Our Shared Shelf discussion

Greets, I thought it might be cool to have a thread in which to post media articles relating to feminism.

Today there is a great article from Glamour in which President Barack Obama openly talks about feminism: http://www.glamour.com/story/glamour-...

Speaking as a Brit, I think it's great to see such a forward thinking president, please don't ruin it by voting for Trump! :P

Thanks! I was just coming to post this myself!

Yes, it's wonderful to hear him call himself a feminist, and to talk about his daughters and wife in regards to that. It made my day.

I'm Canadian, and yes, I also thought about Trump - as a scarily opposite view.

How about this one: Men in Iran are wearing hijabs in solidarity with their wives who are forced to cover their hair

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/peo...

(there are many other outlets covering this story)

I read about this in my Dutch newspaper NRC and the description of the current situation in Iran seemed still very similar to that of the world of The Complete Persepolis

Thanks Harm, love this story!

A bit of a different article which was published a few months ago... I don't know what you think about it, but I can tell you this particular piece of news was celebrated with my airport colleagues!

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/world...

@Laraemilie - That is very interesting, fancy being allowed to fly a plane, but not being able to drive a car? crazy!

@Meelie, I enjoyed this article, I think she is right in that some 'celebrities' seem to jump on the feminism band wagon just because it is a hot topic at the moment, you can kind of tell those that actually believe in it and have a passion for it and those that are just using it to try and stay current because it is fashionable right now.

'Feminism is breaking through the rigid patriarchy in Pakistan': https://www.theguardian.com/global-de...

Listening to the Voices from Hijabi World

http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2016/08...

Thanks Harm - I agree with the girls that having non muslims wear a hijab for a day to share their experiences is not the same as the kind of treatment a real muslim woman may receive on a daily basis.
It's good to hear what it is really like to wear a hijab from those that actually know :)

Today, The Guardian has an article asking if DC have a problem with woman: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016...

That's an interesting article about DC, Jo. Thanks for posting it!

I've been reading articles about the coverage of the Olympics and how sexist many of the announcers are. This article covers several of the "slip ups" that have occurred. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/r...

It's not all bad, though. I was pleased 2 nights ago while watching Katie Ledecky dominate her race to hear Rowdy Gaines take a subtle stand against sexism. Rowdy and his fellow commentator were discussing how many people attribute her success to swimming like a man and Rowdy yelled, "She swims like Katie Ledecky for crying out loud!"

Sherrie, that is so interesting - just complete and utter casual sexism!

from the BBC - a survey has found that half of woman 'sexually harassed at work' http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-37025554

New article by BBC on "athletes" and "women athletes", and other nonsense.

"Is some Olympic commentary sexist?"
http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-3703...

The Problem with Female Protagonists

An interesting discussion about not only the disparity between male and female representation in discussions and books but also how they are perceived...

http://writerunboxed.com/2016/08/06/t...

"For every Harry Potter there’s a Wrinkle in Time."

And they say that while Harry Potter had such a vocal female character :)

A comic strip which breaks down feminism: http://www.upworthy.com/feminism-figh...

Iran Olympic protest: Woman asked to take down sign

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-...

In the end she was allowed to protest because protesting for womans rights is above a political message (which is not allowed during the olympics).

My friend Carrie Lynn, a Canadian shared this link with me. It's an article about Feminism in Sport. It calls for men to embrace feminism and calls out those who report on sporting success with sexism. It's a good read.
http://www.vankayak.com/blog/2016/8/1...

That's a very good read Diana - thanks!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lAMy...
[Why we need feminism (HK student edition)]
this is a video made by the seniors in my school, and I think it's quite worth sharing so here it is :)

An article about online trolling to appear in TIME, it seems a lot of trolling is focused against feminism.

How Trolls Are Ruining the Internet

http://time.com/4457110/internet-trol...

It reminds me also of the backlash EW got for speaking at the UN (not mentioned in this article specifically).

'I Wear a headscarf and I don't need to be saved from anything - except white feminism' an interesting read: http://mg.co.za/article/2016-08-25-i-...

Ha! Love it Meel.

I really loved this article by Brain Pickings about Tesla's view on how technology will unleash women’s true potential: https://www.brainpickings.org/2015/07...

I also love the tittle "When Woman Is Boss". (:

XxXX: 10 interviews with inspiring female scientists

One of them Nergis Mavalvala who discovered gravitational waves predicted by Albert Einstein, being a physicist myself (although not practicing) I find this particularly interesting.

https://www.weforum.org/focus/xxxx-10...

Here is an article from a Paper out of Newfoundland Canada, Basically A female journalist wrote a piece on Feminism and was bashed really hard in the comments and on twitter etc....this article is regarding the newspapers 'fight' back against the trolls comments.

They basically put the comments on their front page with the title of the article "This is NOT OK"

http://www.thetelegram.com/News/Local...

Robert wrote:"fight back against trolls"

The article does raise a broader question what if anything should be done about trolls. Do we just ignore them as attention seekers or do we have a duty to reply to comments about what we rguard as important.

Women particularly seem to be subjected to this although since declaring myself a feminist I have had a few run ins.

