Letter From Your Editors

Hello!

Look, this is us, seeing red (and pink), just like the classic Uh Huh Her song “Seeing Red”:

1st Row: Alaina, Stef, Valerie, Carolyn & Shannon, Molly, Aisha
2nd Row: Raquel, Casey, Kayla, Rachel, Crystal, Molly
3rd Row: Carrie, Beth, Erin, Nikki, Riese, Mey
4th Row: Heather Hogan, Siobhan, Ali, Laura, Heather Davidson, Laneia

Every day hurls another fresh danger into the light, every day we wonder is this it, every day we do our best to get up and get through it and maybe build some light of our own. Also; every day we feel stressed about our current lack of a Fashion/Style/Beauty editor. We’re gonna fix that soon. Keep your eyes peeled for a call for applications as we attempt to fill a few of the holes that have sprung up in our ship over the last few months.

I’ll tell you what, though: I’m still recovering from Monday, February 27th, a day in which we published so many good articles that we could’ve quit this whole charade last night and confidently declared that we quit while we were ahead. But we didn’t! We aren’t! Also, that Renaissance essay series we debuted for Black History Month, which is edited by Aisha Sabatini Sloan, will continue running in the coming weeks, and will remain a gift to us all in these bleak times.

Lastly, a thing that’s been on my mind since the temporary shuttering and eventual revival of AfterEllen and moreso In The Age Of Trump is the importance of Autostraddle actively resisting the pressure to become an ideological monolith. It’s always driven me nuts when one writer’s opinion is represented as “The Autostraddle Position,” but defying that imposition has never been more important. We’re facing some complicated problems that may have no clear path to resolution, and a multitude of approaches and ideas — some of which may fail on the page or in execution — is imperative. It’s crucial that the many writers who contribute to Autostraddle are given space to present a variety of opinions and ideologies, and to represent a spectrum of identities and experiences. None of us can speak for all of us, but I think all of us have something important to say.

On that inspiring note! I hope you’ve enjoyed the A+ content this month: Getting In Bed With Kristin #4: Mental Health (which was an especially blessed episode because I was in it), Getting In Bed With Kristin #5: Heartbreak With Special Guest Allison Weiss, Getting In Bed With Kristin #6: Coming Out (To Yourself) and another excellent episode of the A+ Podcast, featuring Erin, who is living with me right now, which is really great. I highly recommend everybody obtaining an Erin of their very own. And yes, we’ll be having more essays and interviews and roundtables for you on A+ soon.

Also have you registered for A-Camp yet? I recomend it.

ALSO. ALSO. ALSO. One more thing! This month we added a bunch of contributors to the Autostraddle Slack #family channel because you can add single-channel users to your account for free, so we did. So get ready for a lot more names popping up in our conversations.

I haven’t checked the news since like 10 AM, so I’m gonna go do that now. WISH ME LUCK.

Love,

Riese

co-signed by Laneia / Rachel / Yvonne / Heather

Top 10 Most Popular Posts From January 2017

These posts were hella popular last month.

1. I Was Trained for the Culture Wars in Home School, Awaiting Someone Like Mike Pence as a Messiah, by Kieryn Darkwater
2. Help Stop Betsy DeVos from Becoming Education Secretary With Your Phone And Your Friends, by Ali Osworth & Carrie Wade
3. The Best and Worst LGBTQ TV Characters of 2016, by The Team
4. How To Make Sure Your Honest to God Actual Home Address Isn’t Easily Available Online, by Ali Osworth
5. Satellite of Love: Queer Horoscopes for January 2017, by Corinna
6. Winter 2017 TV Preview: All The Lesbian, Bisexual, Trans and Queer Women To Get Excited About, by Riese Bernard
7. Evan Rachel Wood Wears A Goddamn Tuxedo To The Golden Globes, Everyone Faints, by Stef Schwartz
8. PHOTO GALLERY: Queer in the Kitchen, by Laneia Murray
9. You Need Help: Why Don’t I Like Going Down On My Girlfriend?, by Kaelyn Rich
10. Angry Transgender Woman Writes Story About Texas Bathroom Bill, Changes the World, by Polly Anna Rocha

