Links for Sexy Feminists: Elizabeth Smart, White Privilege, Female Sexuality, and more

Elizabeth Smart Speaks Out: The woman you may remember as a kidnapped and assaulted 14-year-old was in our thoughts as three women victims of trafficking were found alive in Ohio this week. Now a self-possessed 25-year-old, she was in the news recently for commenting that abstinence-only sex ed made her feel as worthless as a chewed piece of gum. Mormon commentator Joanna Brooks points out that this tactic is all too common in the religion’s sex ed classes.

White Privilege Alert: A Muslim American woman’s story of open bigotry from security guards at the White House Correspondent’s Dinner will have you quaking with rage.

Men Can Be Feminists: Enjoy this TED talk by activist Jackson Katz on the way ordinary men can prevent–or condone–gender violence.

Girls and Geek Culture: Not all women hate Game of Thrones, and Amelia McDonell-Parry wants folks to cut that sexist BS. Meanwhile, an intelligent analysis reveals that the “boob plate armor” found in videogame graphics doesn’t just objectify women: it would also make the wearer more likely to perish on the field of battle.

Save Merida: The Disney princess who was her own heroine in “Brave” has received a much maligned makeover.

Creep Alert: An NRA convention vendor is the subject of some (but probably not enough) controversy for marketing a female-shaped target as an “Ex.”

Freeing Female Sexuality: And lastly, here’s this charming essay from a sweet old lady about lust for life.


Links for Sexy Feminists: Men’s Rights Activists, More Steubenville Fallout, Keeping Dads Involved, and more

Death to the Patriarchy: Jezebel’s inimitable Lindy West succinctly breaks down why everything MRAs rail against are symptoms of patriarchy, not feminism.

Continuing the Steubenville Dialogue: A U of Rochester econ prof put up a thought experiment about “reaping the benefits” of a passed-out individual on his blog, which upset quite a few folks, understandably. Meanwhile, an awesome male feminist starts a dialogue with teenage boys on how to not rape girls. And a queer-friendly blog has some great thoughts on why the silence of a female partner should not signify her consent.

Involved Dads: Iceland requires dads to take paternity leave, and having Dad help out so much in the early stages helps gender equality, both for the household and across the small country.

Dating Dan: A well-intentioned, self-aware man with Asperger’s and OCD searches for love, raising interesting questions about self-disclosure for all of us who have “issues.”

Exotic Dancing: The Frisky offers an anonymous expose of what a dancer deals with at a high-end strip club.


Links for Sexy Feminists: Anne Hathaway, Ovarian Cancer, Ending Rape and more

Modern Stardom: Anne Hathaway has been surprisingly polarizing since at least her victory speech at this year’s Oscars, and sexism is clearly at play. Like it or leave it, this is what celebrity culture looks like in the Twitterverse. Vulture offers a smart piece contrasting her with two more “likeable” starlets, showing that all three face a pernicious double standard.

Cancer Watch: Too many women fail to seek out specialized treatment for ovarian cancer, though seeing a specialist can make a world of difference in the outcome.

Our Awesome Vaginas: One woman learns to love her long labia.

Creep Alert: A chilling expose of the seamy underside of the Miss USA pageant.

Ending Rape: Despite good intentions, college campuses mirror life when it comes to sexual violence. Everyday Feminism suggests that we encourage freshmen to talk about how men can stop rape. Democratic strategist Zerlina Maxwell took flak (and anonymous, disgusting threats) for saying as much on Fox News. And in the military, where sexual violence is the leading cause of PTSD among women, Congress hears testimony from victims who want to change the system.


Links for Sexy Feminists: 30 Rock Finale, Abortion in Mississippi, Going Gray, and more

Tearful Goodbye to 30 Rock: As the groundbreaking show airs its series finale, the Daily Beast has a great summary of what scholars say about the show. What sets it apart is that Tina Fey is just as well known for her role as the show’s creator as for starring as Liz Lemon, writes NPR blogger Linda Holmes. The Hollywood Reporter offers a sweet look at the working relationship between Liz and Jack which, as it evolved, became the soul of the show.

Pink for Women’s Health: The last abortion clinic in Mississippi painted itself pink in a show of defiance, though state bureaucracy is deliberately encroaching on its right to exist.

Gray is the New Brown: Women who let their natural gray shine silver, at Jezebel. The NYT offers a helpful tip from a stylist: make sure you get a good cut.

GenderF***Yeah: Why gender violence is about more than just “men” and “women.”

Hot and Heavy: Amber Kosarick writes on how straight men should approach fat women, but includes wonderful info on body positivity for all sizes. All women can have body image concerns about cellulite, but that shouldn’t be the case, writes Lindsay Kite, also on Everyday Feminist. I nabbed the catchy opener from Virgie Tovar, whose compilation of essays, Hot and Heavy, is definitely worth checking out.


Links for Sexy Feminists: Rape Protests in India, Unpacking Christmas, Gun Control After Newtown, and more

Solidarity with India: Thousands of Indians took to the streets to protest lengthy delays in bringing rape cases to justice. Their courage is remarkable, since one witness notes that many women are more afraid of police than they are of guys on the street.

Elsie is my homegirl: On a much lighter note, Jezebel ran a glorious profile of 1912′s perfect woman, and she sounds so rad.

12 Million Days of Christmas: As if you weren’t already sick of mall carols, here’s a great look at how creepy towards women they can be. Our friends in Australia are doing a feminist remix of the classic Twelve Days of Christmas. Secular and non-Christian readers may appreciate this American Muslim’s take on observing the spirit of giving.

Dudes can be feminists: The Yeti Detective tells us (some of) what’s wrong with the “friendzone.” Feminist or not? Share your thoughts in the comments.

