July 2012 – Page 2

Build a Direct Action Network for Gender Justice in Media

WAM!, an organization very dear to my heart, is building a direct action network for gender justice in media. Go help them!

Reddit Rape Thread

Via Blue Milk via Lauren, there’s a thread on Reddit asking for sexual assault stories — from people who have sexually assaulted someone. It’s incredibly interesting, but obviously may (will) be triggering for many readers.

Olympic weightlifter Zoe Smith isn’t interested in your bullshit.

Zoe Smith, 18, is a weightlifter. This weekend, she competes for Britain in the Olympics. She can clean and jerk nearly 260 lbs. Her Olympic qualifying total was 211 kg, or about 465 lbs. That alone should be enough to make the wise person disinclined to mess with her.

Women and AIDS

“Every woman should be able to decide when and whether to have children. This is true whether she is HIV-positive or not…There should be no controversy about this. None at all.” – Hillary Clinton

R.I.P., Sally Ride

Sally Ride–Dr. Sally Ride, which usually gets left out, but she did have a doctorate in astrophysics and a master’s degree in awesomeness–died yesterday of pancreatic cancer. She was the first woman from the U.S. and the youngest person ever in space, and she was my biggest girl-crush when I was growing up.

I miss Deborah Solomon

Ugh Andrew Goldman are you serious here?

A More Productive Way to Spend Your Monday Night Than Watching the Premier of “Bachelor Pad”

PBS is offering a free viewing of their documentary ENDGAME: AIDS in Black America. I haven’t watched it yet, but it seems more enlightening than anything I currently have DVRed (which is mostly Jeopardy and Mad Men reruns).

Trans American Revolution

We were deeply struck by this interview with Keelin Godsey, Olympic contender (who didn’t quite make it) for the hammer throw event. It’s worth listening to the whole thing.

Happy New Beginnings

If you like wedding announcements that will make you cry, read this one (trigger warning for sexual assault):

Women in the Olympics

Getting their due from Frank Bruni: