SUNDAY LINKS

August 9 2015
from the bb desk

This past week, I, a cis lady, went with my partner, a cis man, to rent a car that I had rented in my name with my credit card. The person at the counter at the car rental place could not fathom that I am able to perform these tasks, and ignored me the whole time: after I provided my credit card and ID to confirm the rental, the person tried to hand the cards back to my partner. When it was time to sign the rental and insurance agreement, the person tried to give my partner the pen. I am RIGHTEOUSLY MAD, have sent MANY LETTERS, and have every intention of being fully refunded for this gender bullshit. I will let you know how it goes. Let this also serve as an official notice that if you ever need help drafting a RIGHTEOUSLY MAD letter to an institution who HAS WRONGED YOU, you can write to dear bb.

This week in Things That Are The Best, post office workers in Saskatoon are trying to refuse to deliver anti-choice pamphlets mailed out by the Canadian Centre for Bio-Ethical Reform, an organization notable for their contempt of people with uteruses. This week in Things That Are Bad, Canada Post has ordered workers to deliver the violent propaganda. I heard on the radio that the original Canada Post workers aren’t going to be sanctioned, and that other employees will just deliver the envelopes for them? But I can’t find an article so I guess just ruminate on the fact that if we didn’t have to work for money I have a feeling we’d be less alienated from each other. Just a hunch.

Etymological explanation of latin derived spells in Harry Potter: the quality content I live for.

Go watch this short piece on teaching poetry and creative writing in prisons.

My favourite kind of children are the kind of children who prove old cis dudes with an inordinately powerful platform from which to spew their garbage politics wrong by literally googling some shit. Long live Rebecca Fried.

“[T]he province and natural resource corporations have long desired ‘certainty’ on the Indian land question–by which they mean the extinguishment of any indigenous claims to lands, rights and sovereignty, present and future.” Julian Brave NoiseCat, a member of the Tsq’escenemc, on the 64 First Nations involved in an unfolding and deeply lopsided treaty process in British Columbia.

Emotional labour and how to do it: hetero and cisnormative, but cogent, validating, and informative. See also a biting sendup of how not to perform effective emotional labour.

TW for transmisogynoir: Another black trans woman was a target of violence this week; a 12 year old boy followed her down the street yelling “faggot” and shot at her until he had used up all the bullets in his gun. Despite multiple witnesses corroborating this sequence of events, this woman’s experience only “allegedly” happened, and “for no reason”… I guess racism or transmisogyny aren’t reasons? Also the shots are described as the child “empt[ying] a loaded pistol,” so I guess that means the boy took the gun apart and like, gently poured the bullets into her hand? Read Autostraddle’s guide to helping trans women of colour survive.

How to really defend Planned Parenthood:
We need to say that [people who can get pregnant] have sex, have abortions, are at peace with the decision and move on with their lives. We need to say that is their right, and, moreover, it’s good for everyone that they have this right… When we gloss over these truths we unintentionally promote the very stigma we’re trying to combat.

Just in case you hadn’t decided who not to vote for in this fall’s election: “The union representing scientists and other professionals in the federal public service is abandoning its tradition of neutrality in elections to actively campaign against Prime Minister Stephen Harper.” And, just in case you still hadn’t decided who not to vote for in this fall’s election:
The Harper government stands out as one of the most racist and aggressive governments that First Nations have had to work with in many generations. His government’s pattern of victim-blaming, racist stereotyping, and using misinformation to vilify First Nations leaders in the media has led even the most reserved voices at the United Nations to conclude that Harper’s actions have put “social peace” at risk.

I watched What Happened, Miss Simone? this week. Tanya Steele articulated exactly what I thought about the inclusion of Simone’s abusive former partner’s voice in the documentary. I also thought a lot about the pathologizing of WOC in mental health diagnostic practices, mostly because I feel very strongly that, as this piece explains,
There are situations in which psychological reactions and behaviours may not be pathological but rather logical and predictable responses to racism, harassment, chronic stress, and oppression.
I am not a mental health professional, and I am not someone who has endured chronic mental health issues, and I am also not a dark-skinned black woman. There are many ways in which I have not lived the life that Simone lived. I do, though, feel like her “behaviour,” which winds up being attributed entirely to bipolar disorder, is a perfectly understandable reaction to the misogyny and racism she endured throughout her life. You can read more about blackness and mental health here, here, here, and here; then you should listen to this.

Ugh Stonewall movie being white and cis washed ugh ugh ugh.

These GENDERFLUX tees are the coolest and they are on sale so you could get one if you wanted and even if you don’t want one you could still, I don’t know, get it for someone else who might want it or donate to the project.

FatGirlFlow on the concern trolls who accuse her of “glorifying obesity.”

Read this profile of Issa Rae, mastermind behind The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl.
Her own show was an instant hit online in 2011, and soon a number of networks and production companies expressed interest in adapting ‘‘Awkward Black Girl’’ for prime-time TV. To Rae’s disappointment, most wanted to completely rework the show. Rae recalls a phone conversation with a network executive who wanted to make it into a pan-racial franchise operation, starting with ‘‘Awkward Indian Boy.’’ Another suggested Rae recast the lead with a lighter-skinned actress with long, straight hair — in essence, the exact opposite of Rae. She turned down the offers.

Friendly reminder for this week: kitties are kitties no matter how big they are.

xoxo

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  1. Related to your car rental bs: I once bought takeout food. The counter person kept on looking at my partner (cis dude) even as I ordered. Then, when I paid with MY debit card, which required ME to put in MY PIN, he turned around to my partner and asked “Sir, do you need your receipt?” I was more terribly confused than angry, which is how I mostly go throw life.

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