AHEM

Nine Important Excerpts From Editorial Conversations

Rachel: got another email about the movie that stars katherine heigl and rosario dawson but in which they are inexplicably not a couple, and it is very hurtful
Riese: i think 85% of the press releases i receive are trying to break my heart, honestly
Yvonne: Today I actually opened the one that baited me with the word puppies in the subject line
Rachel: oh from emily yu?
Yvonne: lol yes
i felt ashamed
but also like PUPPIES
Rachel: right? and then it was such a letdown
Yvonne: yeah it just had one photo of puppies
Heather: in these times, if someone baits you with puppies, they should go to prison
[…..]
Heather: i just watched this trailer and katherine heigl looks like ivanka trump all day in it
Rachel: right?? someone on tumblr was saying that
Heather: she really does, though. the hair, the clothes, the screaming eyes
Rachel: i also saw a picture of a Barbie this week and thought for a minute “whoa, there’s an ivanka trump barbie” before realizing that’s just what barbie has always looked like

Laneia: can i put the words ‘butthole mouth’ on a trump pic for a ft image
is that cool
just wondering if ‘butthole’ is offensive
Heather: no it’s a great word
people don’t use it enough; it’s very funny
Rachel: what other word is there for his mouth, really
i just tried to delete a comment on someone else’s website
Yvonne: lol how did that work out?
Rachel: it turns out you can’t do that
lesson learned

Stef: OMG FRANCES THE COMMENTER CALLED ME YR “NEAT FRIEND IN A TOP HAT”
YESSS
Alaina: their comments are like the best advertising i could hope for
Siobhan: she seems to have wandered off now
very sad
Stef: this is so great?!
Alaina: i’m literally copying them and using them on twitter
Stef: i’m so sad those comments disappeared!
Carolyn: i know we all had a nice time but also fuck kinkshaming
Dufrau: it’s fine we don’t need Frances, the Blood drinking Lady Gaga has been inside us all along
Cee: What did those comments say?
Stef: mostly telling Alaina to go to therapy because of the blood drinking lady gaga bdsm lifestyle that was making them glorify satanic rape rituals
Alaina: the best are saved on slack, don’t worry ster
stef shouldnt worry either
Stef: “ster” is short for vampire monster

Riese: do you think it would be weird to ask ashley feinberg on twitter if she has ever considered bisexuality
Heather: you’re going to have to share ashley feinberg with stacy because she’s the love of stacy’s life too
Riese: i don’t think a man can handle her
i think she needs the love of a woman
who will truly appreciate her
i will share her with stacy!

Stef: welcome to the family marni
Marni: we should start a band
Riese: hi marni
now i have two exes in the family channel
Stef: what would we even call it?
Riese: the a-camp family channel band
Stef: oh good idea
can we group skype in here? i’ll get the uke
Riese: if you guys don’t do ‘work from home’ this year then i’m firing every last one of you
Stef: we are, calm down
you just wait
sometimes when i’m sleeping at my job i think ‘we can home from work’ and smile privately at how clever i am
Laneia: this is gonna be better than the polyphonic spree
Stef: almost everything is better than the polyphonic spree

Laneia: someone in the queer kitchen gallery listed her occupation as “Alt-meat entrepreneur” and i bet you can’t guess where she lives
Yvonne: portland
seattle
la
those are my guesses in order
Laneia: gotta head east
Rachel: brooklyn
Laneia: ding
portland is a solid guess though
she’s probably from portland or planning to move there in a couple of years
Rachel: she definitely has at least one ex in portland

Riese: this homeschooling article is BLOWING UP
also somehow laneia & i’s top ten stupidest t-shirts we wore in the ‘90s is one of the top posts of the day
i don’t know what’s happening but this is gonna be higher than ellen page day
Rachel: life is truly a box of chocolates
sometimes it’s an ellen page nougat and sometimes it’s fascist theocracy toffee

