Weekend Recommended Reading

I decided I'm going to do this as a weekend and mid-week feature, since I get too gosh-darn many to post only weekly. Once again, these are articles and blog posts that I think are worthwhile reads that I either don't have time to add my extra comment to (although I often give a mini-comment with each listing-I can't help myself!) or simply require no further comment.

And feel free to comment on a specific article in my reading list if you found it interesting or discussion-worthy!

Without further adieu, the weekend edition:

From Racialicious, "A Different Kind of Asian Image"-a great post about Yuko Shimizu's illustration art of some pretty fab Asian female's who are kick-ass tough and sexy too..and not in the stereotypical superficial way. Check out the post!

I love AfterEllen's birthday tribute to Emma Watson (Hermione in Harry Potter), where they note:

I couldn't be more thankful that the precocious Ms. Watson has reached this milestone with age-appropriate grace and modesty....Besides being a great student who aced her exit examinations, Emma has been a charming role model for young women everywhere. Aside from one leaked photo of Emma drinking a beer (and just a Corona at that, geez) she has kept herself out of the tawdry tabloid pages. No shots of various exposed body parts. No stories of feuds with celebutants. No word of diva behavior. Like I said, refreshing.

Indeed!

Bitch PhD on the cost of war for various countries. Oh the disparity between the U.S. and every other country!

A few great posts on body image and what women's bodies are "supposed" to look like:

From Pretty Little Girls, on one female athlete lamenting her body type, which ends (read the post!) with some positive words to her:

But if my body didn’t look like the elite marathoner I was in my daydreams, I was not a true athlete, and I could not tick off the box labeled as such. No matter that I’ve run races, from 5Ks and 10Ks...On top of my muscle — you know, the virtuous weight, the kind we’re allowed — I have boobs and body fat and curves. Athletes have none of those things. Athletes are all skin, bones, muscle, and drive. No fat. I must look like an athlete or none of my athletic accomplishments count, and ergo, neither do I.

And from the livejournal Trouble Is A State Of Mind the statement: Real Women Exist and Take Up Space...a sort of counter to the effects of "real women have curves" message that then redefines "real women" again with a norm. Real women have bodies. Real women take up space in the world. My mini-soapbox: what we must fight against is the notion that women are their bodies, that they reflect their worth as a human being, that women are first bodies before being humans. Off. Soapbox.

An excellent post from Obsidian Wings on how misguided the (racist, idiotic) statements made by Patrick Buchanan suggesting racial minorities should be "grateful" to the American People (exactly when did black people become not part of the American people?) were.

A brilliant comparison between the U.S. and U.K. Cosmo's at Dirty Rotten Feminist.

I find this attitude much better than the usual grin-and-bear-it version at Cosmo US. I feel our version of Cosmo has made it their mission to shame women into being porned-up fem-bots, willing to do anything to please their man (see this issue’s ”67 New Blow-His-Mind Moves”). However, Cosmo UK told a woman she should not have to do something she doesn’t feel comfortable with, to not take this shit lying down, and throw a nice jab at the pro-porn attitude. I loved it.

A great post by Jill at Feministe about how the prostitutes, not their rich powerful male clients, were forced to testify in the DC Madam trial. The trial was slut shaming at its finest, with fewer social consequences for the guys.