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On Our Radar: Today's Feminist News Roundup

Bitch HQ post by Hannah Forman on April 11, 2013 - 7:23am; tagged DSM, FEMEN, Homonationalism, immigration reform, Islamophobia.

Goodmorning Bitch readers! Here's some feminist news to kick start your day.

Today’s the last day to tune into the Homonationalism Conference happening right now at the The Center for Gay and Lesbian Studies at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York! What’s homonationalism you say? Watch the live stream video to find out! [The Center for Gay and Lesbian Studies at CUNY]
A note to white girls who didn’t get into the college of their dreams. [Racialicious]
Political correctness gone mad! Jezebel straightens things up for those who are completely mystified about when it’s appropriate to compliment a woman.[Jezebel]
Will immigration reform really exclude newly legalized immigrants from Obamacare? Seriously? [Colorlines]
Doesn’t look like FEMEN consulted the very women they are advocating for. On Islamophobic practices in feminist movements. [Huffington Post]
So the DSM recognizes both gender identity disorder and schizophrenia as mental illnesses, but if you have both at the same time, your access to hormones might be compromised. [Autostraddle]

Check out more news tomorrow!

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Ms. Opinionated: What Should I Do About My Friends' Wedding Costs?

Ms. Opinionated post by Megan Carpentier on April 10, 2013 - 3:41pm; tagged advice, friendship, marriage, money, ms opinionated, weddings.

image of Megan Carpentier

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,

I'd be interested to read a column about wedding etiquette, because it's ludicrous what couples expect their friends to shell out.

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RuPaul's Drag Race Comic Recap: The Six Best Moments from Episode Ten

TV post by Carolyn Main on April 10, 2013 - 2:25pm; tagged comics, RuPaul's Drag Race.

This week was the very special episode of RuPaul's Drag Race when our queens must take up drag novices and trick them out into being real drag royalty. This time around, in a turn of sincere patriotism, all the novices were gay military veterans. The soilders could not have been any more enthusiatic for high-heel-boots camp. Makeovers, make unders, and makeup blunders push our players to tears, reminding us, as in the Marines: no pain, no gain.

Check out our illustrated recap of the show where five faboulous fatales become four.

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A 15-Year-Old's Vision of Public School Dystopia

Girls of Color in Dystopia post by Victoria Law on April 10, 2013 - 11:25am; tagged dystopian, education, New York City, school, science fiction, teenagers.

Truancy cover

Last week, I looked at how Malinda Lo and Marie Lu, adult Asian-American authors, wrote race and gender into their worlds. In this post, let's look at how a NYC Asian high school student writes race and gender in his dystopia.

Fifteen-year-old Isamu Fukui wrote Truancy while attending Stuyvesant High School, one of New York City's most competitive and demanding public high schools. In many ways, the book reads as a critique of the public school system.

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Happy Birthday, Frances Perkins! Four Ways to Celebrate the Mother of the American Labor Movement's Birthday.

Bitch HQ post by Ashley McAllister on April 10, 2013 - 10:23am; tagged Frances Perkins.

Frances Perkins was born 133 years ago today. We're big fans of Perkins here at Bitch HQ. Here's what the back of our Frances Perkins coffee mugs have to say about the incredible woman: "The first woman appointed to a presidential cabinet, Frances Perkins served as the United States Secretary of Labor from 1933 to 1945. She was instrumental in bringing the labor movement into the New Deal coalition, and was also a force behind passing the Fair Labor Act, which established laws governing minimum wage, overtime, and a 40-hour workweek."

We thought we'd offer a few suggestions for how to honor the mother of the American labor movement's birthday.

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Why Do "Good Girls" Need to "Go Bad"?

Model Media post by Yoonj Kim on April 10, 2013 - 9:57am; tagged Britney Spears, jennifer lawrence, Selena Gomez, Spring Breakers, Vanessa Hudgens.

selena gomez

In the entertainment industry, young female stars face a unique rite of passage: the performance for which they'll bare it all. It is ironic that for a young starlet to make the transformation to a “serious” performer, she is expected to show some skin.

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On Our Radar: Today's Feminist News Roundup

Bitch HQ post by Emilly Prado on April 10, 2013 - 8:36am; tagged cultural appropriation, cyberbullying, guns in school, privilege, rape, Talib Kweli, twerking.

Rise and shine! It's time to check out some of our favorite recent reads and wish a happy birthday to Dolores Huerta!

Did you see that Miley Cyrus video and her quest to trend #MCTwerkTeam? Here's a look into how privilege plays into the appropriation of twerking and ratchet. [YouTube, Racialicious]
After another trans* woman applies to Smith College, she is denied admission as those before her. [Autostraddle]
When Rosa Clemente and Talib Kweli debated about Rick Ross' rape lyrics, Kweli fell into the age-old habit of some serious mansplaining and masculine agression to assert his own ideas. He claimed to be an "ally" of women in hip hop, but missed the mark. Dr. Brittney Cooper lays out how five ways Kweli can become a better ally. [Huffington Post, Crunk Feminist Collective]
Yesterday was Equal Pay Day. Now, what's the exact cost that comes with being born female? A new study (and this infographic) say it's approximately $849,000. [Nerdy Feminist]
Jamia Wilson talks about the "inevitable rite of passage" that is experiencing racism as a Black girl in the U.S. [Rookie]
After being raped and relentlessly cyberbullied, a teenage girl is dead after tragically commiting suicide at the age of 17. [Gender Focus]
In light of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting that occured this past December, there's been a lot of talk about arming school officials with weapons. Here's why having guns in school in a bad idea for children. [Slate]
When President Obama called California Attorney General Kamala Harris the "best looking attorney general by far," many were upset over the comment and its reduction of Harris to her physical appearance. These are just three reasons to pay attention to Harris for her politics and not her looks. [Colorlines]