Activism & Herstory
“We really felt like there needed to be a space that people could relate to that didn’t blame black people for conditions we didn’t create,” explains Garza in “Meet the Woman Behind #BlackLivesMatter”
This week, Ms. Magazine reported that in the wake of a friend’s death, feminist students have filed a Title IX complaint against the University of Mary Washington.
“The political chatter is centered around how Clinton isn’t downplaying her gender…but holding it up as an asset.”
“If it is true that I had to endure the horrible, ripping-out trauma of two miscarriages within three months of each other as part of my journey to have Maze, I would do it again. I love him like breath, but more than that. I love him enough that I would die if it meant saving his life. I believe these mothers would, too, along with each mother not listed here who has lost their children due to police brutality and unmerited violence:
Sybrina Fulton.
Samaria Rice.
Lesley McSpadden.
Gloria Darden.
Andrea Irwin.
I have met none of these women. But I do not have to meet them to know they want their sons Trayvon, Tamir, Mike, Freddie, and Tony alive.”
Words
The Chicago Review’s forum on “Sexism and Sexual Assault in Literary Communities” features writing from VIDA, Enough is Enough, Harmony Holiday, Krystal Languell, and many others.
Go here to listen to 2015 Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize Winner, Alice Notley read and discuss her work.
“The women behind Top Rank magazine… have set out to change the way people think about feminism.”
The Frisky gives us “25 Of The Funniest Feminists To Follow On Twitter“! Yes, please.
“Before I’d ever had sex, I saw it only as a way to prove that I was not ugly, and therefore lovable.” – Nerve republishes the late Lucy Grealy’s essay about disability and sexuality, “Autobiography of a Body.”
After 12 years at RADAR Productions, the legend known as Michelle Tea is leaving her post as Executive Director. Congrats to Michelle for 12 years of incredible work, and to amazing writer and WEIRD SISTER contributor Juliana Delgado Lopera who will step into RADAR’s Executive Director role on July 1st! (Personal sidenote: I might not be writing for WEIRD SISTER had I not met WS founder and editor Marisa Crawford at a RADAR reading in 2013. Thank you to Michelle Tea who is and will always be MAGIC.
Film & TV
Bitch Flicks is seeking writing submissions that help to “illuminate the stories of women who are bad mothers. Let’s dissect this cultural narrative that scoffs at and punishes women for their transgressions against the seemingly sacred institution of motherhood.”
“We don’t sit down and think, ‘Let’s make sure we write a super-feminist show today’, but, and I include the men in this, we’re all feminists,” Klein says. “It’s rewarding that people think that it’s an incredibly feminist show.” – from Vulture’s “Meet Inside Amy Schumer’s Jessi Klein”
Sports
At least three journalists “were reportedly denied credentials to [last weekend]’s fight because of their criticism of Mayweather’s history of domestic violence.”
Music
Gina Vivinetto asks if anyone remembers these Top 40 hits by LGBT artists.
“(Jessica) Hopper is one of the most vital and prolific music critics around.” – from Newsweek’s “Two Questions” with the author of The First Collection of Criticism By a Living Female Rock Critic.
Podcasts
This week on Slate’s Double X Gabfest, “Hanna Rosin, June Thomas, and Jessica Winter join New York editor Noreen Malone to talk about the Broadway musical Fun Home, Instagram envy, and the third season of Inside Amy Schumer’s not-so-sneaky feminism.” They also talk about Cindy Sherman.
“Though podcasts have long been a male-dominated medium, more and more women are taking the mic.”
Teens
“The way women are portrayed on TV is a big thing for me,” says Healy Jones, 17. “Watching shows where there’s only one woman who’s ditzy and can’t do anything, that really pushed me to join.” – from “The Rise of High School Feminism.”
“A significant body of scientific research confirms that abstinence-based curricula are… often riddled with negative messages about sexuality and gender roles, and tend to downplay the effectiveness of birth control.” – “School That Teaches Abstinence Experiences Chlamydia Outbreak”
Events
On May 16, card carryin’ feminist, Jennifer Armbrust will provide free advice at the Women’s Center for Creative Work in Los Angeles.
Opening next week in California, “Soldadera, a multi-media show that marks artist Nao Bustamante’s debut West Coast solo museum exhibition. Soldadera, the Spanish term for female soldier, is the title of this exhibition in which Bustamante creates a variety of projects that re-imagine and re-enact The Mexican Revolution (1910-20) in order to offer rarely considered perspectives of women soldiers.”
Eileen Myles will lead a public writing event in Washington Square Park on May 18. “Like a figure drawing class, where the model switches the pose every few minutes, we’ll call out a new prompt and write towards it.”
Live in Los Angeles and perform stand-up comedy or are maybe thinking about performing stand-up comedy? Tao Comedy Studio hosts a feminist women-only open mic every Monday.
Hey Writers, Submit!
“After the recent events in Baltimore, New York, Ferguson, and throughout the country, The Offing has put aside May 10-23 to publish works that speak to justice, resistance, and activism. We invite you to submit such works — in any of The Offing’s regular categories — for consideration between now and May 10, 2015.”
The submission period is now open for BOMB Magazine’s Biennial Fiction Contest! This year’s judge is Shelia Heti!
What did we miss this week? Tell us in the comments!