Rachel: man i am only 10 articles away from 1000 articles on autostraddle dot com and i already know that the 1000th is going to be something like “donald trump calls angela merkel a doodoohead, calls for the assassination of her family”
this is not how i pictured this period of time
Yvonne: what if you have something in preparation for your 1000th article? something very RACHEL that you publish on that day
Rachel: like i put one in the holster now about What Your Pet Cat Needs to Know About UFO Sightings
Yvonne: YES
Rachel: this is a great idea, Yvonne, thank you
i had a potential plan for a weird recap project but it requires me to have like 8 hours straight access to netflix
we’ll see about this
it’s possible

Riese: so we should all move to maine i think
that appears to be where all the cute butches are hanging out according to the queer kitchen gallery
Laneia: omg wtf there are so many good looking butches in that one city in maine
is there a colony?
Riese:  this is the exact opposite feeling i have w/r/t life: “There’s nothing hotter than coming home from a long day at work to your partner holding a kitten and caramelizing onions in the n00d”
Heather: hailee from bennington, vt kinda looks like an alternate universe Laneia
Laneia: do you know who i’m obsessed with? the girl with the big curly hair and a tiny sweater over a button-up and she’s like gesturing toward a cat
Heather: yes!
Laneia: and Heather, yours was so cute! i really loved the team submissions so much
idk this is like the greatest happy-makingest thing i’ve done in uh, a while

Rachel: you know how in movies, when people sustain a serious head injury they can suddenly speak french or set fires with their mind
Laneia: mhm mhm
Rachel: maybe if i had some head trauma i could figure out how to finish this camp application
Laneia: maybe start small and sniff a sharpie

Rachel: what was your first Bad Lesbian Movie, Yvonne? have we already talked about this
Yvonne: hmm i don’t think so
ohhh lol
it took me a while to remember
i watched Lost and Delirious
at my sister’s apartment because she had fast internet
and my friend recommended it LOL
Rachel: mine too!
Yvonne: i think she gave me the link on myspace
i was probably 17
and not scarred for life, nope
Rachel: i think i was also 17 and i was so new to everything i didn’t even think to question it
just, you know, falcons! ok! this is what being gay is, cool
Yvonne: i mean i think i watched just to see naked ladies? probably?
Rachel: come for the naked ladies, stay for the naked ladies plus falcons

Meet A New Contributor!

Get to know some of our newest faces.

Heather Davidson, Contributor

Twitter: @heatherlauren

Who was your first woman celebrity crush?
So, when I was a kid, the BBC aired a show called Ground Force. Each episode, a team of gardeners would make over the garden of someone with a sob story. It was inexplicably incredibly popular? Anyway, one of the presenters was a woman called Charlie Dimmock, who became famous for gardening on the show while braless. Eight-year-old me was incredibly fascinated by this, a fact I’d completely forgotten until last year when I ended up coming across a life-size cardboard cut-out of her. Sure brought back some memories!

Describe the worst date you’ve ever been on:
My first week at university, I got asked out for coffee by a dude in my building. I only realised twenty minutes in that this had meant coffee, at which point I panicked and yelled that I was gay. He spent the rest of the date trying to get me to rate all the women that walked past. I spent the rest of the year avoiding him.

What’s your favorite kind of sandwich?
I’m normally pretty firmly anti-sandwich, but have you ever tried cream cheese and mango chutney sandwiches? They’re surprisingly good. I discovered that at my girlfriend’s grandma’s funeral, which is an interesting place for innovative sandwiches.

What’s your morning ritual like?
Wake up, shove the cats off the bed, remind my girlfriend that she has to get up too. Wash my face and fuss with my hair till most of it is facing in vaguely the same direction, poke my girlfriend. Feed myself, feed the cats, brush my teeth, poke my girlfriend again and run to catch the tube.

If you could only use one emoji for the rest of your life, what would it be?
Poop emoji, 100%. Next time you get in a pointless, soul-sapping internet fight, just reply to everything the other person says with a picture of the poop emoji slightly more zoomed in each time. It’s how I spent most of my life between 2013 and 2015 and I’d totally recommend it.

