Links Round-Up

This week:

Visionsofourfuture recommends this powerful video put together by Project Unspoken at Emory University asks both men and women what they do in their daily lives to avoid sexual assault and harassment.

Following the re-election of President Obama, this article argues that our country is not the “traditional America anymore” — and good riddance.

Jgrand50 and eszenyme wants you to check out this website that tracks the use of homophobic language on Twitter. It also shows the posts in real time in an attempt to get people to realize the implications of their word choice.

A great opinion piece about the failure of GOP voter suppression legislation. This election showed that no matter what, minority groups will express their rights at the polls.

2012 Elections: Historic Numbers for Female Politicians

Barack Obama has won reelection and has earned himself and the Democratic Party another four years in office.

But did you know about some other important names that were on ballots yesterday? More specifically — the twenty women who won their elections for Senate and the House of Representatives. Because if not, there are a few names worth celebrating.

Tammy Baldwin (Democrat), an openly gay woman, won the race for Senate in Wisconsin with 54.8% of the vote. On her Twitter account earlier this evening, she said:

Now I’m well aware that I will have the honor to be the first woman Senator from Wisconsin. And I’m well aware that I will be the first openly gay member of the United States Senate. I didn’t run to make history. I ran to make a difference.

Links Round-Up

This week:

Jgrand50 saw that CNN pulled a report that investigated the effect of ovulation on women voting. Luckily, we all were spared the craizness. On a related note, Obama (smartly) continues to push against Rebulicans on women’s issues. His recent speaches attack Richard Murdock’s disgusting comments about rape.

Femistorian wants you all to watch this amazing video featuring some awesome female celebs, sending Mitt Romney a very clear message:

And, since she was just in Maine, she recommends checking out this great poster set from the Maine Coalition Against Sexual Assault.

Visionsofourfuture saw that a Missouri pastor’s speech on gay rights from a City Council meeting in August has recently gone viral. What seems to start out as an anti-gay rights speech, takes a surprise turn when the speech’s true intention is exposed through the true intention of the speech: to highlight the bigotry perpetuated by those who oppose equality.

Link Roundup!

Happy Weekend, everyone!

Here are this week’s link roundups!

eszenyme wants us to read this really great article on how the “world’s ugliest woman” not only deals with judgment from her condition, but how she’s used that judgment to become a motivational speaker and writer about body image.

She also likes this article that discusses feminism in action.  It specifically focuses on male favoritism in the New York Times and whether we can expect a change soon with their new editor.

JGrand says, “In news that shouldn’t surprise any reasonable person, scientists have concluded that HPV vaccinations do not, in fact, cause increased promiscuity in girls.”

He also finds this a great breakdown of Mitt Romney’s repeated sidestepping when it comes to women’s issues. The article sheds light on the truth of his claims.

HannahGrace was not able to attend the Toni Morrison celebration at Virginia Tech this weekend, but many of her friends did and had an amazing experience! Toni Morrison has been writing about women, gender, and race issues since the early ’70′s, and she is still writing today. If you have never read one of her AMAZING novels, start today – our President didn’t honor her for nothing.

Speaking of the President, HannahGrace really can’t wait to have Mitt Romney out of her life. The “binders full of women“ was her last straw in a long, long, long string of comments that turned a good day into a bad one. If you have forgotten the candidates words of wisdom, please visit the tumblr eszenyme found for us earlier in the semester.

Femistorian is thrilled to hear that an 8-year old girl has found an amazing way to share her love of women’s history. Conversely, she’s less than thrilled to hear about the treatment of Hillary Clinton received following a speech regarding the attack on the Libyan embassy. People need to lay off Hils, she has proved her capabilities as a politician and leader time and time again.

visionsofourfuture says, “If you’re like me, when watching this week’s presidential debate, you were more than a little peeved when Gov. Romney said that the solution to our culture of violence was more marriages. There are a lot of reasons why him saying this has me frustrated, and here’s a great article laying it all out!”

She also says, “Last weekend at the New York Comic Con, one female cosplayer who went as Black Cat was sexually harassed during a spontaneous interview by a Stan Lee fan club. This article discusses the incident as well as the overall acceptance of objectifying women who cosplay and how con’s should go about fixing it.”

