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

Not impressed.

Renee on the Olivia Washington and the challenges of being a dark-skinned woman in Hollywood.

What has Egypt’s transition meant for women?

Lorraine Berry says The Walking Dead has become a white patriarchy.

Find out how your favorite clothing brands rate when it comes to their labor practices.

Watch the second video from Project Unspoken.

Mitt Romney calls access to birth control “a gift,” while the United Nations calls it a “universal human right.”

PETA, again, please shut the fuck up.

Fox News host Brian Kilmeade described his female coworkers Victoria’s Secret models who can also speak.

Shannon Chamberlain on how she lost weight and why you shouldn’t congratulate her for it.

Remember Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman??

So cool: These four Nigerian teenage girls have invented a pee-powered generator.

Today is Veteran’s Day. They deserve much better.

6 ways to talk to your son about male violence and healthy masculinity.

“Above all remember: your father loves you and believes in you and expects you to be a wonderful woman.” A letter from W.E.B. Du Bois to his 14-year old daughter.

“Shocking” doesn’t really adequately describe this report on sexual violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Amanda Hess asks some smart people how they would fix, change, or get rid of the traditional institution of marriage.

An interview with porn star James Deen on LA’s new law mandating condoms in porn.

It’s both awful and amazing ...

[Via]

Rochelle Ballantyne is set to become the first black female chess master.

Bitch explains that a “hipster sexist is a douchebag in enlightened clothing“–and they may the most dangerous kind.

Kristof examines what a Romney presidency would mean for reproductive rights.

Ann takes a big picture look at what’s at stake in this election for us.

How the aftermath of hurricane Sandy is affecting disabled and elderly populations the most.

Oh good, finally there’s a Honda for her.

Native American women are still waiting for better access to emergency contraception.

For now, Texas will continue funding Planned Parenthood.

There is absolutely nothing better than these kids dressed as Barack and Michelle for Halloween.

Honestly can’t believe how ...

“Homophobes in Marseille can p*** off!”

Melissa Harris-Perry’s open letter to Richard Mourdock is very powerful.

Meanwhile Garance Franke-Ruta puts Mourdock’s comments in historical context: “The idea that coerced reproduction is God’s will is of a piece with the belief that the subjection of women is God’s will.”

And RH Reality Check is running a series of stories from rape survivors.

“Physics is more difficult for girls,” says a male grad student, and other insights from interviews with scientists of both genders about women in the sciences.

Melissa Gira Grant argues that defining trafficking as forced sex work hinders help for victims of coerced labor of all kinds.

A sweet piece from Jim Behrle responding to a ...

Romnesia!

It’s Breast Cancer Awareness month. Beware of the corporate pinkification.

A great piece by Mary Elizabeth Williams on the war on 12-year-old girls.

Just when you thought you couldn’t hate the Boy Scouts any more, there’s this.

In case this wasn’t already abundantly clear, a new study shows that “that neural biases to race are not innate and that race is a social construction, learned over time.”

If you feel the need to get caught up on the Dinesh D’Souza’s scandal, here’s a guide with gifs a-plenty.

Live Action’s latest “sting” against pro-choice groups is maybe the biggest flop yet.

LGBT celebs for Obama!

Mormon feminists for Obama!

Andrew Goldman was suspended for the NYT for a month ...

Don’t worry, you guys--Hillz is obviously on it!

Hanna Rosin and Stephanie Coontz continue their conversation on the “end of men.”

A new study found a correlation between the states with the most restrictive anti-abortion laws and the states with the most aggressive levels of anti-choice harassment.

Cool. Find out if people with your name tend to give political donations to Democrats or Republicans more.

Official “genius” Junot Diaz being smart and talking about privilege.

Check out what is surely the most ridiculous anti-contraception video of all time.

New favorite Tumblr: Cats Against Cat-Calling.

Macklemore and Ryan Lewis’s pro-marriage equality video “Same Love” made me cry like woah.

Shocking new study: Free birth control ...

Word.

Today is the 36th birthday of the Hyde Amendment. As Jessica Arons writes, “It is always easiest to go after the rights of the most vulnerable first.”

Whoopi Goldberg goes off after Ann Coulter tries to tell her about black people.

Hannah Tennant-Moore places How Should A Person Be? within a “recent spate of memoirs and autobiographical novels that treat female desire for sexual submission as a kind of titillating depravity.”

Jill Filipovic makes the moral case for sex before marriage.

“I am a job creator and I am entitled.”

Sady has a powerful essay on being diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

Stephanie Coontz thoroughly debunks the myth of male decline and discusses the “masculine mystique.”

A new study ...