What’s something you’ve been really proud of lately?
I made a really great loaf of olive bread last week – the trick is to add a teaspoon of garlic powder into the flour.

District 45

Rachel: i really wish that both politicians and news outlets could stop referring to filibusters as “the nuclear option”
every time i see it i think oh so the war has started already! cool
Laneia: especially since there are literal nuclear options that don’t seem so far off now
Rachel: right exactly
Laneia: i can’t believe i live in a country being dictated by this bloated idiot
Rachel: mmhmm!! guys what’s district 13 in the hunger games
is that where katniss is from
Riese: no
Laneia: she’s 12
Riese: it’s where the rebels are from
the ones who were building the underground tunnels or something, right?
everybody thought they’d been wiped out but they were actually hiding underground
Laneia: i always thought of the capitol as being the NY area and 13 being CA, but then i saw a map the other day and it’s the other way around entirely! idk why i had it in my mind that way
Heather: i think district 13 is *really* salt lake city because they already have all those secret tunnels underground for the mormon leaders
Rachel: do they really???
Heather: i mean the church denies it but everyone knows it’s true
i wonder what it would take for it to be a good few years
Riese: oh my g-d donald trump’s statement on black history month
Heather: more pro-christmas billboards
Riese: he managed to make black history month… about himself
Heather: there is literally nothing he cannot make about himself
Rachel: he doesn’t understand the core concept of ‘not about himself’

What We’ve Been Reading

Samantha: Fifty Shades Darker by E.L. James

Carolyn: All the Lives I Want: Essays About My Best Friends Who Happen to Be Famous Strangers by Alana Massey and Human Sexual Inadequacy by William Masters and Virginia Johnson

Riese: Tales of the Lavender Menace: A Memoir of Liberation, by Karla Jay

Casey: Son of a Trickster by Eden Robinson and Next Year, For Sure by Zoey Leigh Peterson

Molly P: Both Ways Is The Only Way I Want It by Maile Meloy

Valerie Anne: Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel and All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven

Carrie: Scratch: Writers, Money, and the Art of Making a Living by Manjula Martin

Beth: Anything We Love Can Be Saved by Alice Walker

Erin: Lesbian Ethics by Sarah Lucia Hoagland

Jenna: Love is Love by Various authors and illustrators

Laneia: The New Trail of Tears by Naomi Schaefer Riley and The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben

Lucy : Scratch: Writers, Money, and the Art of Making a Living by Manjula Martin and Fallout by Gwenda Bond.

Alaina: The Most of Nora Ephron by Nora Ephron

Raquel: Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay by Elana Ferrante

Ali: The Art of Death: Writing the Final Story by Edwidge Danticat and What We Do Now: Standing Up for Your Values in Trump’s America by a whole buncha people, it’s a collection.

Heather: Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo

Kayla: The First Collection Of Criticism By A Living Female Rock Critic by Jessica Hopper and The Sellout by Paul Beatty and The Flick by Annie Baker

Heather Davidson: Weapons of Math Destruction: How Big Data Increases Inequality and Threatens Democracy by Cathy O’Neil

Siobhan Ball: A Crown for Cold Silver by Alex Marshall

Laura M: Parable of the Sower (Earthseed) by Octavia Butler

Maree: Story of a New Name by Elena Ferrante

Aisha: Commonwealth by Ann Patchett

SLACKERS

February Retro-Reading

Some posts from previous Februarys Riese thinks you might enjoy.

via Autostraddle Calendar Girls 2014: Chloe and Intern Grace are Double Miss February

Get Baked with Autostraddle: Comfort Food Edition, by Rachel (with other people) (2011) – Listen, you need this right now. I know you do.

How to Tell Who Your Real True Friends Are, by Laneia (2014) – If you are as crazy as I am and also as crazy as Laneia is, you will love this because it’s weird and crazy.

A Tale Of Two Ellens, by Riese (2014) – All the straights were playing down Ellen Page coming out like it wasn’t a big deal, so I wanted to talk about what happened when Ellen DeGeneres came out and how we cannot ever take this acceptance for granted. REMAINS TRUE.

