wandering stars

"How can we integrate it more fully into larger social justice movements? How can we protect our..."

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 15:55:39 -0400

“How can we integrate it more fully into larger social justice movements? How can we protect our elders today and into the future? How can we address the epidemic of abuse of trans elders that’s occurring right now, and will only get worse with time? These are the things I’m thinking about right now, because I desperately want us to take action before it’s too late, not just for ourselves, but for those who are suffering in facilities right now and need some visible sign that the outside society cares about them, is fighting for them, and wants to extricate them from situations of torture, abuse, and more.”

- ‘Trans Elders and Elder Abuse,’ this ain’t livin’

"Because, newsflash, no you are not all Savita. You are not all Beatriz, or Trayvon, or whoever your..."

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 16:26:07 -0400

“Because, newsflash, no you are not all Savita. You are not all Beatriz, or Trayvon, or whoever your soon-to-be-forgotten cause célèbre is on any given week. And to claim that you are is completely ridiculous; you may be attempting to work out your white guilt by “expressing solidarity” but this is anything but solidarity. Instead, it’s just an appropriation of other people’s experiences.”

- White folks, I have come for you in re:your ridiculous appropriative ‘we are all ____’ signs.

[Photo: Custard buns shaped like little hedgehogs, complete with...

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 15:38:24 -0400

[Photo: Custard buns shaped like little hedgehogs, complete with eyes.]

foodfuns:

可愛的剌蝟奶黃包 Custard Bun by lamlamlam on Flickr. http://bit.ly/15rVJuT

Reading List: 21 Outstanding Stories from Women's Magazines and Websites

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 15:18:39 -0400

longreads:

Are women’s magazines avoiding “serious journalism”? Guess it all depends on who’s deciding what’s serious.

The New Republic asks that question in a new article, and our biggest problem with this debate (and, to be honest, the term “longform journalism”) is that it can often run everything through a male-skewed filter of what counts as “serious journalism.” We’ve seen serious storytelling in both.

The other problem is that we’re still relying on National Magazine Awards and print-only publishers to reflect the zeitgeist. I’ve mentioned that 65% of all #longreads started out in print, but we also should spotlight the work of online publishers who are pursuing in-depth storytelling.

So, here’s a start: 21 stories from women’s magazines and sites that we’ve featured on Longreads. On Twitter, Rebecca Traister is curating some of her favorite serious work. And we’d love for you to add your favorite women’s magazine stories in the comments.

Allure

• The F Word, Jennifer Weiner

Marie Claire

• The Big Business of Breast Cancer, Lea Goldman

Tiger Beatdown

• The Percentages: A Biography of Class, Sady Doyle

O, The Oprah Magazine

• ‘I Will Never Know Why’, Susan Klebold

• ‘We Thought the Sun Would Always Shine on Our Lives’, Paige Williams

• Promises of an Unwed Father, Ta-Nehisi Coates

• Is Ecstasy a Viable Treatment for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder?, Jessica Winter

Rookie

• Higher Learning, Staff

XO Jane

• How A Gun-loving West Texas Girl Learned to Fear Assault Weapons, Haley B. Elkins

• It Happened To Me: My Parents Adopted a Murderer, Amity Bitzel

More

• How I Lost $500,000 for Love, Aryn Kyle

Vogue

• Notes on a Scandal: Jenny Sanford Vogue Interview, Rebecca Johnson

• Sheryl Sandberg: What She Saw at the Revolution, Kevin Conley

• Susan Rice: She’s Got Game, Jonathan Van Meter

Elle

• I’m For Sale, Genevieve Smith

The Hairpin

• My Brother, My Mother, and a Call Girl, Mara Cohen Marks

• He’s So Unusual, Jane Marie

• A Goodbye to Ambien in Dubai, Amy Schumer

• The Evolution of Ape-Face Johnson, Carolita Johnson

Glamour

• Relationship Violence: The Secret That Kills 4 Women a Day, Liz Brody

Jezebel

• What Can a Civilian Possibly Say to a Wounded Soldier?, Chloe Angyal

***

Share your picks in the comments

[Image: A vintage Marie Claire cover.]

Them ladies, they write serious stuff? Who knew?!

