Links to Love March
It used to be when I put together a links post, I'd kind of cobble together anything interesting that I'd read in the past few days. It was always stuff that I liked, but sometimes it could be a bit... flimsy, maybe. Since I started the new blog, though, I've been curating the links a little more, setting aside the best of what I've read or seen over the course of a whole month. I was fascinated, or depressed, or excited by each and every one of these, so I hope you enjoy them as well.
Fostering Profit: Abuse and Neglect in America's For-Profit Foster Care
When I was a kid, my best friend and her siblings were removed from the house of their parents. I just remember spending all day crying because I was worried that I would never see her again.
Her story ended up being a fairly happy one - she was back with her parents in just a couple of months, her situation improved and none the worse for wear. For these kids, though, they left one terrible situation just to end up in another. There's a lot wrong with the foster care system, and it's going to take a lot to fix it. The first thing that I would recommend would be making sure that parents get the support that they need to offer their kids a stable home.
Did you know that because of early film technology, actors and actresses would paint their faces blue (which read as white) and their lips yellow (which read as dark) for filming? I didn't. So weird, and so cool
You guys know how much I loved Agent Carter, and I think that this article, which examines both the both the positives and the negatives of how the show deals with gender, does an excellent job laying out the case for the show. I think they actually make a good point - Peggy is wonderful, but the other women in the show get the short end of the stick. I don't know if we'll get a second season of this amazing show, but I hope we do, and I hope they're a little more even handed with their treatment of women then.
Flow Hive Delivers Honey On Tap Without Stressing Out the Bees
Ok, so this story is really interesting, but one of the reasons that I wanted to post it was that it reminded me of a song that used to come up on my Lykke Li Pandora station. It was this kind of chilled out version of a song that I would swear was called Honey For the Bees, sung by a woman that sounded a bit like Regina Spektor. Does anyone know it?
Makeup and Male-to-Female Transition: A Look At How Beauty and Gender Coincide
I love makeup, and I think it can do amazing things to shape identity and how you see yourself. I think this article, which is about a trans woman and how she uses makeup, is a fascinating look into just how much of an impact makeup can make.
Dehli Rapist Says Victim Shouldn't Have Fought Back
This made me sick to my stomach. The brutal rape of the New Delhi student was so shocking, so horrifying, that it set off a wave of protests in Indian and around the world, and yet the men that committed it show no remorse or regret, even in the face of their immanent deaths.
Part of the mind rebels against that. I would love to think of them as monsters, to think that mere men couldn't do that and feel nothing, but the fact is that they are all too human. People become monsters when they start to view others as less than human, and it is both terrible and true that in many parts of the world, that's how women are seen.
I actually have some friends that really enjoy LARPing, which is something that even I, nerd princess that I am, can't quite get into. But historical LARPing? In a fucking castle? Where do I sign up?
Young, Black, and Victorian: Wonderful Photographs of Victorian Women of Color
I absolutely fell in love with these photographs of young African-American women for the 19th century. You so rarely get to see this side of the black experience in the United States, and I think this series of photographs does an amazing job of bringing these beautiful women to life. Of course, not many African-American women (or men, for that matter) would have had the funds to sit for a portrait, and seeing these photos shouldn't erase how difficult life would have been for millions of former slaves, and their children, not long after the Civil War.
Look
There's one there
A Black Woman
She's
She's reading
I really can't get over how funny this Tumblr is. Maybe this is old news for you guys, but I was almost in tears laughing at some of these. This one was probably my favorite - the weird, casual display of distance between the black and white illustrations is so bizarre to the modern eye that it's hard not to read it as just a little racist. The rest of the captions are just as on point.
So, some sad news - Terry Pratchett, author of the Discworld books, died yesterday. I first read his books when I was just a kid, checking them out of the library and consuming them like literary popcorn. They were funny, sharp, and deeply human, and even as an adult my joy in them never diminished. I was crying at work when I found out, and I'm tearing up just thinking about it now. I kind of can't believe that such a joyful spirit has had his story come to an end so soon. Sir Terry, I'm going to miss the hell out of you.
But hey, I hope everyone has a great weekend. Don't forget, tomorrow is Pi Day! So get some pie, recite some numbers, and maybe go bracelet shopping online?