Dust to Dark: The Colors of My Craziness, by RaucousNight (2013)- This was so haunting and gorgeous, this story of going mad and going on.

Mind The (Age) Gap: How to Do a May/December Lesbian Relationship, by Butch Wonders (2012) – Our first of several articles on this topic, it contains so many tips and tricks relevant to modern gals.

Bondage 101: A Lesbian Sexy NSFW Sunday Special | Autostraddle, by Carolyn Yates (2012) – Still one of our most popular articles of all time! A treat for the whole family!

One Stef At A Time

February 15th, 1:55 PM

Riese: a girl i interned with at [place] got fired for stuff she wrote on her livejournal
not about [place], actually, but about another job she had that she didn’t like, but they thought it was about them ‘cause she didn’t name the job specifically
Stef: that’s why you gotta “friends only” that shit
Riese: they replaced her with a white boy who eventually became editor of the site
Stef: if you’re gonna talk shit about your job
Riese: she really hated everything though
she was sort of like the girlfriend in One Day at a Time
who we all know was based on Stef
Stef: excuse me?
Riese: have you seen One Day at a Time
Stef: no i was really busy watching all of buffy
i haven’t started it yet
Riese: okay well, you should because you’re in it
Valerie: hahahaha
Stef: you know whenever anybody tells me shit like this my immediate response is to want to fight this person
Riese: your character’s name is Carmen
right but we have already fought so many times
Stef: oh i mean the character
not you
Riese: oh okay
Stef: i don’t want to fight you
Riese: right, yes
been there, done that
Sarah: lol Stef is sooo carmen
Stef: we never physically fought
maybe we should make it an evening activity at camp
like american gladiators
i am 100% sure you are more physically fit than i am
Riese: that’s true we never threw punches
that is also true
Stef: but i’m scrappy
Riese: but you probably have more endurance b/c you don’t regularly smoke marijuana like i do
Stef: true
Sarah: Stef, this is Carmen:

Stef: wow
wow guys
i assume this character made you think of me because she’s really charming and makes good choices and everyone respects her
Riese: exactly
Stef: great

Friday, February 17th, 11:39 PM

Stef: i’m finally watching one day at a time so i can finally say RUDE
Riese: ugh just admit that you’re famous
and inspirational
just accept it
Stef: nobody i’ve ever dated has ever introduced me to their mom though but i’d actually really like it if they asked me to teach them to turn into a bat tbh
Riese: do you know how
Stef: workin on it
it can be a workshop at camp 2018
Riese: did erin tell you about her idea to involve the entire camp in a group hex on donald trump
Stef: no but that’s amazing
and i am all for it
it should be the opening ceremony
Riese: probably yeah
“sign in, make sure you have linens if you ordered them, proceed to the field for a Group Hex”
“rain or shine”
Stef: we’ve always struggled to find the perfect opening, i think it’s right there
Riese: in my opening speech i’m gonna ask everybody to close their eyes and think about stabbing donald trump in the neck
Stef: i can’t wait to read the feedback!!!!
Riese: and also tell them to treasure this time we have together, something inspirational, etc.
i think Opening Ceremonies will rank very high this year
Stef: i feel good about it yes
Riese: the hex will also include a subtext hex about giving the hex a good eval

2:39 AM, Tuesday February 21st

Stef: alright i finally watched one day at a time and can finally cop to it, it’s true, carmen is me ARE YOU HAPPY NOW
Riese: VERY

this month in vodka-water

Five Posts Rachel Can’t Believe You Motherf*ckers Didn’t Read Last Month

Check Out Collectively Speaking, Enhancing QTPOC Visibility On Their Own Terms, by Alaina

Well I think you’re just going to love the heck out of this once you read about it. Go ahead, prove me wrong!

Roxane Gay’s “Difficult Women”: The Necessary Ugliness in Getting There, by Aisha

Aisha is a genius writing about Roxane Gay, also a visionary, and I just can’t imagine how you wouldn’t find this fantastic. “I imagine that a lot of people come to Gay hoping that her writing, like her Twitter feed, will be their best friend. The thing is, with this book, like any good friendship, you have to wade into some very troubling waters before you get that particular kind of camaraderie.”