"9 out of 10 Native foster children in South Dakota is placed in a white home. Even more revoltingly,..."

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 15:16:20 -0400

“9 out of 10 Native foster children in South Dakota is placed in a white home. Even more revoltingly, when children report abuse, including molestation, to child welfare officials, the response is not to get those children out of a dangerous home environment and place them somewhere safe—like with a Native family, or back in their own homes—but to pressure those children in an attempt to get them to recant their complaints. Something is deeply, deeply wrong with this system. Native children can be seized at the drop of a hat from their own families when complaints are made, but when the complaints are against white people, suddenly no one’s interested?”

- I wrote on this ain’t livin’ today about the US foster system’s treatment of Native children. Further reading on foster care and indigenous communities here.

"Franzen is once again informing us there’s no sexism in publishing and that women have far bigger..."

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 11:47:09 -0400

“Franzen is once again informing us there’s no sexism in publishing and that women have far bigger things to worry about. Like many of his white male MFA-bearing compatriots, he seems to have invested a lot of energy in upholding his Literary Giant status, and in denying accusations of sexism within the industry, even when those accusations aren’t about him specifically, but about the world he moves in.”

- Jonathan Franzen, self-appointed arbiter of All Things Publishing, says sexism in publishing isn’t really a problem. I disagree.

"According to the American Autoimmune Related Diseases Association, autoimmune diseases, which..."

Sat, 15 Jun 2013 12:47:44 -0400

“According to the American Autoimmune Related Diseases Association, autoimmune diseases, which include conditions like lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, and more than one hundred others, afflict fifty million Americans and strike women nearly 75 percent of the time. A survey taken by the association found that 45 percent of patients with autoimmune disease were labeled as chronic complainers early in their diagnostic journeys, with the resulting delay in diagnosis often leading to organ damage from lack of appropriate treatment.”

- Laurie Edwards, In the Kingdom of the Sick

[Photo: A black cat in a basket with two owlets, who look rather...

Fri, 14 Jun 2013 21:50:27 -0400

[Photo: A black cat in a basket with two owlets, who look rather like balls of indignant fluff. The cat has a very patient expression.]

allcreatures:

Real life owl and the pussycat: Horace the cat, who has struck up an unlikely friendship with two tiny owlets, Fidget and Widget (right) are photographed at Kirkleatham Owl Centre

Picture: NORTH NEWS (via Pictures of the day: 14 June 2013 - Telegraph)

"Recognising that each of us has a capacity to push too far, and probing that ability within..."

Fri, 14 Jun 2013 15:23:49 -0400

“Recognising that each of us has a capacity to push too far, and probing that ability within yourself, is important if you’re going to be sexually active. Because if you truly do want to be respectful of your partners, not raping them is rather key to that, and ‘not raping’ is not always a simple, clear, easy act; you have to start by acknowledging that you have the capacity to override another person’s consent, and that your intentions in the encounter don’t matter when it comes to the outcome.”

- s.e. smith, ‘Anyone Can Be A Rapist, Including, Yes, You,’ this ain’t livin’

[Photo: Street art of Snow White painted on a concrete wall....

Fri, 14 Jun 2013 13:31:34 -0400

[Photo: Street art of Snow White painted on a concrete wall. She’s surrounded by birds and a bunny, looking very classically Disney, except for the giant revolver she’s holding up.]

abbyjean:

Don’t Come for These Disney Princesses - World of Wonder

Plane Tree and Sky by x1klima on Flickr.[Photo: A plane tree...

Thu, 13 Jun 2013 18:16:24 -0400

Plane Tree and Sky by x1klima on Flickr.

[Photo: A plane tree against a blue sky with scattered clouds. The light is clear and somewhat harsh.]

"Abstract environmentalism, the kind that doesn’t require any meaningful sacrifice, is very popular..."

Thu, 13 Jun 2013 16:44:55 -0400

“Abstract environmentalism, the kind that doesn’t require any meaningful sacrifice, is very popular in California. The situation in Berkeley really embodies that; people are more than happy to do things that don’t undermine their own quality of life, and to lecture people on what they should be doing to save the planet, but when it comes to promoting more efficient and sustainable urban development, they’re suddenly silent. Or they’re actively arguing the other side.”

