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"More than half the questions I am asked are about the politics of the way I look. What it feels like to be not skinny/dark-skinned/a minority/not conventionally pretty/female/etc. It’s not very interesting to me, but I know it’s interesting to people reading an interview. Sometimes I get jealous of white male showrunners when 90 percent of their questions are about characters, story structure, creative inspiration, or, hell, even the business of getting a show on the air. Because as a result, the interview of me reads like I’m interested only in talking about my outward appearance and the politics of being a minority and how I fit into Hollywood, blah blah blah. I want to shout, “Those were the only questions they asked!”"
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Mindy Kaling on institutionalized misogyny

Could we love this woman anymore?  

Lena Dunham and Mindy Kaling Address Gender Bias (Vulture)

mindy kaling lena dunham misogyny gender bias hollywood women in hollywood sexism Feminism celebs quotes

Nov 15, 2013
Woman challenges tradition, brings change to her Kenyan village

edition.cnn.com

Woman challenges tradition, brings change to her Kenyan village

Named one of the top 10 CNN Heroes of 2013, Kakenya Ntaiya is inspiring change in her native Kenyan village after opening its first primary school for girls.

Kakenya was a victim of female gential mutilation when she was 14, but she negotiated a deal with her father, threatening to run away unless he promised she could finish high school after the ceremony: 

“I really liked going to school,” she said. “I knew that once I went through the cutting, I was going to be married off. And my dream of becoming a teacher was going to end.”

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Nov 13, 2013
Swedes Begin Rating Hollywood Movies For Sexism

laist.com

Swedes Begin Rating Hollywood Movies For Sexism

Swedes have begun rating films for their sexism, alongside sex, profanity and violence. The film must pass the Bechdel Test, which has three simple rules: 
1. It has to have at least two [named] women in it
2. Who talk to each other
3. About something besides a man

Sounds easy, right? Well, you’ll be surprised at how many films don’t pass the test, including almost all of the Harry Potter movies. 

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Nov 07, 2013
Police in Beijing have been accused of sexism over safety tips targeting women drivers. In the post, titled “Female drivers, please pay attention and avoid driving mistakes,” police start with the basics. “The handbrake is normally used to keep the...

via BBC News

Police in Beijing have been accused of sexism over safety tips targeting women drivers.

In the post, titled “Female drivers, please pay attention and avoid driving mistakes,” police start with the basics.

“The handbrake is normally used to keep the car stationary. A lot of new female drivers often start to drive in a hurry without releasing the handbrake,” it said.

“This increases resistance to the car and results in consuming more fuel.”

Police have also identified what they regard as another common mistake by women drivers - their alleged inability to remember roads and directions.

“Some female drivers lack a sense of direction and are often hesitant as to which roads to take.

"This is particularly so when [they] drive on roads such as elevated bridges. They often can’t find the entrance or the exit. They can’t remember how to find places which they have been to several times.”

Facepalm. 

(Image source: Shutterstock)

China Driving Beijing Feminism Sexism Police WTF

Nov 01, 2013

Girls allowed? The women on top in the music industry

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Florence Welch and her manager, Mairead Nash, right, at 2012’s Universal Music Brits party

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Mairead Nash, manager of Florence the Machine:“It infuriated me that if women hung out with musicians, they were groupies.”  

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Adrienne Aiken, female producer: “When I meet new people in the music industry, they assume I’m a singer.”

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Amy Morgan, creative director at Beggars Music: “The problems I’ve faced have always been at the mainstream pop end of the industry.”

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Lisa Paulon, who works in music PR/marketing: “The old boys’ clubs are being torn apart." 

(The Guardian)

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Oct 29, 2013
Saudi Arabia's Driving Protest is About Much More Than Women's Right to Get Behind the Wheel

policymic.com

Saudi Arabia's Driving Protest is About Much More Than Women's Right to Get Behind the Wheel

In a country where women are under the legal guardianship of men for their entire lives, (under which guardianship even young girls can be forced into marriage, among many other things), the ban on driving may initially seem insubstantial. But they’re demonstrating for more than the right to drive.

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Oct 28, 2013

John Marcotte has something to say to people who believe that “female geeks” are frauds: 

“My daughters want to be like Diana, warrior princess of the Amazons. They spend hours creating avatars to represent themselves as they explore lands they’ve created in the video game Little Big Planet. They argue over who gets to be Amy Pond and who has to play The Doctor. Their love of these things comes from a place far more pure and honest than any fanboy I have met.

And yet I know, that as they get older and attend a con or two, there will be men there who will treat them rudely. 

In first grade, Anya came home crying because some boys at school made fun of her for wearing a Spider-Man t-shirt. Superheroes were for boys. If the boys had listened, she could have told them that the Spider-Man on her shirt was actually drawn by original artist Steve Ditko from an issue written by his creator Stan Lee– but she was never given that chance. She got over it, but she never wore that shirt to school again. That made me sad.”

Proud Dad of Two Geek Girls (Huffington Post) 

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Oct 25, 2013
Female poets in Afghanistan gather in a little room behind a Kabul cinema to share and publish their poems as part of the Mirman Baheer literary society, which now boasts several hundred members and is popping up in several cities across the country....

Female poets in Afghanistan gather in a little room behind a Kabul cinema to share and publish their poems as part of the Mirman Baheer literary society, which now boasts several hundred members and is popping up in several cities across the country. But they’re risking everything to express their deepest thoughts

“Is poetry worth a life in exile?”

“‘I would prefer a dignified death to a life lived as a hostage in silence,’ is Ms Shabrang’s softly voiced, strongly worded reply. Her work was recently honored with an award by the Afghan chapter of PEN.

Dangerous truth: the Kabul poetry club (BBC)

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Oct 22, 2013
"As a woman you’re still expected to constantly prove yourself, whereas men are allowed to have flops without people blaming it on their gender. If a man has a flop, people will blame it on a variety of factors. But if a woman directs a movie and it doesn’t do well, suddenly it’s because she’s a woman. That’s aggravating to me."
- Diablo Cody on directing in Hollywood

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Oct 21, 2013
"When I was younger, I realized that a nerdy smile and a sweet personality isn’t enough to attract beautiful women. Rejection was not only embarrassing, but also painful. Then, I realized that women love presents like dogs love treats. Just as an unfriendly dog wouldn’t deny a tasty treat, any beautiful girl can be bribed into giving you a first date."
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Brandon Wade, Founder of the Carrot Dating app

Carrot Dating App lets men ‘bribe’ dates out of women (Jezebel) 

Today in WTF. 

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Oct 21, 2013

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