March 2015 – Feministe

So apparently this is a thing: wearing a hijab for Lent

ICYDK: Lent is the six-week period between Ash Wednesday (the day after Mardi Gras, which is of course the last day of debauchery and excess before the start of Lent) and Easter in many wings of Christianity. It’s supposed to be a time of prayer and repentance in preparation for the Big E, and many Christians commit to fasting and/or the sacrifice of certain luxuries to better appreciate the temptation and the suffering of Jesus and his sacrifice (or something. Stories vary). This can come in the form of giving up alcohol or a favorite snack food, kicking a bad habit, praying more, doing volunteer work, or, for one woman, wearing a hijab for 40 days.

Shameless Self-Promotion Sunday

Promote yourself.

N.B. remember your netiquette.

Open Thread with Temple Dragon

This brilliantly coloured dragon on the roof of Longshan Temple features for this week’s Open Thread. Please natter/chatter/vent/rant on anything* you like over this weekend and throughout the week.
* with a few netiquette exceptions

Open Thread with Tagetes flower

A close-up photo of a Marigold (Tagetes) flower features for this week’s Open Thread. Please natter/chatter/vent/rant on anything* you like over this weekend and throughout the week.
* with a few netiquette exceptions

Open Thread with Pi

Pi Day celebrations feature for this week’s Open Thread. Please natter/chatter/vent/rant on anything* you like over this weekend and throughout the week.
* with a few netiquette exceptions

When the world seems lousy, remember that Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has a Dissenting Collar

In an interview for Yahoo News, Katie Couric took a tour of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s closet and checked out her lacy collars, and I’m cool with that.

Terry Pratchett, RIP

Terry Pratchett, a kind man and wonderful writer, died this morning. He had been diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s in 2007.

Why is his death, the death of a white, male satirist and fantasy writer, worthy of note on a feminist blog? More than one reason, but let me begin with his books about witches.

GOP presidential hopeful apologizes for attributing homosexuality to prison rape

[Content note for rape]

Ben Carson, Republican presidential hopeful and an actual brain surgeon, has apologized for an assertion in a CNN interview that homosexuality is obviously a choice because of prison rape.

EXCLUSIVE – Full transcript of “India’s Daughter”

Today is International Women’s Day, and whilst Feministe has historically received flak for sometimes myopic, U.S.-centric feminism, today’s post is at the globetrotting end of the spectrum. Were you disappointed by recent news that India’s misogynists have succeeded in intimidating England’s BBC into actively pulling Leslee Udwin’s rape culture documentary from YouTube’s servers in California? Long story short, India’s Daughter is now considered contraband, much like vibrators in Alabama. So we sat and laboriously typed up a transcript of Udwin’s film, in all its damning glory…

Selfless Signal-Boosting – International Women’s Day

It’s been too long since I put up a Signal-Boosting thread – so here’s one for collecting links for IWD 2015. I’ve found a few to get you started on recommending someone else’s writings/events!