Weekly Feminist Reader

Obama has included the Medicaid family-planning provision (which, you’ll recall, was stripped from the stimulus package) in his proposed budget. Good news all around!
The attacks on women in Bangalore have not stopped.
The new Health and Human Services head is… Kathleen Sebelius, formerly governor of Kansas. (More on Sebelius here and here.)
Emergen-C perpetuates the advertising trope of using a person of color to represent “flavor.”
On Beyonce’s “Single Ladies” and the church.
The Valentine’s Day episode of This American Life featured a moving segment on transgender children. After reading several articles (of varying quality) on the lives of trans kids, there was something about listening to them directly that was really powerful.
Two women have become judges in Islamic courts in the West Bank.
Oh, the irony: Cosmo wonders why women are so quick to bare their boobs.
In Seattle, a 15-year-old girl was beaten by police while in detention. (Trigger warning.)
A new film is a fictionalized version of femicide in Juarez.
Will the stimulus package deliver much-needed economic help to Native Americans?
The Onion hilariously turns the young-Asian-woman fetish on its head.
Bitch has the goods on a new reality show, set at a British finishing school for girls.
The military honors the first all-African-American, all-female unit to serve overseas in World War II.
Rush Limbaugh tries to move up the misogyny ladder as a Nice Guy TM.
Belgin Celik, a transwoman, is running for office in Turkey.
Renee on homelessness, ownership, and dignity.
The mayor of Los Alamitos, CA actually made a “watermelons at the White House” joke. He has now said he’s going to resign.
Is fascination with the exotic Other the same as the racism and the colonial conquest of yore?
Hilarious Antibreastfeeding Bingo.

The global shame of U.S. immigration policies.
How media coverage of poor whites differs from that of poor people of color.
Justice Ginsburg returns to the Supreme Court!
In a Florida hospital, a woman was denied access to visit her partner of 17 years, who was dying.
The PR people behind the pro-Prop 8 campaign discuss their strategy.
It’s apparently legal for the state of Virginia to fire employees for being gay.
Why don’t we talk more about children and teenagers who are the primary caretakers for their families?
Putting Rihanna’s story in a broader context of women of color and violence.
Sarah Haskins on the Jen v. Angelina bullshit in coverage of the Oscars.
The fashion industry has STILL not come to terms with the fact that the average American woman is size 14. (via)
Degree deodorant: Activated by gender stereotypes! (Frito-Lay takes a similar tack.)
Nadya Suleman gets an offer from the porn industry.
A new movie manages to depict a relationship with someone with autism without falling into the traps of previous films about romance and disability.
Attention headline writers: If the victim is younger than 10, it’s not “child sex,” it’s RAPE.
Even more links from Lauren at Feministe.
Get Involved
At 4pm TODAY, tune in to hear Tami from What Tami Said and Professor Tracey from Aunt Jemima’s Revenge discuss women of color and the feminist blogosphere.
Sign the petition against the forced sterilization of people with disabilities in Illinois.
Women of color and allies, submit to the Tell It WOC Speak carnival.
Female cyclists in Chicago made a pin-up calendar to benefit the Chicago Women’s Health Center. “The calendar brings together twelve female cyclists: from a career bike messenger to a poet, from all-weather road warriors to track racers.” Click here for Chicago locations where you can buy, or buy online here. (via)
Help the women of Shapely Prose plan their book tour!
Be sure to check out our events calendar — there are lots of good things coming up.
Also, as always, leave your links in comments…