Laurie and Debbie say:
Badgerbag contributes these two related and contrasting links on how women feel about their post-pregnancy bodies:
Joy Unexpected is a woman desperately struggling with her stretch marks and her self-image, unable to hear her husband’s (or anyone’s) reassurance.
The Shape of a Mother gave Joy Unexpected the courage to post pictures (along with lots of other women) and get positive responses. This is what the internet is for.
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As many people have noted, Blog Against Racism Week can easily be an excuse not to blog (or work) against racism for the other 51 weeks. At the same time, some extraordinary posts come out of these bursts of single-topic activity. We especially wanted to be sure you saw “How to Suppress Discussions of Racism, a brilliant take on Joanna Russ’s book How to Suppress Women’s Writing (which we also wholeheartedly recommend to anyone who has missed it). A useful and informative update can also be found here.
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On a most disturbing note, it would appear that, at least in New York State, children with disabilities are not protected by the Geneva Convention. It’s no secret to anyone who reads the papers that the U.S. is considers itself above the law (and below any reasonable standard of human behavior), but electric shock treatments for public-school students is, to say the least, extreme.
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To end the list on a different note, Alisha at Feminist Figure has posted the Carnival of Feminists XIX. As our regular readers know, these carnivals are invariably interesting and thought-provoking. Alisha decided to focus on feminism and career, and has found an impressive variety of links on the subject, plus a sampling of links on other feminist issues. Close to our hearts is this post on, not thigh-firming cream but skin-lightening cream, and what it means to this young Jordanian feminist.
“You are evil for enforcing the stereotype that with fairness comes beauty, as I’m sure a lot of the girls watching your stupid commercials actually fall for your claims and start feeling bad about their gorgeous olive-skinned complexions. … You are offensive for advertising your product with the stereotype that women have to be beautiful to be successful, rather than putting down the great qualities of wit, knowledge, self-confidence, and various other personality traits that we should encourage rather than dispel.”