Weekly Feminist Reader

Today is the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia! This years focus is on combating transphobia and respecting gender identity. Read the appeal here (PDF) and sign it here. Also sign the petition to demand just treatment for trans people in NYPD custody.
France will no longer classify transsexuality as a mental illness. If you’re in the Bay Area, there’s a protest tomorrow (Monday, May 18) to push the American Psychiatric Association to do the same.
Feminist Scrabble fans, don’t click this link! It’s too depressing.
Girls in Afghanistan were poisoned for attempting to get an education.
Did you read the Malcolm Gladwell piece which prominently featured an anecdote about girls’ basketball? Did you, like me, notice the weird racial comments? Post Bourgie breaks it down.
Is Hungry Girl the answer to Skinny Bitch? (At the very least, it sounds much better.)
There’s a great series at Shakesville on one person’s gender journey. Read Part I and Part II.
YO! (Youth Outlook) in the Bay Area interviewed high-schoolers about gender. Their comments are pretty fascinating.
Different takes on the whole “beauty pageant” concept.
A more in-depth take on the anti-women’s studies lawsuit — on why feminism is not a religion.
Alicia at Muslimah Media Watch has a great post on body image and eating disorders among Muslim women.

The State Department must grant same-sex partner benefits to its employees.
Racialicious reviews The Princess and the Frog.
Is Liz Lemon a feminist?
Reflecting on Marcelo Lucero, who was killed in a hate crime, six months later.
Esquire attempts feminist analysis. FAIL.
Does Obama want LGBTQ issues to “just go away”?
A black feminist critique of same-race street harassment.
Two Canadian provinces refuse to cover sex reassignment surgery.
Sierra Broussard, a biracial transwoman, is suing a club in Wisconsin for denying her entrance on the basis of her identity.
Are Americans less pro-choice than they once were?
Missouri has been locked in a serious legislative battle over choice. Shark-Fu has more on other shit going down in MO.
Native women are receiving fewer mammograms.
The Midwest Teen Sex Show is moving to Comedy Central!
Why are people (especially white people) so invested in defending the geisha?
An abstinence counselor is charged with sexually assaulting a student.
Jean Smith of the group Mecca Normal on how audiences — in person, on music blogs, etc. — respond to her as a female artist.
Should Adam Lambert make a public declaration about his sexuality?
Dana Goldstein reviews the new Helen Gurley Brown biography and a new book on Masters and Johnson, and ruminates on mixing sex with work.
What have you been reading and writing this week?