By Jess McCabe | 27 August 2008, 23:26

A 14-year-old girl was raped in a Glasgow bus station, reports the BBC.

Abyss2hope has some questions about how the case has been framed:

What stands out to me in this case versus other rape cases against teenage girls I’ve read about is:

1) Her rape in particular was “horrific.”

2) She was accompanied by a male friend.

3) She was raped before 9 pm.

4) She wasn’t grabbed in an isolated or otherwise “dangerous” location.

5) Because an accomplice stayed with the victim’s friend this was clearly a premeditated sex crime.

6) It is noted that this victim was traumatized.

These contrasts seem to highlight how other sexual assault victims aren’t viewed as being blameless and their rapes are neither horrifying nor traumatic. What this does is fault the 2 men involved not for being involved in a sexual assault, but for where and how they committed this type of crime.

Guest blogging at Feministe, Latoya from Racialicious talks about life before feminism, and the role hip-hop played in her feminist awakening:

On one hand, hip-hop keeps throwing misogyny in my face like it’s supposed to be there, promoting people with no message, no clue, people who would be happy to keep a hyped-up version of gender roles as the predominant cultural narrative.

But on the other hands, hip-hop also gives me the space to develop my skills and the room to bomb back.

Though I didn’t realize it then, that day was my awakening as a hip-hop feminist.

People were always going to try to stick me with something I’m not, misread me, underestimate me, oversexualize me, minimize me, force me to fit into their view of the world.

But I’m not going out like that.
And y’all better recognize.

Meanwhile, Daisy’s Dead Air goes on a trip through some feminist country music.

Davita at PDDP posted about white privilege and colourblindness, through black women’s experiences with hair salons.

Sinclair at Sugarbutch posts about hair, shaving, gender:

Sometimes I even like my five o’clock shadow. I’ve developed the habit of scratching my chin like the boys do. Feeling when I need a shave. Letting it grow on weekends, on weeks when I don’t have work. When I was in Mexico I didn’t touch it once. Ten days without shaving, I am sure a personal record. I didn’t even know my hair would grow that long, that dark, that thick.

Sometimes, I even like it.

In the workplace - DollyMix reports on a dodgy survey done by Gumtree:

Classifieds website Gumtree.com conducted the covert study in July. You may not explode with surprise at the news that a young, attractive woman posing as a cleaner attracted 16 times more job offers than an older, larger lady - despite offering the same qualifications and experience. Similarly young, attractive female applicants for nanny and PA jobs both outperformed their older, and arguably less attractive counterparts in sourcing interest.

Makeup not enough? How about airbrushing your face! From Twisty:

Sure, it costs $269.95, but it comes with “eyebrow stencils” and “body shimmer.”

Check out the awful before and after shots - of course, the ‘before’ photos are all posed like mugshots.

And, finally, via Fem.men.ist, Sonya “The Drama” Boom Renee on choice: