In the Blog

Mid-Week Round Up September 11

September 11th, 2014     by Jessie Hale     Comments

Illustration: Erin McPhee

Shameless Mid-Week Roundup September 10, 2014

A new study shows that women with children are less likely to be hired than women without children. They’re also paid less on average and are less likely to be perceived as competent at their jobs. Men with children, on the other hand, are paid slightly more than men without, suggesting that the working world is still full of outdated notions of parenthood and gender.

Groundbreaking science-fiction author Ursula K. LeGuin has been awarded the prestigious Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters, which recognizes an individual author’s career and impact on American literature. LeGuin has won multiple writing awards for her genre-bending novels such as The Left Hand of Darkness, which envisions a society without gender.

(Trigger Warning for violence) Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice was suspended indefinitely by the NFL after disturbing video emerged of him knocking his fiancée (now wife) Janay Palmer unconscious. Rice’s domestic violence was known before the video went viral, but the suspension was initially only for two games. The NFL has been repeatedly criticized for looking the other way when its players are accused of violence against women. Read more on why you shouldn’t watch the video.

The #WhyIStayed and #WhyILeft hashtags emerged on Twitter in response to critics who ask why Janay Palmer would stay with her abuser. Once again, Twitter is being used as a powerful feminist education tool (recall #YesAllWomen and #SolidarityIsForWhiteWomen, among many others).

There’s still a long way to go, but a recent New York Times article argues that representations of women and girls in film are getting better. Mega-hits like Frozen, The Hunger Games and Maleficent, along with smaller fare like Beasts of the Southern Wild and Hanna, show women and girls as troublemakers, heroines, villains and human beings.

Tags: body politics, gender, media savvy, news flash

« Advice Column: Advice about not taking crap, and doing it with grace

A report from SWTO 2014: Part 1 »