Weekly Round-up and Open Thread

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It’s time for another round-up and there are plenty of fascinating and informative articles to check out this week, with everything from awesome apps to Jonathan Franzen.

If you’d like to comment on one of the issues covered or share another article that we haven’t included, feel free to get involved in the comments 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.

If 43% of young people aren’t straight or gay, why do only 2% identify as bi? (Stavvers)

There Won’t Be Blood: Suzanne Moore on the menopause (New Statesman)

From the article: “The female body can be a mess, so I simply decided to have it – the menopause – one cold November weekend a few years ago. But women my age won’t just melt away and we won’t become invisible.”

Yes, there are more female comics at the Fringe – but it’s hardly time to celebrate (The Conversation)

The truth about rape and sexual assault is ugly – and many women know this (The Guardian)

“But rape happens to babies, elderly women and everyone in between. And yet we routinely conflate rape and sexual assault with conventional attractiveness – and perpetuate the notion that ‘ugly’ women don’t get raped, and that attractive men don’t need to commit rape.”

Bisexual and proud: Six openly bi young people address the myths surrounding their sexuality (The Independent)

Naked streets, floating bus stops – and how cycling infrastructure can endanger the blind (City Metric)

Tearing Down the Walls: The story of the Stonewall Rebellion and the rise of the gay liberation movement (Jacobin)

Adama Jalloh interview: “I wanted black girls to see the photos and to see themselves”(New Statesman)

When Your Period Tries to Kill You (Vice)

From the article: “In schools and workplaces and public spaces, people invent increasingly innovative ways to hide tampons up their sleeves on the journey to the toilet, or find discreet ways to empty menstrual cups in shared bathrooms. Period stigma taught me very early on that things happening to bodies that aren’t cisgender and male were weird and wrong, and they weren’t to be talked about.”

Radio interview with Brenna Smith (Audioburst)

Being called out for your sexism is not censorship (Chortle)

From the article: “Ai Weiwei can go rot in a prison cell so long as these guys get their rape jokes, am I right? And what’s the deal with airplane food and Malala Yousafzai? The bottom line is that if you’re a comedian on stage you want to be able to relate with your audience in at least some way, and if your material is comprised of elements that come across as misogynist, then your largely non-misogynist audiences are going to have a very difficult time finding you likable.”

New app notifies you when you’re near a place where a woman made history (Oregon Live)

Jonathan Franzen interview: ‘There is no way to make myself not male’(The Guardian)

Dear Men, Women Don’t Owe You an Explanation for Rejection (Huffington Post)

Korean Sociological Image #92: Patriotic Marketing Through Sexual Objectification, Part 1 (The Grand Narrative)

The image is used under creative commons with thanks to Eugenia Loli. It depicts somebody, with their back to the viewer, sitting at the bottom of a flight of stairs. They appear to be naked and are seated with their hands rested on the steps behind them and their legs drawn up to their chest. Beneath them is a long, red silk scarf which trails all the way down the steps to meet them. The colour of the scarf is in juxtaposition to the rather grey surroundings.