How Whitney Houston Taught Me the Greatest Love of All For My Queer Black Self, by Reneice Charles

Speaking of Aisha, this first essay from the Renaissance series she is guest-editing is truly something you should’ve read already. If you have ever heard “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” and thought “yes, I also would like to dance with somebody, ideally the girl who lives across the street,” you will love this. If you have never felt that way, you’re still in luck: you too will love this!

Gaby Dunn And Allison Raskin Hate Everyone But You, Allison Raskin and Gaby Dunn interviewing each other courtesy of Carolyn

I’m sort of kind of a professional writer and have a master’s in writing and everything and often I still find myself wondering “how does someone actually, you know, write a book?” Seems hard! Sometimes I also find myself thinking about Gaby and Allison, whose brilliant brains and friendship are the heart of webseries Just Between Us and now a book, and I also think “how do they do it?” Great news for me and also for you: this piece addresses some of those questions! Also Gaby and Allison interviewing each other is fun and cute!

9 Things You Need to Know to Organize A Protest, by KaeLyn

Everything in the Be the Change series so far has been so great and concretely helpful, but this post in particular felt HUGE to me. I want to print it out and give it to everyone! My dentist! My mom! My landlord! It’s so amazing that so many people have stepped forward to get involved in the last few months, and I feel like I can’t turn around without seeing a new event announced, a new protest, a new vigil, a new fundraiser, a new app. I’m so grateful for that energy, and I hope that the people who are getting into activism now can look to the advice of community organizers like KaeLyn for the crucial specifics she outlines here, like planning material support and visioning specific goals and asks for direct actions. We have so much to learn from each other! It’s beautiful!

Plenary Sandwiches For Ducks

Marni: i have a question for the group and it is this:
if we used the word “plenary” to describe an element of camp programming, would you think “what is a plenary?” or would you think “oh, a plenary! i will go to that”
Dufrau: is that a place for like eating sandwiches outside? in case it is, I would go.
Jenna: Does that mean it’s for everyone?
Riese: i would think “what is a plenary”
Heather: does it mean mandatory sandwiches?
Riese: i think so
i think it’s mandatory sandwiches
Heather: man camp is so great
Ali: i know what a plenary is but i’m an academic!
i would think “i will go to that.”
Mey: I would think “what is that? Maybe I can figure it out on my own before I have to ask”
Alaina: i too would think “i know what that is!”
but i’m also an academic
i didnt know it was specific to academics!
Marni: thank you for your feedback everyone
i was really hoping to make plenary happen but now i see that it cannot happen
Mey: is it something to do with sheep or birds?
or, i hate to say it, whales?
Alaina: no its just like fancy word for a gathering of folks
Mey: sheep, birds and whales all gather!
Alaina: where like everyone whos attending the Thing comes
Mey: i picked them bc they all flock
so i’m counting it as being right
Alaina: sure sure
sounds great
Marni: we’ll just call it a keynote it’s fine
IT’S FINE
but i am still going to try and make caucus happen
Heather: sorry we can’t all be academics and canadians
Alaina: heather you’re still perfect in my eyes
Heather: alaina! if i ever have a mandatory sandwich meeting, you’re invited!
Dufrau: Okay. my logic was way bad in every way. I was thinking “en plain air” which for some reason I thought was about meals rather than landscapes
but I mean I use my art degree more for eating sandwiches than. for anything with paint so

Raquel’s Pick of the Month: Lynda Barry’s Daily Diaries

I’ll be honest with y’all: when my girlfriend joined a Zines class and asked me to do this with her, I thought I was going to hate it. I’ve never been good at keeping a diary, and I’m even less good at sharing what I have written.

But then she showed me Lynda Barry’s “Accessing the Imaginary” talk on creativity, her upbringing, and how brains work, and I realized: this is a woman I want to be exactly like. She is a treasure and if I can grow up to be half the weirdo she is, I might also be — if not also a treasure — at least a gem.

