Shameless Self-Promotion Sunday August 25, 2013 Jill Promote yourself. Netiquette reminders: we expect Content Notes as a courtesy to our readers for problematic content in linked posts and/or their comment threads (a habit of posting only triggering/disparaging links may annoy the Giraffe (you really don’t want to annoy the Giraffe)) extended discussion of self-promotion links on this thread is counter-productive for the intended signal-boosting – the idea is for the promoted sites to get more traffic. If it’s a side-discussion that would be off-topic/unwelcome/distressing on the other site, take it to #spillover after leaving a note on this thread redirecting others there.
this week I wrote a post about how “reminding” women to stay safe in the context of stranger rape is overwhelmingly useless and unnecessary. ‘We are careful’
The blogosphere and Twitter in the atheist and skeptic community have been raging this week about a white man telling a black woman that her response to a racist question in a public forum was too angry. I write about the problem with telling people who are reacting to injustice to CALM DOWN.
This week I wrote about Blurred Lines and Rape Culture, suggesting that the song doesn’t advocate rape only because it can’t imagine consent… [content note: lyrics cited containing misogyny]
I wrote “Resources for Talking to Our Kids About Trans* Issues” in response to some requests from my readers. But I do think it is a much larger and needed conversation. [content note: transphobia]
You might have heard of antibiotic-resistant gonorrhea, but there are a few other STDs that are exhibiting resistance to the drugs we use to cure them, including trichomoniasis, or “trich.” Trich is the most common curable STD, rarely has symptoms, and isn’t regularly screened for. Learn how this STD is evolving.
I wrote an open letter to activists, as a reminder that we all need to take to take time for self-care sometimes. As usual, I have a weekly links roundup where people are welcome to self-promote as well!
All of my posts this week have come out of my PhD exam reading, so they’re all teaching-centered this week. By the time they’ve reached college, today’s students have likely already participated in very public writing that has the potential to greatly impact their personal lives. Shouldn’t we be teaching them writing with that in mind? A metaphor is inherently tension-filled. We’re calling something by the wrong name. The fact that metaphors help us understand more clearly can show us how important conflict can be to learning. Trying to figure out how a teacher teaches by looking at the textbook is like trying to figure out sex by reading STD pamphlets.
I wrote about the perks of a home yoga practice, one of which is that it enables me to take cute pics of my dog in savasana. And about a diversity in lingerie campaign (NSFW: me in a bra), on some of the reasons I initially did and did not want to contribute.
Lots of interesting stuff at Bitch Flicks last week: Black Masculinity in Lee Daniels’ The Butler Fill the Void Beautifully Opens Doors to the Ultra-Orthodox World Elizabethtown After the Manic Pixie Dream Girl Elysium: A Sci-Fi Immigration Parable Breaking Bad and the Power of Women: Skyler, Lydia and Marie Take Control Orange is the New Black and Carrie Bradshaw Syndrome Revisiting Down in the Delta, Maya Angelou’s Only Feature Film The Ten Most-Read Posts from July 2013
I’ve been blogging a lot this week, primarily about mental illness. (CN: bullying/online harassment, self harm, suicide, and other mental health subjects that may be triggering) http://borderlinebookworm.blogspot.com
I did a repost of a man’s blog on How To See Women, Not Objects and I also made a short post about the UnSlut Project, check it out.
This week I wrote about the possible dangers of the “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” narrative (tw: abuse) http://www.nerdyfeminist.com/2013/08/sometimes-what-doesnt-kill-you-makes.html?m=1 And Beth Ditto’s memoir: http://www.nerdyfeminist.com/2013/08/i-love-beth-ditto.html?m=1
The Fantasy Filmfest is happening right now in Berlin, and Im covering it! Day 1: Ari Folman’s (Waltz with Bashir) The Congress http://film-nut.tumblr.com/post/58912255911/fantasy-festival-2013-day-1 Day 2: The Philosophers: http://film-nut.tumblr.com/post/59017520285/fantasy-festival-2013-day-2 Day 3: I Declare War: http://film-nut.tumblr.com/post/59192914991/fantasy-festival-2013-day-3 Day 3: Dark Touch, Byzantium: http://film-nut.tumblr.com/post/59293343629/fantasy-festival-2013-day-4 and theres more to come! and as usual, my weekend links: http://film-nut.tumblr.com/post/59295819134/the-weekend-5
Content Notes: vulgar language, political abandonement I wrote about the City of Pittsburgh “losing” the Domestic Partner Registry documentation and what that means in terms of health insurance and validation. http://www.pghlesbian.com/2013/08/has-the-city-of-pittsburgh-lost-the-domestic-partner-registry/ Content Notes: sexual assault, abuse, bullying, harassment I also wrote about why Facebook means I don’t need a class reunion. http://www.pghlesbian.com/2013/08/i-dont-need-a-class-reunion-i-have-facebook/
A post on Sarah Faux’s painting, Man in Bed. Sarah Faux is a New Casualist with abstracted figurative work.
[CN: deadly diseases] I discuss a article/column about why there should be legal consequences for parents who refuse to vaccinate their kids.
This week I reviewed Robopocalypse; it does an excellent job with the robots themselves and not such a great job with the characterization. Nice way to spend an afternoon, though.
This week on Kiss My Wonder Woman: An Open Letter to the Writers of Teen Wolf Kick-Ass 2 Needs to Stop Using Female Genitalia as an Insult Strong Female Character Friday, with Peggy Carter And tune in this week for a review of City of Bones, Dollhouse, and more!
Fact and fiction on Minneha’s “Islam” bulletin board: On the hysteria concerning a display about Islam in a public school in my hometown.
Naoko Takeuchi had her first interview in a 11 years. The interviewer goes by Shounen Aya who is trans. In this interview, Naoko talks about the sexism she faced 20 years ago in trying to create the female superheroes that she wanted to create. What she has to say might surprise you! (It surprised me!)
Over at delagar, I put out a call for asking for suggestions for texts I might teach in a women’s world lit class: “Women’s Literature World-Wide.” Also: A conversation with my kid, in which she gets very strict about my lexicon: “You Are Hurting Me With your WOrdsS!!1!1!”
I started my journal today with a post about street harassment, and fat shaming. “Sometimes I wonder why I leave my apartment to get fat shamed”
Hi All, Still plugging away hoping to reach readers or friends of readers who have experienced an abusive relationship and are raising small children in our amazing and crazy and rollercoaster world. http://survivelovethrive.blogspot.com/2013/08/where-chips-fall.html
http://angelsparrow.blogspot.com/2013/08/oh-dear.html A roundup, with first day of school pictures, talk about a wedding anniversary and my fall release list
Inspired by a friend who was told “Jesus wouldn’t like your neckline” by a strange woman in the subway, I wrote about what the Bible (Hebrew & Christian) actually has to say about modesty–which is much more about minimizing envy than lust.
Earlier this month, Brooklyn writer Diana Bruk wrote a controversial, outlandish, ridiculous, honest, and thought-provoking piece for Salon about why she loves and hates dating Russian men (yes – the piece is all of the above! And then some!). When I saw that people were wishing domestic violence on Bruk, as a kind of “punishment” for wanting sexytime with brutal, domineering Russian dudes, I wrote this response to the controversy. ‘Cause it seems that I can’t write my own controversial piece without some troll showing up to tell me that he hopes my Russian husband hits me, for one thing.