It’s Monday. It’s time for the roundup. I’ve only got three goodies for you, but are they ever good.
Coming soon to a Playstation near you: progressive website frequenter Martin Dufresne is designing a video game, and needs, he says, “Egregious SHORT quotes by allegedly Great Men and current antifeminist activists. French essayist Benoîte Groult assembled a full book of such quotes in 1993–’Cette mâle assurance.’ Do you folks know if anyone has done the same for English speakers? Do you have a groaner or two you want to share?” If you do, pass them on to Martin at his Facebook site, or throw them down in the comments section and we’ll pass ‘em on.
This is exciting for the change agents among us. About a week and a half ago at Change.org, blogger Amanda Kloer wrote a post about the fact that credit card company Diners Club had teamed up (sorry, partnered) with a Vietnamese mail-order bride company to offer men a payment plan of sorts, allowing men to buy a Vietnamese woman on credit. As Kloer’s most recent post indicates, her article–and the deluge of protest mail received by Diners Club–forced them to back off and sever their deal with Vietnam Brides International.
You know how L’Oreal (yes, that L’Oreal) and UNESCO have been getting together (oh, sorry again, partnering) to fund women scientists’ research? They’ve just put out a Women and Science booklet, which includes “new profiles, from interviews with young women at the start of their science careers, tell their stories of passion and persistence —what drives and excites them about their work in the sciences.” I’d like to get excited about this, but judging from what blogger Ms. Ph.d. has to say over at Young Female Scientist, things ain’t quite that shiny, happy for women in science at this point.
The end of an era: Millvina Dean, the last Titanic survivor, makes her final voyage.
Alas: after dreaming a dream, Susan Boyle loses out to a dance team.
Too enraging for words: anti-choice “pro-lifer” murders American abortion provider George Tiller. Canadian pro-choice blogs Dammit Janet, Unrepentant Old Hippie, and Birth Pangs express outrage and offer timely commentary on this disturbing situation.
Bet you need something uplifting: the always fabulous Antigone Magazine blog is featuring the latest of their “Dreams for Women” postcards. In your face, patriarchy! Yeah!
There’s a shake-up goin’ down at Confabulous, fellow confabulators! From now on, a bigger and better Roundup will feature only on Mondays, bringing you the best of the weekend to help ease you back into the workweek. Watch for it!
A reminder from Jezebel: next time you’re feeling all warm and fuzzy about those Dove ads geared towards boosting women’s self-esteem, think of this crap, also purveyed by Dove’s parent company, Unilever. Still not convinced? Check out the video above.
Looking for the perfect Mother’s Day present? Apparently Mom might enjoy a date with Edward Cullen (and she wouldn’t be the only one).
Much discussed on Digg and elsewhere is this provocative, disturbing, powerful PSA about the potentially haunting legacy of sexual abuse. Shudder.
What’s in your inbox? If you’d blogged the winning post in her contest about what the Commonwealth means to you, there’d be a message from Queen Elizabeth. If only we’d known about this competition in advance…
Too bad: unfortunate blow job comment marrs otherwise cute Flight of the Conchords story.
Hold the phone! Beauty pageants aren’t just about personality!
As you dance around your May Pole, consider labour’s history of May Day.
Team Abstinence? Bitchquestions the allure of the Twilight series. The most recent issue of Msalso takes on Bella and her vampire and werewolf crews.
On a not un-related note–are you looking for a job with a fab feminist mag? Bitch is seeking a new Executive Director.
Throwback! A new bill in the Alberta legislature proposes to allow parents the right to pull their children from classes when homosexuality or evolution are to be discussed.
Swine flu update: Noel Gallagher and the sneeze heard ’round the world.
One more reason for safer sex–the avoidance of paralysis and insurance nightmares.
How’s this for activism? To battle governmental infighting, women in Kenya are instituting a seven-day sex ban. The group behind the action is even willing to compensate sex workers for lost income if they join the protest.
Smashing it up for all the sisters: feminists in London take on sexism and win.
Broadsides reminds us that yesterday, our neighbours to the south celebrated Equal Pay Day! But they don’t have it yet and neither do we (in fact, it’s gotten worse). Sucks.
Want your vehicle’s license plate to read “testicles”? To beat provincial censors you may need to request it in Italian.
And finally…Reuters asks: Would we be in this financial pickle had more women been in charge? Opinions, dear readers?
I don’t know if I should be happy this exists, or sad that apparently it needs to exist: the Girl Guides are introducing a new body image badge in response to data that indicates eating disorders among girls below age 10 are are on the rise.
Breast is best, but not if you’re too slavish about it: a judge in Ontario ruled that a woman could not use her baby’s breastfeeding schedule to stop the child’s father from gaining access to the baby.
OMG! Your annual subscription to Shameless magazine is now only $10! A tenner to support Canadian feminist publishing by/for young women! Who can turn that kind of a deal down? (h/t to one of my Tweeps…I forget which!)
You know the Ophelia’s VoiceLegacy Project? Because of the overwhelming reponse, the deadline has been pushed back to May 11, 2009.
Okay, this has been around for a while, but my sister just alerted me to it: there’s an old farmhouse in rural Manitoba that artist Heather Benning turned into a giant dollhouse (h/t www.mymodernmet.com).
Can't express how much I love my husband. Feel I should attach a hashtag indicating #sincerity, or perhaps #unabashedsincerity or just #TMI15 hours ago
Just came back from playing squash. I still play like a dork, but I still love it. 2010/03/09
It’s Monday. It’s time for the roundup. I’ve only got three goodies for you, but are they ever good.
Confabulous badges!
