Blogs

It's Monday! I'm kicking off the week with this round-up of feminist news from around the internets.

• Reflections on Father's Day: Remembering a distant father who left his daughter's life and creating a new definition of what it means to be an "engaged father." [Crunk Feminist Collective and Colorlines]   

• Where is homosexuality most accepted? A new map of global attitudes toward LGBT folks reveals that Spain, Germany, the Czech Republic, and Canada are most supportive of homosexuality. [Sociological Images]

• Here's another map for Monday: There are more waiting periods for abortions than waiting periods for guns in the US. [Feministing]

• What would a feminist labor movement look like? Writer Sarah Jaffe hosts a discussion for Dissent magazine. [Dissent] 

• Today in rape culture: A suburban Chicago fireman is accused of trying to rape an incapacitated woman at a party, his defense is she was "making eyes" at him. Plus, college serial rapists are evading prosecution. [Shakesville and Bloomberg]

• Suspicious confirmed: Auto shops do tend to overcharge women. [Atlantic] 

• The immigrant you won't see in The Bling Ring: In real life, one of the members of the "bling ring" of teens that stole from Hollywood celebrities' homes was undocumented immigrant Diana Tamayo, but in the new Sophia Coppola movie, she's cast as a white citizen. [Colorlines] 

• There's a new live-action Little Mermaid movie in the works, but the same director as the recent Anna Karenina. [The Mary Sue] 

• Paralympian Ryan Chalmers starts every day at 5:30am—he's becoming the first person to cross the US by wheelchair. [Guardian] 

• Since her insurance doesn't cover gender confirmation surgery, one transgender New Yorker—24-year-old Diana Tourjee—is running an Indiegogo fundraiser for the costs. [Indiegogo] 

What did I miss? Add what you're reading to the comments.

Welcome to the latest installment of Ms. Opinionated, in which readers have questions about the pesky day-to-day choices we all face, and I give advice about how to make ones that (hopefully) best reflect our shared commitment to feminist values—as well as advice on what to do when they don't.

Dear Ms. Opinionated,

Some time ago (within the last year), when one of my dear friends registered a social media account under a handle that involved an ableist slur ("t*rd" to be more specific), I felt uncomfortable but didn't bring it up. What I didn't realize was that this is a handle she's taking on as she pursues a career in the gaming industry, and since then she's registered a few internet accounts under this name (some promotional social media accounts and a blog, as well as accounts on websites relevant to her industry).

If you’d told me ten years ago, “I have a really great mp3 for you—it’s a recording of two people you don’t know discussing their lives,” I would have been very confused, and then probably would have told you to go to hell. But that was then, and this now.

In a time when prostitution and female education were both considered unwholesome, professional courtesan Veronica Franco established herself a leader in the 16^th Century literary arts. Although initially known among the Venetian literati for her iconic beauty and razor-sharp wit, Franco busted through the Venetian glass ceiling with her success in erotic love poems.