Links: January 16, 2011

Ded Gurl Cingz the Blooze: “White Feminist and the Purity Obsession” (audio)

Discussing how white feminist bloggers fail to address the population of women on the planet who are denied virginity/chastity, and instead talk about the pressure of virginity, and things like virginity pledges as if this is a reality true of all women.

No Excuses/No Mercy: “Cosmopolitan Magazine Encourages Sexist Bullshit: More at 11!”. . . huh, I didn’t know Tristan Taormino writes for Cosmo. [TW for porn/rape-culture-soaked ‘sex advice’.]

Femanon: “By Any Other Name: Mail-Order Brides and Sex Trafficking”. . . fabulous essay. Hell yes she got an A : )

GenderTrender brings us yet another what?-OMG-no-way news story. . . “‘Transwoman’ fights for experience of living in all-girls dorm.”

Echidne of the Snakes: “The Stereotype Threat. Or Priming Gender”. . . part six in Echidne’s series on sex, gender, and science.

Colorlines: “Poet Susana Chavez’s Death Sparks Outrage in Juarez.” [TW for graphic descriptions of violence and reference to sexual violence.]

Chavez is one of over 500 women in Juarez who have been found murdered in the last decade. And her death has caused an uproar because she had been one of few to speak out against the growing femicide, coining the phrase, “Ni una mas,” (“Not one more) and routinely criticizing local authorities for refusing to properly investigate the crimes. Her death has cast new suspicions about local authorities’ ability to handle the cases. That is to say that they’ve largely chosen to ignore them; so far, 92 percent of cases of women who’ve been murdered in the region remain unsolved.

NYT: Frank Rich column, “No One Listened to Gabrielle Giffords.” [TW for violence and some ableist language.] Good piece on its own, but also a goldmine for links to news stories regarding recent insurrection language, threats, violence, etc.

Media Matters: “Beck’s Incendiary Rhetoric Has Motivated Threats, Assassination Attempts”. . . oh, look. Words do have DIRECT consequences sometimes too. [TW for violence.]