Things I read recently that I found interesting

Hi and welcome to the semi-regular links roundup! Here are some things I read recently that I found interesting.

Feminism and Fragility (Sara Ahmed)- This is glorious, a longread on breaking and the fragments coming together.

‘Sorry, we can’t ban everything that offends you’ – the Julie Bindel school of fighting the wrong fight (Jonathan Boniface)- Shit that shouldn’t need saying, said very very well indeed.

You went back to being a man? (Wail Qasim)- Wail attacks femmephobia in the gay community.

“I Sit on Her Face All Day”: A Conversation on Sex and Wheelchairs– Wheelchair users talk to each other about sex, their wheelchairs, and assumptions made about them.

A feminist’s guide to making guys like Roosh V irrelevant (Eleanor Robertson)- Perhaps the most effective solution to men like Roosh V.

Roosh V is your comrade (ItIsIWhoWillIt)- Uncomfortable truths.

How Full-Time Airbnb Landlords Are Making the Housing Crisis Even Worse (Corin Faife)- They’re also probably breaking the law, so while I don’t usually advocate telling the authorities, I’m willing to make exceptions!

7 Things That Happen When You’re The Child Of An Alcoholic (Seaneen Molloy-Vaughan)- Brutally honest, beautifully written.

The real reasons we are silent about depression (Sean Faye)- Warts-and-all look at depression, and how it makes it impossible to talk about itself.

The Three Letter Word Missing From the Zika Virus Warnings (Paula Young Lee)- Zika Virus warnings are putting all of the responsibility onto women, when someone else is involved in causing a pregnancy…

Sheryl Sandberg and Christine Lagarde have done nothing to advance feminism (Dawn Foster)- A shortread, summing up a lot of the arguments presented in Dawn’s book, Lean Out, which you should totally read, here’s why.

Tory Smear Campaign: ‘Playing dirty’ Tricks with Women’s Lives (Sisters Uncut)- Sisters Uncut have uncovered a scandal. A Portsmouth councillor is planning on smearing them. Read this, and remember if the smear comes out.

Cat Funerals in the Victorian Era (Mimi Matthews)- My new aesthetic. But seriously, this is a very interesting article on a little bit of forgotten history.

Support for the Empire Shows it Matters Who Controls the Past (Tom Cutterham)- A recent poll found high levels of people proud of the British Empire. This is perhaps largely to do with how we look at its history.

“But, do you think Empire was really all that bad?” (Maya Goodfellow)- And in case you’re wondering just what’s so godawful about the British Empire, here’s a brief overview.

To Fall Free: Overcoming Cultural Cringe (Benjanun Sriduangkaew)- Meditations on how Thailand is represented in literature. Worth reading her short story That Which Stands Tends Toward Free Fall after.

A successful black woman saying “I deserve this” is exactly what we need (Bridget Minamore)- On the Oscars, and how Shonda Rhimes is doing great things for television, which we must hope to see translated into film.

Does AA have a problem with women? (Sean Faye)- The second from Sean this week, because she’s just that good. This is a great article, with stories from women about awful things they encountered.

Why I Just Dropped The Harassment Charges The Man Who Started GamerGate. (Zoe Quinn)- This is sadly too common a story: how charges are dropped.

Why Won’t Hipsters Integrate? (Raf)- Tongue-in-cheek, makes a damn good point and pissed off all the right people, that’s how satire should work.

And finally, oh holy shit, it’s another kitten cam!