Weekly round-up and open thread

 

It’s time for another weekly round-up where we share (what we see as) the most interesting and important articles from the previous seven days. We’d love to hear your thoughts on any of the issues covered in the articles we’ve picked.

As always, linking to articles does not mean endorsement from the F-Word and certain links may be triggering. We welcome debate in the comments section and on Facebook/Twitter but remind readers that any comments containing sexist, racist, homophobic, transphobic or disablist language will be deleted immediately.

If you notice that we’ve missed out any important articles from the past week, feel free to let us know.

The YouTube star who fought back against revenge porn – and won (The Guardian)

From the article: “Revenge porn – private sexual images or videos posted online in order to humiliate, degrade and discredit another person, often titled with their full name for maximum exposure – is a particularly modern form of shaming. But for Chambers, it was also a cruel inversion of the medium that had given her a career and a platform. Online videos had been the making of Chrissy Chambers. Now her image was going viral in a disgusting video over which she had no control.”

Editor closed weekly Wales paper after conviction over article identifying sex offence victim (Press Gazette)

“It’s not a criminal record, it’s a catalogue of abuse” (BuzzFeed)

Newsnight’s Emily Maitlis tells of stalker’s effect on her work and family as he is jailed (Press Gazette)

Babe, What Are You Doing? (Jezebel)

From the article: “Because Babe did not have the range or depth to present Grace’s story for what it is—a starting point to discuss the ways consent can feel blurring, no matter how clear we might wish it were, and our lack of language to describe this—we all ended up opening up a conversation that did us no good at all. The story had the unfortunate effect of leaving the door a little wider for self-righteousness, allowing detractors to reiterate their shitty assumptions about millennial women and their motivations instead of questioning a set of injustices so commonplace that many people seem not to register them as injustices at all. And while Babe screwed up its execution of the story, it’s the grotesque priorities of the echo chamber that are really wronging Grace: once again, the comfort of the powerful remains, and the woman telling her story is reduced to a vessel.”

#MeToo isn’t enough. Now women need to get ugly (The Guardian)

From the article: “Now, all at once, women are refusing to accept sexual aggression as any kind of award, and men are getting fired from their jobs. It feels like an earthquake. Men and women alike find ourselves disoriented, wondering what the rules are. Women know perfectly well that we hate unsolicited sexual attention, but navigate a minefield of male thinking on what “solicit” might mean. We’ve spent so much life-force on looking good but not too good, being professional but not unapproachable, while the guys just got on with life. And what of the massive costs of permanent vigilance, the tense smiles, declined work assignments and lost chances that are our daily job of trying to avoid assault? Can we get some backpay?”

The Black Woman’s Tale: Why Margaret Atwood’s Espousal of White Feminist Beliefs Shouldn’t Surprise You (Clarkisha Kent, The Root)

The resistance is full of prudes: The Stormy Daniels scandal highlights how we still fail sex workers (Arabelle Raphael, The Outline)

Last post…for now (Obesity Timebomb)

Butch Women and Trans Men (A New Man)

‘This is a witch hunt’ says man who would have happily burnt women at stake 400 years ago (Daily Mash) [Satire]

The image is used under a creative commons license with thanks to Mobilus In Mobili on Flickr. It is a photograph from the most recent Women’s March in Washington (according to information provided). It shows two people, in profile, holding placards. One of the people has long, curly hair and has a placard held high over their head and their mouth is open as if they are chanting or shouting. Their placard reads ‘Resist’. The other person has shorter hair, is wearing a pink sweater and appears determined. They have their arm held up as if they are also holding a placard which is just out of shot.