1. A must-read piece by brownfemipower about her experience in the Mid West, where she asks, “Where are all the radicals?”
Where are they? Are they talking to Conservative Mexican or White Christian? Are they explaining to Soccer Mom and Working Dad and Single Mom and Rebellious Teen and Lonely Single why they feel so queasy when they watch the late night news? Are they telling these folks what they *could* be doing to alleviate that sick feeling? Are they sharing their knowledge on how to organize a press conference, how to write a Zine, how to talk to a congress person?
Or are they sending yet another eloquent article that details why Howard Stern sucks and Michael Moore isn’t radical enough into their local political magazine?
Or maybe, they are calling women who have babies breeder cunts or screaming about the red neck Christians who are so stupid for believing in god.
Or maybe they’re just moving away to the greener pastures of California and New York.
2. A 70-year-old grandma flies to South Dakota once or twice a month to perform abortions in a state where no one will. via Feministing.
3. Good stuff for women and government this week: Kuwaiti women vote and run in their first election, and Jamaica’s first female PM is sworn in.
4. Feministing’s Jessica Valenti interviews Erica Jong (and if you click into Salon through Feministe, you can go straight to the full article — no need to watch advertisements).
5. Sex tourism in the red states. Because we *heart* family values!
6. Serbia: An Underworld Journey. A unique insight into Serbian culture and gender roles. Beautifully written, and highly recommended.
7. I’m just gonna quote Jeanne: What does George Bush have against mothers and children? And why is he forcing countries to cut back on efforts to reduce mother-to-child transmissions of the AIDS virus in order to have more money for lectures on abstinence?
8. Is it bad that I want to be a diva who dines?
9. When black people do it, it’s a “riot.” When white people do it, it’s a “melee” or a “protest.”
10. via Broadsheet, Glamour gives us The New Lies About Women’s Health. The article does a great service to women’s magazine readers, many of whom may not always put together the fact that their healthcare and health information is increasingly politicized by the misogynist anti-sex, forced-pregnancy crowd. Good on them for covering this, and it’s worth a read — some scary stuff in there. Of course, why breaking down lies about women’s health requires a photo of a hot naked beheaded woman is beyond me, but I guess you can’t win ’em all.
11. Hillary Clinton is a bad housekeeper. This actually makes me like her even more, since I feel way less guilty about the three-day-old stack of dishes in my sink and the fact that I haven’t Swiffered in about two months.
12. My friend Anna is currently studying in India, and keeps a blog that I read obsessively and would highly recommend for its insight, wit, and compelling writing. Today, Anna looks at buying saris, comparing them to getting tatooed: You do it once, and you immediately want more.
i think the sari is a great item of clothing. they’re infinitely cooler than pants, you can get them in lightweight fabrics in every possible color combination imaginable (and many you’d rather not imagine), when draped correctly they’re almost universally flattering, and one size fits all. you can wear them a hundred different ways. knot the end at your waist or toss it over your shoulder and let it fall towards the floor, drape it over one arm or pull it over your head, pleated, folded, starched, shorter, longer…one wears a tight midriff-baring blouse called a choli under it, and the blouse can be cut in infinite ways as well. i took my cheaper sari to a tailor today to have the blouse made (too nervous to put the other one under the scissors just yet). the power went out just after we entered the store, so this turned into an hour-long undertaking involving 32 measurements of my entire upper torso by candlelight. the tailor seemed unhappy with my suggestions for the blouse top (“4 1/2 inch sleeves? no no no no no! 7 inches!”) but was delighted with the sari itself. “ahhh, Andhra taste! very traditionary!”
but just as a neck tattoo of your favorite band’s logo doesn’t fly at work, i’m wondering how this particular show of my love for Indian culture would go over back in the states. i think they’re gorgeous, but…am i going to regret spending money on something i’ll never have the occasion to show off? does calling something “ethnic ware” mean it can legitimately be worn only by people belonging to one ethnic group? i’ve seen some white women manage to look ridiculous in them. is my adoption of the sari, like my invention of a fake Tajikistani heritage (uh, long story), one more attempt to drop Nice Jewish Girl for Exotic Woman of Mystery?
of course, if there’s one place in the entire U.S that i can get away with wearing a sari, it’s got to be downtown Manhattan.
13. Indonesian Playboy draws fire.
14. Blac(k)ademic on why HR 4337 is a queer issue. A must-read.
15. Well this will make you sick. An Ohio evangelist tells Lesotho’s poor that salvation can cure them of AIDS. Disgusting.
16. Had enough of that Britney-Spears-in-birth sculpture? Not from this angle you haven’t.