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July 2015

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What I’m Reading – July 26, 2015

Written by , Posted in What I'm Reading

Ability

– “Sometimes, even the most well-meaning of my friends will forget that my disabilities actually have an impact on my daily life. On occasion, even my disabled friends are guilty of this oversight.” 5 Things Even the Most Well-Meaning Non-Disabled People Forget (h/t @CamilleDeMere)

Anti-Racism

– “Feeling dissatisfied with Netroots’ framing of black issues and the narrow focus of its immigration-themed activities, I worked with Phoenix-based organizers to create #BlackRoots, a space to focus on black perspectives and connect national organizers with local black community members.” The Black Woman Who Interrupted the Netroots Presidential Town Hall, and This Is Why (h/t @dreamhampton)

Finances

– ““There are a couple of previous economic studies that find student loans to affect other areas of graduates’ lives, for example their career choices, so it seemed reasonable to expect marriage decisions to be affected as well,” says Gicheva. Her research found a negative relationship: $10,000 of student-loan debt decreased the probability of marriage by 3 to 4 percent, with the effect diminishing with age for women but not men.” In Love—and in Debt (via @TheAtlantic)

Misogyny

– “Some male players, however — the ones who were less-skilled at the game, and performing worse relative their peers — made frequent, nasty comments to the female gamers. In other words, sexist dudes are literally losers.” Men who harass women online are quite literally losers, new study finds (h/t Pretty Much Everyone)

Police

“After leaving the department, Davis says, he kept thinking about police conduct, especially shootings. Davis, who had a law degree, says he wondered how often the officers really faced life-threatening dangers that would justify deadly force.” City fires investigator who found cops at fault in shootings (via @WBEZ)

– “Lampela, two federal lawsuits say, protected a PIB police officer who roofied two female cadets and raped them (on different occasions) 12 years ago. One lawsuit says that Lampela used his power to threaten one of the victims, saying he was the “God of Put-in-Bay” and could destroy her career if he wanted to. According to the legal documents filed in the U.S. District Court of Toledo, Lampela called the victims “whores” and even went to one of their homes and held a gun to her head. His general stance, which he was reported to (dickishly) vocalize, was that two [women] didn’t have the power to take down the department of which he was all-powerful dictator. Police Chief, Self-Proclaimed “God of Put-in-Bay,” Accused of Covering Up Police Rapes (h/t @ShaunKing)

Politics

– “Gerrymandering — drawing political boundaries to give your party a numeric advantage over an opposing party — is a difficult process to explain. If you find the notion confusing, check out the chart above — adapted from one posted to Reddit this weekend — and wonder no more.” This is the best explanation of gerrymandering you will ever see (h/t @conradhackett)

Racism

– “How did Swift end up in this terribly awkward — yet not on-brand awkward — passive-aggressive call-out of suspected girl-on-girl anti-feminist crime in the first place, which now has Minaj fans, as well as foes of white women jumping in to hog the spotlight from women of color, murmuring “noooooooo” in unison?” 10 questions Taylor Swift could have asked herself before picking a fight with Nicki Minaj (via @slate)

– “To put it simply: When Britney Spears got naked and covered herself in sequins for Toxic, she was nominated for Best Music Video. When Emily Ratajkowski got naked next to Robin Thicke in Blurred Lines, he was nominated for Best Music Video. When Miley Cyrus stripped off and broke a million health and safety rules by riding a piece of construction equipment, she wasn’t just nominated for Best Music Video of the Year – she won it. All of the above videos have been controversial, but they were acknowledged by the industry for their impact nevertheless. But as soon as Nicki Minaj – whose black body deviates from Caucasian beauty standards – dares to own her own culture and dance in a similarly provocative fashion, it’s glossed over and relegated to sideline categories of ‘female’ and ‘hip hop’. Meanwhile, white artists who adopt black culture as their own continue to reap professional awards. And it’s time to stop pretending that that’s OK.” The Truth About Racism In The Music Industry

Reproductive Health

– “In a statement last week, Cecile Richards, the president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, said that “our donation programs — like any other high-quality health care providers — follow all laws and ethical guidelines” and that “Planned Parenthood stands behind our work to help women and families donate tissue for medical research when they wish to.”” The Campaign of Deception Against Planned Parenthood (via @nytopinion)

Sizeism

– “My friend, artist and designer Mark Mitchell, and I conceived of the most beautiful dress we could imagine, which, according to the old orthodoxies, just happened to be the least “flattering” dress possible for a fat chick: a strapless, skin-tight mermaid gown exploding with silk flowers. The flowers – my god, the wisteria! – added extra bulk in areas I’m supposed to try and “slim”. The silhouette accentuated my stomach instead of camouflaging it. My arms looked like what they are – strong, and big. I didn’t wear Spanx. I was beautiful.” My wedding was perfect – and I was fat as hell the whole time (via @TheLindyWest)

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