Bitch HQ

• It's Banned Book Week! Read a banned book to celebrate. If you need suggestions, check out Anna Clark's piece on how Beloved is taught in schools. [Daily Beast]
• What's missing from the national conversation about birth control? Here's a hint: Says Chloe Angyal, "We are having a national discussion about birth control, without ever mentioning the basic human activity that can lead to birth." You guessed it! (Sex.) [The Guardian]
• Everyone is up in arms over what Mitt Romney said about Big Bird, but Levar Burton wants to remind you that cutting funding for PBS would hurt more than just our giant yellow feathered friend. [TMZ]
• We usually hate Disney Princess stuff, but this "I Am a Princess" video is surprisingly touching. Damnit! [YouTube]
• Roxane Gay would rather be a bad feminist than no feminist at all. That. All the way. [Virginia Quarterly Review]
• That photo of a sailor kissing a nurse on V-J Day captured more than just the end of the war: It is also a depiction of sexual assault. [Crates and Ribbons]
• Tracey Ross reviews Iconic, Lakesia Johnson's book about how negative stereotypes have followed black women throughout history. [Racialicious]
• In case you missed it: This video of a news anchor calling bullshit on the viewer who thinks she's too fat is awesome. [Upworthy]

• Have you seen The Mindy Project yet? Nisha Chittal breaks down the backlash against Kaling for being "smug" (read: successful, not white, and not a dude). No one puts Mindy in a corner! [Racialicious]
• Kickstarter millionaire Amanda Palmer has agreed to pay her musicians, but Mary Elizabeth Williams argues that she still doesn't get it. [Salon]
• If you've already had lunch, you might want to avoid this slideshow of parents sexualizing their kids on social media. It's a hurl-inducer. [Mommyish]
• It's safe (and fun!) to check out riese's 150 years of lesbians slideshow whether you've eaten recently or not. [Autostraddle]
• Chris Brown may be a certified douche, but he's not the only celebrity with a history of abusing women. Sian underscores how important it is to acknowledge this, because "it's never okay for men to beat women, no matter how famous or talented they are." [sian and crooked rib]
• Why is "Gangnam Style" so popular? Max Fisher argued that it was the song's subversive message, but refresh_daemon says it's also because Psy is "one of the things the Western mainstream wants to see from its Asian people: a funny guy who doesn't pose any threat of making Asian men seem sexually desirable." [The Atlantic, Init_Music]
• If you were wondering whether Romney's remarks about "the 47%" had anything to do with race, here's a hint: they did. In fact, Imara Jones thinks they had "everything to do with race." [Colorlines]
• Excited about Schmidt from New Girl's new book? Read an interview with the Man Behind the Douche, Max Greenfield. [Hollywood Reporter, Vanity Fair]
• Bitch contributor Spectra Speaks has some more thoughts on that Nina Simone biopic, on the media coverage it's getting, and on race and Hollywood in general. [Spectra Speaks]
• Carolyn suggests you put down that copy of Fifty Shades and pick up The Awakening instead. [Shameless]

• You've read Zadie Smith's On Beauty, now read her On Jay-Z [New York Times]
• Having trouble coming to terms with Amy Poehler and Will Arnett's divorce? Bitch contributor Anne Helen Peterson explains why that might be. [Celebrity Gossip, Academic Style]
• Only two days left to help the Lakota Sioux raise funds to purchase the sacred land Pe'Sla in the Black Hills. Contribute now! [indiegogo]
• What did you think of Michelle Obama saying her most important job was "Mom in Chief"? Irin Carmon thinks you should cut her some slack. [Slate]
• Women and Hollywood has a short Q&A profile on many of the women directors at the Toronto Film Festival, happening on this week. [IndieWire]
• Victoria's Secret is going to new heights of offensiveness with a gross new collection called "Go East," inspired by an imaginary exotic and erotic "Eastern culture." Yikes. [Racialicious]
• bell hooks has a must-read response to the film Beasts of the Southern Wild. [New Black Man (in Exile)]
• Looking for music to recommend to your younger sister/daughter/niece/friend? Pop culture kid site A Mighty Girl just launched a music section! [A Mighty Girl]
• Thomas Page McBee takes on some recent problematic coverage of trans people in the media, including the New Yorker's profile of the Wachowski siblings. [SF Weekly]
• Check out these film projects that need your help! Negrita is a film exploring Afro-Latina identity and representation; Who Owns My Body? is a documentary discussing black women and body image, reproductive justice, and sexuality; Barista follows a woman who can't leave her Starbucks job after learning she has MS; Our Reality is a series of short documentaries that tell the stories of teen/young parents in their own words (and backers can get a Bitch subscription!)

Summer's winding down, I'm reporting from the East Coast, and this has been another week. What's up?

• The latest episode of The Peculiar Kind features queers of color in media, plus, there's bonus part of the episode where we get to know the featured artists a little bit better! [The Peculiar Kind]
• In case you haven't heard, Todd Akin is the worst. Let this sink in, any kind of rape is "legitimate." Rape is rape. That's all. There are no questions or arguments against that. [BBC News/Penny Red]
• Whoa, have you seen this new car commercial that totally twists gender expectations? How queer of you, Toyota. [Salon]
• Amy Poehler filmed a PSA in support of the passage of the California Domestic Workers Bill of Rights, and it's predictably great! [Colorlines]
• If you're like us, you've been keeping up with True Blood, and you're maybe really excited about the season finale this Sunday. Need to prepare yourself further? Check out this hilarious and on-point round table discussion of last week's mess of an episode (and while you're at it, check out the discussions of earlier episodes too)! [Racialicious]
• Bitch contributor Michelle Dean on "Hillbilly culture" and what Here Comes Honey Boo Boo says about America. [Salon]
• After a visit with my grandparents today and refusing my grandmother's kindhearted, but midguided Nair offer, my body hair has been on my mind. This is something that is talked about all the time, but that's because it's always relevant–here are some thoughts about hairy legs, pits, and body image. [Feministe]
• Stop it with the sex panic. Hanna Rosin breaks it down–feminism and "hook-up culture"–these are things that go hand in hand. Glad we got that straight. Wait, speaking of straight, I think it's important to point out that NOT ALL HOOK-UPS ARE SO HETERO. [The Atlantic]
• New York update: AfroPunk Festival is happening in Brooklyn this weekend! It's free, amazing, sweaty, and it's probably the best way you can end your summer. And how can you possibly resist Erykah Badu AND Janelle Monáe?

What have you been reading, musing, raging, or raving about this week? Share your thoughts in the comments!