Weekly Feminist Reader

Venus and Serena Williams
Venus and Serena Williams continue to be the shit.

Thanks to US policy, aid groups aren’t even allowed to discuss abortion with the thousands of women who are raped and impregnated in armed conflicts around the world.

Michelle Dean on criticism, gender, and Susan Sontag and Adrienne Rich’s debate on feminism and facism.

The gender pay gap can’t be explained simply by the different choices women make in their careers–there’s likely some straight-up discrimination going on.

An Open Letter to Rep. Todd Akin From Women of Color Activists.

Where’s the media coverage of the shooting death of a teen lesbian couple in Texas?

A fascinating interview with a lapsed virginity-pledger at the Hairpin highlights what’s messed up about the “purity” message.

Working moms tend to be healthier than stay-at-home moms.

Imagine you’re raped, have a baby, and then your rapist seeks custody. That’s possible in at least 27 states.

Seriously, when is Leslie Knope Amy Pohler actually going to run for office? Here she is supporting California’s Domestic Workers Bill of Rights.

“I’m very proud of my pro-life record, and I’ve always adopted the idea that, the position that the method of conception doesn’t change the definition of life.” This guy could be our next VP.

Check out this new Japanese Toyota ad with a gender expectation-subverting twist.

Ugh, female sports commentators have to put up with crap like this: “The female voice is not so attractive for actual commentating and in some cases became grating.”

Hear it, dude? That’s your biological clock a-tickin’.

Iran has banned women in 36 universities from 77 fields of study
. The country has the highest ratio of female to male undergrads in the world. Hello backlash!

According to a new study most women seeking abortions had experienced at least one “disruptive event” in the last year.

Remember to check out the many great posts on the Community site for SYTYCB right now!

What have you been reading/writing/watching/learning this week?

St. Paul, MN

Maya Dusenbery is executive director in charge of editorial at Feministing. She is the author of the forthcoming book Doing Harm: The Truth About How Bad Medicine and Lazy Science Leave Women Dismissed, Misdiagnosed, and Sick (HarperOne, March 2018). She has been a fellow at Mother Jones magazine and a columnist at Pacific Standard magazine. Her work has appeared in publications like Cosmopolitan.com, TheAtlantic.com, Bitch Magazine, as well as the anthology The Feminist Utopia Project. Before become a full-time journalist, she worked at the National Institute for Reproductive Health. A Minnesota native, she received her B.A. from Carleton College in 2008. After living in Brooklyn, Oakland, and Atlanta, she is currently based in the Twin Cities.

Maya Dusenbery is an executive director of Feministing and author of the forthcoming book Doing Harm on sexism in medicine.

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