- s.e. smith, ‘The Contradictions of ‘Environmentally Conscious’ NIMBYs,’ this ain’t livin’

"She was just a terrified 18-year-old rape victim emerging out of the foster system and into the..."

Thu, 13 Jun 2013 16:28:55 -0400

“She was just a terrified 18-year-old rape victim emerging out of the foster system and into the adult world, and she got a sharp and horrible lesson about how “adults” treat each other, and how rape victims are handled in the “justice system.” I hope D.M. gets the justice she deserves, and more than that, I hope her case sends a signal that enough is enough: it’s time to stop intimidating young women brave enough to step forward and report, and we’re going to keep talking about rape until it stops happening.”

- In which I tackle the case of a rape victim forced to recant her accusations by the police, and considered a liar until three years later, when the serial rapist who had attacked her was arrested in a different state. Content note for rape on this piece.

"There’s no wrong or right way to do gender; gender just is, and people live it and experience..."

Thu, 13 Jun 2013 11:00:13 -0400

“There’s no wrong or right way to do gender; gender just is, and people live it and experience it in different ways. That’s totally a-okay for everyone, as long as people don’t feel the need to go around telling other people how to do it.”

- I wrote on xoJane today about the principal who told a 14-year-old boy to take his makeup off at a Florida school.

[Photo: Three Chinese astronauts sandwiched together, surrounded...

Thu, 13 Jun 2013 09:51:41 -0400

[Photo: Three Chinese astronauts sandwiched together, surrounded by equipment. One of them holds up a sign (in Chinese) reading ‘Happy Dragon Boat Festival.’]

womeninspace:

On wednesday the 12th, the crew of Shenzhou 10 send a greeting to all people participating in the dragon boat festival. The sign reads “Happy Dragon Boat Festival.”

Dragon Boat Festival in SPAAAAAAAAAACE!

"No, no, he is the real deal. He is one of us. He is a Native person I would love for my son to..."

Thu, 13 Jun 2013 09:43:46 -0400

“No, no, he is the real deal. He is one of us. He is a Native person I would love for my son to emulate. He “gets it.” We need to support him as he supports our communities. He’s starred, for free, in tons of small-time productions for independent Native filmmakers. Whether it’s helping out at ceremonies or speaking to Native youth or helping small-time filmmakers, he’s constantly available for our communities.”

- Gyasi Ross on Tatanka Means in Tiger Eyes, which I would have gone to see anyway because, HELLO, Judy Blume.

"Who are these people? What are they doing? Why do we care? Is it commercial break yet?"

Thu, 13 Jun 2013 09:23:00 -0400

“Who are these people? What are they doing? Why do we care? Is it commercial break yet?”

- My review of Mistresses, in four sentences.

[Photograph: A statue of a metallic and highly reflective silver...

Wed, 12 Jun 2013 19:29:07 -0400

[Photograph: A statue of a metallic and highly reflective silver octopus grappling with an oversized black rook from a chess set on a city sidewalk.]

Octopus playing chess. Created by Leigh Dyer

"You could say this is the NSA’s world and we’re just living in it, or you could say that as long as..."

Wed, 12 Jun 2013 18:56:03 -0400

“You could say this is the NSA’s world and we’re just living in it, or you could say that as long as we’re still cracking jokes, no one can take the sky from us.”

- s.e. smith, ‘The Dystopia is Now, and So are the Parody Twitter Accounts,’ xoJane

"There is, of course, much talk of women ‘having it all’ in an era when a very small and very..."

Wed, 12 Jun 2013 14:42:29 -0400

“There is, of course, much talk of women ‘having it all’ in an era when a very small and very privileged group of women is in a position to have a debate about whether it’s possible to ‘have it all.’ Few women are faced with the option of ascending the corporate ladder and promoting a capitalist system versus having a family. They shouldn’t necessarily be applauded for this achievement as though it’s a remarkable victory; inasmuch as capitalism is friendly to women, female CEOs are not necessarily going to represent better working conditions not just for their personnel, but for the scores of low-wage labourers who support the operations of their companies.”

- s.e. smith, ‘Having A Female CEO Doesn’t Make A Company ‘Woman-Friendly’,’ this ain’t livin’