Weekly round-up and open thread

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Hello and welcome to the weekly round-up and open thread! Below are some recent news stories that caught the attention of The F Word Collective this week (linking does not imply endorsement or agreement). Please note that these links range from “ooh yay!” to “very interesting” to *headdesk to rage-enducing, and some articles may be triggering. Want to discuss these topics or add your own? Please comment below!

Current Events and Comment:

Tens of thousands march in London against coalition’s austerity measures

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/jun/21/protest-march-austerity-london-russell-brand-peoples-assembly

Why we prefer our immigrants to be invisible

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/jun/21/immigrants-taken-to-cleaners-living-london-wage

Long-forgotten rape evidence finally reveals its clues in Northern Virginia lab

http://m.washingtonpost.com/national/long-forgotten-rape-evidence-finally-reveals-its-clues-in-northern-virginia-lab/2014/06/16/e4aa1aea-d538-11e3-95d3-3bcd77cd4e11_story.html

Food poverty and generosity in Bradford: a visit to Bradford Metropolitan Foodbank

http://wurblog.wordpress.com/2014/06/22/food-poverty-and-generosity-in-bradford-a-visit-to-bradford-metropolitan-foodbank/

Increase in number of mothers working on self-employed or freelance terms

http://www.theguardian.com/money/2014/jun/22/working-parents-freelance-poll

Black women’s experiences at university

http://www.blackfeminists.org/2014/06/19/black-womens-experiences-at-university/

‘Girls can’t what?’ Bid to boost women in engineering

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-27922770

Television, Films, Books and Music:

Blackadder ‘Nursie’ actress Patsy Byrne dies aged 80

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-27958885

Why ‘How to Train Your Dragon 2’ is a radical feminist triumph

http://www.dailydot.com/opinion/how-to-train-your-dragon-2-is-feminist/

12 female characters Disney will never make movies about

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/06/20/rejected-disney-princesses_n_5516023.html?ncid=fcbklnkushpmg00000063

Twenty ‘Gypsy’ women you should be reading

http://www.vidaweb.org/twenty-gypsy-women-you-should-be-reading/

Vashti Bunyan returns with her third album, Heartleap

http://www.factmag.com/2014/06/22/vashti-bunyan-returns-with-her-third-album-heartleap/

Sports news and commentary:

Is it anti-feminist to watch the World Cup?

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/jun/23/world-cup-women-sexism

Wimbledon 2014: Heather Watson beats Ajla Tomljanovic http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/tennis/28002438

The photo is by Stephen Warrent and has been used with permission. It depicts comedian Francesca Martinez posing with two young women, Katie Warrent and Ruth Cordle, in front of a crowd at the austerity protest demo in London on Saturday, 21st June. The young woman on the right holds a placard that reads Equal Lives Youth Forum, which is an organisation that provides a free forum for people with disabilities free from disabling barriers.