Feminist Friday 5.8

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So I know I’m behind the times on this (that’s how I roll) (as evidenced by my usage of the phrase “that’s how I roll”) but as I was going through my links for today’s post, I found this one by The Bloggess. She is my personal hero, of course. While silly, I also think this is really valuable to keep in mind in terms of body image. A thumb face selfie is one where you, like, try to make yourself look like a thumb with a face. It’s the thing these days for pretty girls to do, and not only are the funny faces funny enough to make you laugh tears, but it’s also a reminder that “pretty” is a weird concept applied to a very narrow ideal for women. So, basically, I took thumb face selfies FOR FEMINISM. YOU ARE WELCOME. And then, just for kicks, I uploaded them to how-old.net (be aware that this gives Microsoft the right to use your photos) just to see how old I am. As it turns out, my thumbiest face is that of a 22-year-old man. Because of course.

Now, ONTO THE LINKS!

Follow SOAM:
~TIAW on Tumblr, Pinterest and Facebook.
~SOAM on Twitter and Facebook.
~Participate here on SOAM.

Interesting articles from around the Web:
~I LOVE THIS KID. I think it’s so important to normalize menstruation, but there aren’t too many teenage boys who agree with that. So here’s this kid and he’s just my absolute hero.
~Miss Piggy is going to receive a feminist award! Which. Well. I LOVE Muppets and I LOVE LOVE Miss Piggy so yay! But I have to wonder if this doesn’t distract from the hard work many feminists are doing this year? (I KNOW. I feel like I have to punish myself for even saying that Miss Piggy isn’t a hard-working feminist. BAD MUPPET NERD, BONNIE.) Perhaps they could have double up on the awards this year?

On a much more somber note:
~This is heartbreaking and nauseating. I just don’t even have words for how devastating it is.
~And this isn’t much better.

See something that belongs in the Feminist Fridays? send it to me either at my email address (theshapeofamother@gmail.com) or over on the Facebook page.

Feminist Friday 2.20

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So this is a thing I used to do over at TIAW (the now-defunct This is a Woman) and then for awhile over at Zebrabelly. I’d collect a bunch of links I found important for other women to read and share them. Sometimes it was uplifting stuff, sometimes it was angry-making stuff, sometimes it was deep stuff necessary for emotional growth, and sometimes it was just pure silliness, but always it was important (silly is important, mkay?). I’m going to start trying to bring this back here at SOAM every Friday. Let’s see if I can make this happen, huh? Feel free to send me any appropriate links you come across, either at my email address (theshapeofamother@gmail.com) or over on the Facebook page.

~TIAW on Tumblr, Pinterest and Facebook.
~SOAM on Twitter and Facebook.
~Participate here on SOAM.

Around the Web:
~There was this controversy (apparently) about an unretouched photo of Cindy Crawford that surfaced this week. It’s kind of a non-story now, but some really important things have come from this. These two quotes perfectly sum up my own feelings about this:

“Now that I know the image was leaked, it kind of changes my response to it,” said body image expert and author Leslie Goldman. “When we thought she had intentionally released that photo, it was different. We thought she was putting it out there to say ‘I’m not perfect either.'”

The Marie Claire photo may have been circulated under circumstances that were dubious at best, but according to Goldman, that doesn’t diminish the value of seeing a legendary supermodel with flaws. “Women everywhere are feeling empowered, relieved and grateful to her,” Goldman said. “I just wish it had come about under her control.”

~And in extremely similar news, Beyonce also had unretouched photos of her leaked without (I think?) her permission. You know what? Both of these ladies are beautiful, imperfections and all.

~One woman’s awesome response to online misogynist threats.

~And to elaborate on that point, this is why we need feminism.

~I love all these videos showing women’s fashions through the decades. This one is particularly interesting because it directly reflects the historical context of what was going on in Persia/Iran in each decade. Scroll down to read more about each decade.

~And, in case you missed it, SOAM was featured in a story a couple of weeks ago along with other body-loving sources. Go check it out!

Have a great weekend, you beautiful ladies, you!