I love that he plastered the front page of his Newspaper with all those Trolls comments and called them out. Called them arseholes on the front page. Its impossible to fight trolls but he just used a pretty big platform to do it, and there potentially his customers he was calling out. So it gave me a pretty large smile :))

And finishing his article with a call to feminism.

"But thankfully they are fighting. We’re all better for it and we need to fight with them. It’s how we make the world a little better."-Steve Bartlett

Figured it would be something nice to share here

Thanks Robert. It was great that they plastered it all over the front page! I think that all trolls should be named and shamed :)

Jo wrote: "'I Wear a headscarf and I don't need to be saved from anything - except white feminism' an interesting read: http://mg.co.za/article/2016-08-25-i-......"

This is really interesting. My only argument is that shouldn't religion be personal? Why is it that people feel the necessity to display they belong to a certain religion or community? Be it wearing a bindi (dot on forehead), headscarf, turban or cross I don't really appreciate public display of religion. But that's just me!

The Revenge of Roger’s Angels

How Fox News women took down the most powerful, and predatory, man in media.

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/...

Women should be free to wear what they like as long has it is a free personal choice made by the woman herself.

Abuse of media is a common problem we must not deterred form the important issues we have to address on OSS.

Can someone please remove these spams?

I'm also sorry to whomever this image belonged for violating their privacy. It is wrong on so many levels. :(

Bridge trolls social media version of radio static :)

'Woman seek pay rises as much as men - with less success'
BBC Article - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-37...

Emily Ratajkowski Is Out to Prove That Women Can Be "Serious and Sexual"

http://www.glamour.com/story/emily-ra...

thanks Carly Chaikin for the tip and who commented: "Such a great essay... Men should read this too"

Excellent articles submitted by Jo and Harm which are good examples of highlighting the problems. Now is the time for looking at addressing them.

Initiative like those programs described in the months book "half the sky" and even those form our own HeforShe need backing form individuals and governments.

To effect change we need the political will of our leaders so each of us must keep equality at the forefront of our minds when choosing them.

Great food for thought! :)

I agree with you too Ross in that we all need to support those willing to use the platform they have to effect change for the better. If its looking at a politicians equality policy, writing to your local paper, supporting and offering words of encouragement to those celebrities that want to speak out for this cause(we have to drown out the trolls). etc....so many ways

So when we see it we should go give Emily Ratajkowski a digital High Five or send an email to a writer of an article letting them know we appreciate their efforts cause god knows people who think the opposite sure as heck tell them.

Cheers :) I'm off to send an email to a stranger I think

'Go Smoke Free. Stay Pretty.' The health Campaigns that haven't heard of feminism: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandst...

Jo wrote:"health campaign that haven't heard of feminism"

Wow surprising given they appear to be in the 1970's amazing they still produce this stuff.

Video did make me smile Ana/Meelie may even be guys out there think it is real :)

Jo wrote: "'Go Smoke Free. Stay Pretty.' The health Campaigns that haven't heard of..."

Yes some of them are in very bad taste. But I don't necessarily agree with the one about alcohol especially if it is aimed solely at pregnant women and not women in general. It is same IMHO as telling everyone not to drive after consuming alcohol, I don't think the intention is to undermine anyone's intelligence.

About smoking, well, since I've seen this long long ago:
https://youtu.be/Ka1PeNNi6dg
I don't think it is particularly offensive!

Ashwin wrote: " yes some of them are in very bad taste"

They all seem at best patronising at worst just plain sexist and we really should not still having to deal with this stuff in 2016.

'Unsterotyped: Muslim feminists fight for change': http://money.cnn.com/2016/03/18/news/...

It's always nice to hear about feminism from people with different backgrounds to your own. :)

Great article Jo. It is gratifying to see different aspects of feminism in action.

Hey I just came across this article:
In Senegal, young women challenge boundaries through coding"

I think this is pretty amazing.

Thats very cool Ashwin!!
I found an article titled ' The Commune in Ethiopia where Feminism is the Law': http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/...

'Would you let your son wear pink shoes?' http://www.ravishly.com/2016/09/08/wo...


Personally, as a mother of 2 boys my short answer would be yes, I would have no problem with them wearing pink shoes - but if they were a certain age I might (in the back of my mind) worry that they might get bullied for it, which is a huge shame because it's just a colour and it shouldn't be that way.

I'm the only one posting here now, everyone else seems to have given up :P haha

I found this fun article on buzzfeed '18 things feminism has destroyed' https://www.buzzfeed.com/hannahjewell...

Hi Jo, you are not alone :)

It is Interesting how social conventions are hard to shake off even by the principled such as yourself and hopefully me. Would you let a male child wear satin or shifon, should not be a problem but it would be is it just because of the potential bulling or would the obvious feminine symbolism be at issue. Not sure there myself.

Your article is fascinating seems we have ended civiliation as we know it maybe a price worth paying, I am only partially speaking in jest here. Certainly time for things to change :) though eliminating romance seems a step to far ;)

How Did A Woman Win A Science Writing Prize?

this is a sort of blog-post style written comment by one of the jurors of a prestigious book prize who scorns at a Guardian editor for attacking the author for being ... a woman

http://www.forbes.com/sites/grrlscien...