 

classifiedsarcastic recommends this article about celebrity weight loss for movie roles, but specifically for women. It’s short but does a good job addressing the harm that women in such public setting can have as role models and the danger it causes for women battling eating disorders.

If you need a little pick me up after that, classifiedsarcastic has also found you a hilarious but eerily true article from cracked.com highlighting stereotypes in moves and society. It hits on stereotypes surrounding, women, minorities, and more. check it out

Totally Awesome Women

This TAW’s gay rights speech in December, 2011 set the stage for the U.S. and global discussion of gay marriage.  Can you guess this politically savvy TAW?

Links Round-Up

This week:

Femistorian wants everyone to read the transcript of the Vice-Presidential debate. Because Joe Biden was hilarious, and the moderator (a woman!) was obviously the winner.

JGrand50 brought this to our attention, because it is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and we need to read a discussion about changing the focus of awareness to finding a cure.

Labels & Feminism

I think I can say with confidence that it is no surprise to my friends and family that I am a feminist. I am often vocal about my political and philosophical beliefs, given the right setting. But I only bring up politics if I feel I’m in a group of people that I know will hear me out, and I never do it around people I don’t know very well.

So a few weeks ago, when a friend “outed” me as a feminist at a bar, I was taken aback. To be more specific, I was referred as  ”crazy, liberal, feminist, atheist.” Nothing mean or spiteful was meant by it. But frankly, I was pissed.

Sums up my feelings quite well.

Sunday Links Round-Up

This week, Hannah Grace was surprised to learn about the prevalence of online homophobia in this study done by the Institute of Sexual Minorites and Services. She wants to remind everyone to choose their words wisely and not call something gay unless it’s truly queer.

Femistorian was seriously disappointed by this new ad campaign featuring Katy Perry. Perry has always advocated celebrating who you are (at least through her music), so it’s very upsetting to see her put her face on ads that shame people for their bodies.

Sick and Tired [TW: Racism, Rape, Homophobia]

Maybe it’s because I’ve been beyond stressed out lately. Maybe it’s because I haven’t slept much in the last week. Maybe it’s because I’m struggling to juggle a full-time job, a full course load, and still maintain some kind of social life.

Whatever the reason is, I am sick and tired of being a feminist. I’m tired of constantly defending myself, of trying to explain things. Like all of this:

I am tired of female politicians getting asked silly, vapid questions. As if who your favorite designer is has ANY impact on your ability to lead.

I know that feel, Hil.

I am tired of having to walk down the quad after class and listen to a group of fraternity brothers refer to people as “fags,” as if being LGBTQ is an insult.

I am tired of hearing my male friends complain about being “friendzoned.” I am tired of the idea that just because you are nice to a girl and give her a shoulder to lean on, she should automatically fall in love with you and/or enter into a sexual relationship with you.

Clearly your logic is perfect.

I’m sick and tired of listening to male politicians trying to make decisions about MY body. I’m tired of people like Paul Ryan, the VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE of the Republican Party, trying to argue that RAPE is a form of conception.

I’m tired of not being able to have a conversation about poverty in America without someone bringing up “welfare queens.” Just like Melissa Harris-Perry, I am sick of hearing that poor people are lazy, that they don’t work hard, that single mothers struggling to make ends meet just want to suck on the government tit.

I’m tired of telling people that I write and edit for a feminist blog and getting looks of disdain and dismissal. I’m tired of people assuming anything about me or my sexuality because I’m a feminist. I’m tired of being told that I make a big deal out of “stupid” things. I’m tired of being told to learn to take a joke. I’m tired of my very righteous anger being dismissed as the rantings of a silly young person who will calm down once she’s out of school.

Sunday Links Round-Up

That’s right readers, we’ve reached the end of our first full week of blogging here at ShoutOut!, and that can only mean one thing- it’s time for the links round-up! Each Sunday, our bloggers will tell you about some of the stories they’ve found interesting this week.

Eszenyme is obsessed with the hottest thing on tumblr, #myfriendsaremarried. It gives all of us single ladies a good reason to laugh even while it seems like all of our friends are succumbing to gender norms and getting hitched.
JGrand50 found this link which discusses the double standard faced by actress Kristen Stewart. While Chris Brown goes on to Grammy nominations and public acclaim despite beating Rihanna, Stewart has been dropped from movie sequels and faces huge backlash for something far less serious.