Fallout from Newtown: Why is my uterus more regulated than my guns? asks this rural Alaska woman.


Links for Sexy Feminists: Geek girls, healthy cities, and more …

An interesting take on the ever-ongoing ladies-in-tech debate: “The Myth of the Fake Geek Girl” on io9.com explains why ladies still have a hard time in hacker subculture (and, tangentially, why that Facebook movie was so sexist). If you’ve ever hung out at a web developers’ party (and we have, for significant-other reasons), you know what a rare creature we still are at these things.

In the exhausting rape news of the week: Jezebel reports on police’s massive bungling of a rape case in Saratoga Springs, NY — despite it being one of those straightforward, classic rape cases that idiot politicians seem to prefer (woman attacked violently by stranger … you know, “rape rape”), police still didn’t think it was important enough to alert the public or try to apprehend the guy.

Self names healthiest U.S. cities for women: Congrats, ladies of San Jose, CA!

More on Petraeus-induced sexism: Amy Davidson at The New Yorker looks at the difference between the Petraeus-affair scandal and Ike’s dalliances, and raises another question, at least for us: With men always sending shirtless, and other-garment-less, photos of themselves around the interwebs, why is it that the women in these affairs get the slut-shaming? Just asking.

Single motherhood in Syria: With men disappearing in Syria, The New York Times‘ Nicholas Kristof looks at the women and children they leave behind.


Links for Sexy Feminists: Rainy-Day Reading

We hope all you Sexy Feminists stay safe in the stormy weather. Here, some reading (mostly about abortion; for some reason that’s all we found today besides Sandy coverage) to keep you company:

Mourdock’s Dilemma and the Theology of Rape [via The New Yorker]

Let’s Get Real About Abortions [via CNN]

Can Neuroscience Challenge Roe v. Wade? [via The New York Times]

Tami Taylor Confirms That Women of Friday Night Lights Would Hate Mitt Romney [via Jezebel]

7 Famous Female Sex Scandals Throughout History [via The Frisky]


Links for Sexy Feminists: More dumb rape remarks, Brave-Thinking ladies, and more …

Sigh. Another dumb rape remark from a male politician. [via The New Yorker]

And Obama’s response: “Rape is rape.” [via CNN]

And Romney’s “dilemma” in responding [via The New York Times]

Voter ID laws’ effect on women of color [via Jezebel]

Lots of our favorite ladies (nuns, Lena Dunham) among The Atlantic‘s Brave Thinkers list [via The Atlantic]

 

 


Links for Sexy Feminists: Wishing rape on rapists, prioritizing marriage over kids, and more …

If you read one thing today, it should be Jessica Wakeman’s piece on The Frisky about this week’s Central Park rape victim publicly wishing rape upon her rapist. It’s an interesting debate: Is it ever okay to wish rape upon rapists, molesters, etc.? And we agree with Wakeman’s answer, which is: no. But we can’t blame the surprisingly vocal victim for her intense feelings this soon after the attack, of course, either.

While we don’t agree with certain reports that it’s the End of Men, we don’t mind a good “Call to Arms for Decent Men,” from Jezebel. And speaking of decent men, we aren’t a bit surprised by a survey on YourTango that shows counseling professionals think straight moms should prioritize their husbands over their kids. Don’t worry, you’ll take care of your kids, and they’ll turn out fine. But everybody will be happier if Mom and Dad are loving each other and working together.

new poll by the Society for Women’s Health Research concludes that two in five women of childbearing age don’t use birth control, mainly because they don’t think they can get pregnant. Wait, what? When we read that, we paused, suspicious of the survey having a biased angle. But, nope. It was conducted by a nonprofit women’s health group, reviewed by medical professionals and published in medical journals. Polls don’t represent the total population, of course, but this one reveals a scary truth of which we need to be reminded: lack of honest sex education hurts women, period.

Your activist link of the day: Help Equality Now fight Female Genital Mutilation by sending a message to the Indonesian government asking for the repeal of a Ministry of Health regulation that legitimizes the brutal practice.


Links for Sexy Feminists: Akin camp calls for opponent to drop out, Cosmo goes ’50 Shades,’ and more …

Akin Camp Says Opponent Should Drop Out?!?: So first Rep. Todd Akin makes up the redundant term “legitimate rape” and tells us we have magical uteri that can ward off evil sperm and stop pregnancy from resulting after an attack. Then everyone tells him he’s an idiot and even his fellow Republicans demand he drop out of the race. Now his campaign manager/son is calling for Akin’s senate-race opponent, incumbent Claire McCaskill, to drop out of the race instead? If Akin’s people are trying to confuse us out of following this whole thing anymore, they’re getting dangerously close to succeeding. Read about it on Talking Points Memo. If you’re not depressed enough yet, read on Examiner.com about how in 31 states, rapists can get joint custody of the children they fathered by attacking someone. If anyone tells you we don’t need feminism anymore, tell them this.

Dating After Divorce: We’ve written before about how hard this is. YourTango offers some tips.

Cosmo Goes 50 Shades: Two annoying tastes we never want together, and yet here we are. Jezebel makes appropriate amounts of fun.

Vermont Resort Fined for Not Hosting Lesbian Wedding Reception: Kate and Ming Linsley filed a suit against the Wildflower Inn, with the help of the ACLU, after the venue refused to book their reception because of the owners’ “personal feelings.” The resort agreed to settle the suit this week by paying $10,000 to the Vermont Human Rights Commission, placing $20,000 in a charitable trust to be allocated by the couple, and agreeing not to host any wedding receptions instead of turning away only select couples.

Know Who’s Cool? Venus and Serena Williams.: Here they are in The New York Times.


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