Weekly round-up and open thread, 31 March 2014

Welcome to the latest round-up of the articles and blog pieces we’ve been reading over the past week. If you have a link or comment that doesn’t fit anywhere else and would like to share it, feel free to drop it in the comments here.

Please note: The links in the round-up are are posted for information and/or discussion purposes only. This means we don’t always agree with every viewpoint expressed in the items or everything on the sites containing them. As with other content on this site, none of the material reflects any “official view from The F Word” because not all contributors to the site will necessarily hold the same opinions on the topics or pieces shared.

Content warning: A note has been added when the content is not adequately indicated in the title of an article but you are advised to approach the links with caution, as they go to external websites and comment threads we have no control over.

 Women Not Allowed To Serve Food At Hague Summit ‘In Case Men Get Distracted’ (Huffington Post)

Where Are the People of Color in Children’s Books? (New York Times)

Little Girl Taken Out Of Christian School After Told She’s Too Much Like A Boy (WSET.com)

On why Hart doesn’t have two mommies (Mutha)

Recognize That Sex Work is Work: A Conversation with Melissa Gira Grant (Bitch Media)

‘Opting out’ and the glass ceiling (Jolene at MyPaper)

To all the ‘no make-up selfie’ male haters: take a look in the mirror (Brooke Magnanti at The Telegraph)

Why the British no make-up selfies for charity campaign is bad for women (Policy Mic)

Mother’s Day 2014: If being a mother was a paid job, it would come with a £100,000 salary (Independent)

#SexIndustryWeek: Nobody’s entitled to sex, including disabled people (Pippa at Feminist Times)

#SexIndustryWeek: My enemy’s enemy is my friend (Roz Kaveney at Feminist Times)

Valuing Domestic Labour (Meloukhia)

Disdain and Teen Media (Meloukhia)

Claudia is Intersex, Let’s Talk About it (Claudia, Autostraddle)

Sandi Toksvig: ‘Today we can all celebrate whom we choose to love’ (Guardian, Life and style)

The people who oppose gay marriage law (BBC)

6 Ways The UK Still Doesn’t Have Full Marriage Equality (Buzzfeed)

Content note: suicide; mental illness; disablism:

♫… If you were me then you’d be screaming “someone shoot me”…♫ (Lisybabe’s blog)

“Today I’m not using quotes from other people about why they think legalising AS [assisted suicide] is bad; today I’m writing purely about my own thoughts and experiences.”

The myth of slacktivism (Genderterror)

Up close and personal: Frida Kahlo’s photo album (Guardian)

Content Note: Misogynoir; class warfare; systemic abuse:

This is not a solution, this is the problem (Shakesville)

Theresa May orders review of gay asylum claim handling (BBC)

Cochlear Implants, Viral Videos, and Sexism (Feminist Philosophers)

“Once again a video of the miracle of hearing via cochlear implants has gone viral. I find this bothersome, but not for the reasons you might think, given that I’m a member of the signing Deaf* community, a bioethicist, and philosopher. Instead, I’m annoyed by the framing of the cochlear implant narratives and the gendered aspects of cochlear implant videos that go viral…”

‘Androgyny is all around us’: Meet XXXora, a hermaphrodite on a crusade (Independent)

Biology doesn’t justify gender divide for toys (New Scientist)

Anti-Colbert activist, HuffPost Live host grapple over racism, satire (Washington Post)

#CancelColbert Prompts Suey Park and Other Feminists on Twitter To Temporarily Become Dudebros After Sexist, Racist Backlash And It’s Awesome (Bustle)

Now the Bedroom tax hits Domestic violence victims as ‘panic rooms’ are levied (Mirror)

Four things about men and women I’ve learnt from being neither (CN Lester)

The #cockinasock campaign and who they’re forgetting (Buzzfeed, Community)

‘Enough is enough’: the fight against everyday sexism (Guardian)

Marilyn Butler obituary (Guardian)

Interview with Dr Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw:

Call yourself an “Intersectional Feminist”? (Reni Eddo-Lodge at Feminist Times)

To Bleed or Not to Bleed: Some thoughts on The Red Tent (Ladyfest Sheffield)

The celebration of periods can be an effective way of redressing the shame women are usually encouraged to feel about their bodies, but what happens if this is done in a way which excludes non-women with periods or invalidates the gender identities of women who don’t have them?

Open letter: 300 researchers call for decriminalization of sex work in Canada (Red Umbrella Project)

Lies, damned lies and sex work statistics (Washington Post)

In praise of the women of Elementary (The Mary Sue)

And here’s one that’s a little out of date (19 March) but definitely still relevant:

Objections from the English Collective of Prostitutes to the methodology and content of the report from the All-party parliamentary group on prostitution (prostitutescollective) [Thanks to Niki Adams for the nod to this.]

Image description:

Grapefruit halves with various smiley faces. By illuminaut, shared on Flickr under a Creative Commons license.