Sunday, December 15, 2013

The Good, the Bad, and the Curious: Catch Up Edition

I've been in a haze of end-of-semester grading/reading/chaos. I've fallen behind on my link round-up duties, but I'm back to fix it! Without further ado, here are the things of the past [two? three?] week[s] that made me smile (The Good), cry (The Bad), and think (The Curious).

The Good

Turns out paying employees a living wage (like Trader Joe's does) doesn't actually bring about the end of the world.

Did you see this great blog carnival as part of the promotion for the Mogul, Mom & Maid book? It looks at balancing motherhood with the rest of life's demands.

Feministing has a round up of feminist music videos of 2013, and it includes this, which I love (but note, this list came out before Beyonce broke the internet with her surprise visual album):


This isn't a link, but I got roller skates, and it made me smile!


Speaking of roller skating, check out the Rollergirl Project that takes a look at the diversity of bodies in roller derby and the impact the sport has on the players. 


The Bad

The Daily Mail pretty outrageously misses the point of Beyonce's "Pretty Hurts" video, using the clips to demonstrate how great she looks even though she's a mom.

Fox News' Megyn Kelly incredulously tells viewers that Santa "just is" white (like Jesus), and when many people (most impressively Jon Stewart) point out how ridiculous that is, she explains that we just can't take a joke.

It looks like Texas Republicans are trying to disenfranchise female voters

We're lining fast food CEO's pockets with our tax dollars in more ways than one, and it's all on the backs of workers being paid subpar wages. 

The Curious

This New York Times article makes the case for filth by saying that the only way to get to house work gender equality is to stop worrying about cleaning:

Hooray for disinvestment. Caring less is the hope of the future. Housework is perhaps the only political problem in which doing less and not caring are the solution, where apathy is the most progressive and sensible attitude. Fifty years ago, it was perfectly normal to iron sheets and to vacuum drapes. They were “necessary” tasks. The solution to the inequality of dusting wasn’t dividing the dusting; it was not doing the dusting at all.

And this New York Magazine article responds with why this won't actually help:

Yes, there are Pinterest divas who spend a lot of time making candles and knitting, as Marche dismissively writes. (Let’s not even go into the fact that he is reflexively dismissing these activities because he associates them with women.) But that is not what we are talking about: No one feels men ought to spend more time making mason jar Christmas ornaments. We are talking about our husbands vacuuming once a month. That is not the “garbage” of gender stereotypes. This is bottom-basement courtesy when you are in a shared living arrangement, regardless of whether your roommates are men, women, children, or animals.
Many (myself included) have been very impressed with the Pope's recent statements about income inequality, but Adele Stahn urges us to remember that he's still endorsing the gender inequality that supports that income inequality.

Is all our praise for creativity just lip service? Jessica Olien thinks so.

Do you log sex as a workout?

A new study demonstrates that memories pass between generations:

Prof Marcus Pembrey, from University College London, said the findings were "highly relevant to phobias, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorders" and provided "compelling evidence" that a form of memory could be passed between generations.
Akiba Solomon brings up some good questions about the ethics of entertainment consumption by examining Jezebel's treatment of R Kelly:
Just as the NAACP nominated this man for an Image Award while he was facing trial for sex with underage girls and actually gave him a 2013 award this year for penning Whitney Houston’s “I Look to You,” I’ve been guilty of choosing pretty melodies over what is right. But this isn’t fodder for jokey joke writing.
It’s called hypocrisy.
So, that's what I've been reading. I hope to do a little more writing over the next few weeks while I'm on "break" (the square quotes are because I have to spend that time writing my dissertation prospectus). I hope everyone's end-of-semester/beginning-of-holidays/December is going great!

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