Weekly round-up & open thread

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If you’re anything like me, you’re probably (a little more than) slightly disappointed with the election result. Still, if nothing else, it has given me renewed incentive to immerse myself in current affairs, get educated and read, read, read. Hopefully a lot of you will be feeling the same.

Below are just a few of the articles that caught our attention this week – if you’d like to comment on one of issues covered or share another article that we haven’t included, feel free to get involved in the comment section below or on Facebook/Twitter.

As always, please remember that linking does not automatically mean endorsement or agreement from the F-Word and that some links may be triggering. It is also worth noting that, while we welcome engagement on the weekly round-up, any comments including racist, sexist, homophobic, transphobic or disablist language will be deleted.

Anti-austerity women shut down a London street to defend domestic violence services (New Statesman)

In the run-up to the election, activist group Sisters Uncut stopped traffic in Southwark Street in protest against cuts to vital domestic violence services.

#NotGuilty: speaking out about sexual assault is still rare. This must change (The Guardian CiF)

From the article: “A fortnight ago, a letter I wrote to the man who sexually assaulted me when I walked home on a Friday night was published in Cherwell, an Oxford University newspaper. With the letter, we launched the #NotGuilty campaign.”

Moms shouldn’t have to work overtime to prove they’re still useful when pregnant (Quartz)

From the article: “Pregnant workers routinely find themselves uncomfortably situated between a proverbial rock and a hard place: How can they request modifications while not seeming weak, or being treated differently, for doing so?”

The term ‘plus-size’ is outdated and offensive (Aphra)

“If my shorts make you uncomfortable, you are the problem.” (Feministing)

From the article: “Spring is here and you know what that means. In high schools across the country, it means the dress code enforcers are sure to be cracking down on girls and their ‘distracting’ knees, clavicles, and shoulders.”

In Praise Of Women Who Give All The F**ks (Huffington Post)

From the article: “Michelle Obama gives zero fucks. Emma Stone gives zero fucks. Cersei Lannister from ‘Game of Thrones’ gives zero fucks. Abolitionist Sojourner Truth gave zero fucks. Pinterest is filled with skinny models wearing ‘Zero Fucks Given’ tanks. Even the women in historical paintings give absolutely zero fucks. We have reached peak lack of fucks given.”

Why Did This Woman Who Was Arrested in a Prostitution Sting Die in a Florida Jail? (Vice)

We female journalists need to shame and expose France’s sexist politicians (The Guardian CiF)

From the article: “There was the government minister who demanded to have a ‘pretty woman’ opposite him during lunch. And another who would stop an interview to look at a young girl walking by and make comments about her appearance. Or the ministerial adviser who has never spoken to you but who’s desperately keen to get your telephone number so he can compliment you on what you’re wearing.”

Let’s do this. Let’s talk about periods (The Pool)

From the article: “There is something insulting about the image of a carefree, painless menstruating woman. You’ve seen her, probably in tampon ads, smiling and frolicking on the beach or perfecting her headstand near the front of her yoga class. I am sure these low-flow, emotionally balanced women exist in real life – they’re probably on the pill and so their periods are a light, two-day affair – but they are a small subset of the menstruating population.”

Artist Explores The Unexpected Beauty Of Menstrual Blood Using Macrophotography (Huffington Post)

Lace (Paperhouse)

Beautifully written piece by Sarah Ditum on desecration of Monument to the Women of World War II in White Hall at the weekend.

To make a 10-year-old give birth isn’t just horrifying – it’s life threatening (The Guardian CiF)

From the article: “Would anyone in their right mind think it reasonable that a 10-year-old carry a pregnancy to term? This is not a thought experiment but the horrible story of a real child in Paraguay: raped by her stepfather and now denied an abortion.”

The image was found on Wikimedia Commons and is in the public domain. It is dated 1942. It is a black and white photograph of two women working on, what looks like it could be, the wing of an aircraft or something similar. The woman closest to camera is holding a tool up to the wing and the other is watching her handiwork intently. They are both wearing hair nets and white overalls.