They'll be working with producer Malcolm Burn (Patti Smith, Emmylou Harris, Bob Dylan) who seems like a great match for their material.

Are the casts of today's teen shows too skinny? I think it was Entertainment Weekly's PopWatch blog that first notified me that this perennial hot topic was back in circulation. My answer: Yes.

While giddily soaking in the premiere of the new 90210, I couldn't help but be horrified by how much the female half of West Beverly had shrunk since Brenda and Brandon first stepped out of Mondale 18 years ago. My middle-school peers and I had plenty of pop culture-exacerbated body issues back then, but at least Shannen Doherty looked like a thin someone-you-might-actually-know.

But her healthy Midwestern frame, sadly, did not last. I'm sure I'm not the only one who gasped when Doherty assumed her Robert Palmer mannequin position next to Kelly and Donna as Emily Valentine crooned "Breaking Up is Hard to Do" in the Season 3 premiere — when did Doherty whittle her thighs down to sub-Tori Spelling proportions? The girl had ambition, and the connection between drive and weight loss is even more pronounced in Hollywood than in the rest of the country.

Recently, production was halted on Eliza Dushku's upcoming series, Dollhouse. The show is set to beginning airing in Jan. 2009 as part of Fox's mid-season lineup as a lead-in to 24.

For those who may have missed our previous blogs,Dollhouse is the latest collaboration between Dushku and writer/director/general Renaissance man, Joss Whedon. The Dushku/Whedon partnership of yore resulted in the fabulous character Faith on Buffy and its worthy spin-off, Angel. By extension, it is also partially responsible for my own propensity during college for very dark lipstick paired with pleather pants, so make of that what you will.

But back to Dollhouse: For those of you who haven't been drooling over the premise for months, it will follow a group of "actives" or "dolls" — people that have had their memories and personalities erased. This way they can be imprinted with new ones for the purpose of being hired out to perform various jobs — fulfilling fantasies, executing crimes, etc. Dushku will play Echo, a doll who is beginning to remember who she is.

Back off terrorists — this time its personal! As you may know, Elisha Cuthbert will be reprising the role of Kim Bauer, the frequently imperiled daughter of Jack, on the upcoming seventh season of 24. And [minor spoilers — watch out] she will apparently have a baby with her this time around. Just think of the grandkid-snatching potential! All the offensive excuses for Kim to behave inexplicably incompetently; the election-year-friendly focus on the (straight, white, very patriotic) family.

This earthshaking news has divided 24 fans, the line forming between those who found Cuthbert's character an insufferable brat and those who think she is smokin' hot. (In the interest of full disclosure, I am not a hardcore 24 junkie, and I'm not ragging on the girl, but she doesn't really do anything for me. Thus, I have little stake in the debate beyond where to best view the scuffle while eating my popcorn.)