Last week I said I might use this space as my own personal wedding freak-out zone, but then I thought, why don’t I just write a whole post about that instead? So that’s what I’m gonna do. Here are some stories we missed while I was figuring out how to turn every glass into faux mercury glass (it must be possible).
You Should Go or Do or Give
+ You have MERE HOURS to snag an acoustic version of the new Julia Nunes album by backing her Kickstarter!
+ Secular Women Work: A Conference For Getting It Done.
Queer as in F*ck You
+ Watch the documentary Toms: The Complex World of Female Love in Thailand by Coconuts TV.
+ This is an interesting take: They Myth of the Gay Community.
That is not to say that I, or other gay people, am annoyed to be an involuntary member of this rag-tag group of sexual minorities. But the term “community” perpetuates a one-off identity which has never been further from reality. This point is paramount in determining how non-LGBT individuals view gay people, and how easily a well-intentioned friend may understand the interests and needs of their gay friends and project this upon the monolithic “community.” A problem develops where people, gay or straight, may think that their support of same-sex marriage or employment non-discrimination statutes is a rising tide for all gay people—for our “community.” It may be self-evident that recently out CEO of Apple Tim Cook and other white professional men like him do not have much in common with the black gay men of Chicago. Yet the mindset and terminology of “community” builds a singular minority to the detriment of those less privileged among the LGBT identities. When marriage equality is the law of the land and many more affluent and educated gay individuals are fulfilled, the “community” will appear strong as individuals continue to suffer. We will be left to ask, “Who still cares?”
+ The Top Five Queer Voices of Anime and Manga.
+ Lisa Tedesco has Your Essential Lesbian/Bi Lineup for Sundance 2015 which I thought was already over but it is not, apparently?
+ Pakistani LGBT Community’s Fight for Rights.
+ Oklahoma Lawmaker Moves to Protect Parents Who Seek Therapy for LGBT Youth whaaaaaaat.
+ Mallory Ortberg has Cartoons Who Were Significant In The Development Of My Queer Identity And Current Inspirations For My Weightlifting Routine which perhaps you will relate to.
Doll Parts
+ New UK Guidelines Would Put the Onus on Rape Suspects, Not Victims, In Sexual Violence Cases.
+ The Cops Don’t Care About Violent Online Threats. What Do We Do Know? by Anna Merlan.
+ Your girl Carmen Rios has If We Divide, We Don’t Conquer: Three Reasons Why Feminists Need to Talk About Race on Everyday Feminism!
+ A Trio of Badass Scientists You Should Know.
+ “Girls of color don’t have films made about them.” Not the Way White Girls Do: A Review of Girlhood by Fariha Roisin.
+ Sophia Seawell interviewed Mimi Thi Nguyen on (Un)Productivity in the Digital Age.
+ Magic: The Gathering Smiles at Trans Representation with Alesha, Who Smiles at Death.
+ Celestial favorite Beth Maiden from Fool’s Journey interviewed Trung Nguyen on Personal Narratives in Tarot.
+ Sara Ainsworth on Lawyers for Fetuses. :swan dives into a pool of pudding while singing Loretta Lynn:
+ Amanda Alcantara interviewed Jova Johnson Varga, an activist behind the very first Black Brunch in Oakland.
+ Bleeding news! The latest on your bleeding! Some science and studies and speculation for your Monday. Girls Who Drink More Sugary Drinks Start Their Periods Earlier, Study Suggests and Beauty Products May Trigger Early Menopause! So there you go.
+ Miriam W. Karraker has Patti Smith on Tour 40 Years After Horses.
+ A Clitoris Was Successfully Reconstructed for the First Time in Sweden.
+ Julianne at Rookie has interviewed TLC: We Mean What We Say.
Saw This, Thought of You
+ LIP SMACKERS WILL CEASE PRODUCTION y’all what the fuck. I quit.
+ Julie Hecht with Why Do Dogs Love Snow?
+ How Backpacking Can Put You In Touch With Your Inner Saint.
+ Just Missy Elliot being perfect NBD it’s fine don’t even worry about it.
+ Jane Greenway asks, Why Are American Schools Obsessed With Turning Kids Into Robots?
+ Brace yourself: There’s No Such Thing As Nacho Cheese by Vanessa Wong. What is the world?
This story begins months ago, while I was reporting the launch of Old El Paso’s new nacho cheese-flavored taco shells. These shells, the marketers bragged to me, have a “big, bold cheese taste,” which naturally led me to ask them to describe how it tasted—a topic they doggedly deflected: “We don’t get too much into detail about that because it is such a competitive category,” said the company’s spokesman.
Um, seriously? It’s a cheese-blasted taco shell. And thus began an absurd, long-winded, and utterly unresolved discussion about what nacho cheese actually is.
+ :girlsounds: Taylor Swift is Bringing Haim On Tour.
+ :girlsounds: Here’s a new podcast for you and it’s about Drake: Trust Issues.
Local Autostraddle Meet-Ups
+ 2/8 Brisbane, Queensland: Picnic and Queer Shorts Viewing Party
I checked and they’re not viewing queers in shorts — it’s short films. So, temper your expectations is all I’m saying.
And Finally
Haley Pierson-Cox reminded me that you can make your own watercolors so let’s do that.