The Daily Diary exercise comes from her class syllabus, which she’s made available to everyone in her book Syllabus: Notes from an Accidental Professor. The book is great, but you can also find it online here and here, or follow this super charming video where she walks you through it online. It involves four quadrants, where you quickly list 7-10 things that happened, 7-10 things you saw, a couple things you heard (as verbatim as you can get it), and one drawing of something — preferably something that no one would typically care about, but that maybe you found yourself staring at — that you saw.

The point of the exercise is to be as low-pressure as possible. Lynda Barry encourages people to do it fast, and to just jot off whatever the hell comes into their heads: even if it’s somewhat nonsensical, or nondescript. She encourages boring, bad drawing, whatever. I especially liked her idea of drawing tight spirals and just thinking about your day before you do it. It’s meditative without all the pressure.

What I’ve found, however, is that jotting down these quick exercises has served as perfect memory-jogs for remembering my days, including some diurnal experiences that I would never have thought to write down, or relay. It became surprisingly funny and personable, and I loved sharing it with my girlfriend. I started seeing a picture of her days — and of mine! — that I’d never known before, and never known to ask. I’ve also started seeing things, noting strange images and listening to people, jotting down bits of conversation, etc. in ways I’ve never done before.

It’s also just very silly. Try it out for yourself, and if you want, share it in the comments!

Social Media Spotlight

Listen, are you following Dickens on Twitter? You should be. You already love her Foolish Child comic, but did you also know she does #TodayInFandom doodles on social media?

#TodayInFandom, White Guys Ruin Everything (This is not an open invitation for white guys to come into my mentions proving their goodness.) pic.twitter.com/roTw01QntU

— 💀 to Dickens (@deathtodickens) February 22, 2017

Starting another new thing that I'll probably rarely keep up with but hey, here's to trying. #TodayInFandom pic.twitter.com/JAOH1r3UrR

— 💀 to Dickens (@deathtodickens) February 15, 2017

#TodayInFandom, all your faves are problematic. pic.twitter.com/9loa2eOvcN

— 💀 to Dickens (@deathtodickens) February 24, 2017

#TodayInFandom, Everything So White pic.twitter.com/nk17lX5nex

— 💀 to Dickens (@deathtodickens) February 19, 2017

The Church Of Autostraddle

Riese: What are we gonna do about this religious freedom bill thing
Laneia: oh
is there a particularly autostraddle way we could talk about this
like a list of things that won’t get you fired or discriminated against
wearing spikes on your knuckles
defecating on your desk
skinning a poodle and wearing that pelt on your head
eating your neighbor
Riese: hmmmm
Laneia: we have to give the people a thing to hold
i’m not funny right now but i bet you are
Heather: that was so inspirational
and i’m not drunk
Riese: i started trying to write about it but i haven’t gotten very far
Laneia: what do you want it to be, the thing
Riese: i was gonna “report the news” but perhaps that ship has sailed
Laneia: fuck news
right now it’s technically the future, which you do not write about
Riese:

“Religious exercise” includes all aspects of religious observance and practice, as well as belief, and includes any act or any refusal to act that is motivated by a sincerely held religious belief, whether or not the act is required or compelled by, or central to, a system of religious belief.

what

“Religious organization” shall be construed broadly to encompass any organization, including closely held for-profit corporations, operated for a religious purpose, even if its purpose is not exclusively religious, and is not limited to houses of worship or tax-exempt organizations, or organizations controlled by or associated with a house of worship or a convention or association of churches.”

this is so broad!
so broad
i wonder how this would apply to Scientologists
“things a scientologist wouldn’t have to do under this religious freedom bill”
i mean this is straight-up anarchy!
it’s literally legalizing everything, ever
“LGBT Americans Only Choice Is To Become A Religion”
i think this is the correct angle
all i need is a graphic of ellen degeneres as jesus
Laneia: oh yes i love this
yes
and then let’s do it
Riese: yes i agree
i wonder what the process is
certainly we believe more things that make sense than Scientology
Laneia: we definitely have more camping gear

XOXO

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