And now, after a brief hiatus, the Links Round Up: Week Ending 11 August 2013

[frolicnaked.livejournal.com]

Sorry it's been gone so long. I did some unexpected traveling this summer and then never really got back into the swing of things.

Until now. :)

For folks who don't know, the LRU is a compilation of items from the past week that may be of interest to VPers and is intended to broaden the kinds of conversations we have here.

To submit articles for next week's round-up, e-mail frolicnaked@vaginapagina.com. If you have additional articles you'd like folks to know about this week, feel free to comment directly to this post.

As a reminder, in lieu of trigger warnings, I use keywords describing the themes of the piece. Please skim these before deciding to read the excerpt or click through for the full article. Outside sources are not safe spaces, and mainstream source's comments should almost always be avoided. The links I highlight don't necessarily reflect VP's views, or even my own, for that matter.

This week's round-up includes: intent versus impact; stereotypes about race and motherhood; an analysis of the "Camp Gyno" advertisement; pregnancy discrimination 101; weightlifting and uterine prolapse; and the latest fertility app.

1. Intent vs. Impact: Why Your Intentions Don’t Really Matter by Jamie Utt at Everyday Feminism (Keywords: privilege, marginalization, language, intent)
   

   I cannot tell you how often I’ve seen people attempt to deflect criticism about their oppressive language or actions by making the conversation about their intent.
   
   At what point does the “intent” conversation stop mattering so that we can step back and look at impact?
   
   After all, in the end, what does the intent of our action really matter if our actions have the impact of furthering the marginalization or oppression of those around us?
   
   In some ways, this is a simple lesson of relationships.

   
   



2. PhD Mama: A Pregnant, Latina Academic Debunks Traditional Myths of Motherhood by Cynthia Estremera at Beyond Baby Mamas (Keywords: race, class, education, pregnancy, motherhood)
   

   I’d never pictured my life the way it is now. I never ever saw “single motherhood” as a lifestyle choice. I couldn’t equate the union of those two words for me, let alone the lack of a union between two people conceiving a child. At one point, I looked down on the women around me for allowing “it” to happen to them, as if it were a preventable disease. I thought if I did everything right, if I was a “good girl,” that I would have “something” to show for it. I believed I had put myself in the best position to take the traditional steps toward life and children. Love, degree, house and ring, then marriage and bab[ies].
   
   But it didn’t happen that way.
   

   
   



3. Guest Post: Camp Gyno: Periods, Knowledge, and Power by C.S. Jack at Balancing Jane (Keywords: menstruation, adolescence, sex education, advertising)
   

   What’s so amazing about this ad? It’s not just its boldness, although Camp Gyno’s dismissal of the euphemistic squeamishness typical of advertising for menstruation-related products is long overdue. For audiences raised on the tampon-ad clichés of blond women being active in white pants, cuddling with boys and frolicking on beaches, it’s a thrill to see preteen Macy McGrail’s portrayal of a summer camp nobody turned tampon-wielding menstrual expert who dares to say words like vagina and dubs her period “the red badge of courage.”
   

   
   



4. Pregnancy Discrimination 101: What it is, and what you can do about it by Dave Casserly at Disrupting Dinner Parties (Keywords: employment, pregnancy, discrimination, gender expectations)
   

   When I say pregnancy discrimination, I mean actions employers take against employees because those employees either are pregnant, were pregnant, or might be pregnant in the future. This includes not hiring pregnant women as a general policy, which, believe it or not, happens. In fucking 2013. Okay, maybe that link was from 2011 but the case just settled now, in 2013, and things haven’t changed all that much in two years. But pregnancy discrimination can be subtle, too, such as when women, particularly young, recently-married women, find it harder to get promoted or get important assignments because their employers think they might take maternity leave at some point. Or when employers retaliate against employees who take maternity leave.
   

   
   



5. Untangling the relationship between weightlifting and uterine prolapse by Caitlin Constantine at Fit and Feminist (Keywords: uterine prolapse, weightlifting, fitness, health)
   

   Let me back up. I started down this path after reading a blog post in which the author wrote about encouraging girls to move their own furniture. A commenter piped up to say that she wishes people wouldn’t encourage girls and women to lift heavy because in doing so, they are setting them down the path to develop uterine prolapse later in life.
   
   Initially I was stunned into disbelief. I couldn’t believe I was actually seeing someone make the argument that women should not lift heavy things because it might cause their uteruses to fall out through their vaginas.
   

   
   



6. Glow vs. Stick by Farhad Manjoo at Slate (Keywords: fertility, sex, trying to conceive, pregnancy, technology, privacy)
   

   My meeting the other day with a hot new San Francisco startup began routinely enough. Ikea-furnished office full of Macs, shaggy company dog, high-end iced coffee—check. Then former PayPal CEO Max Levchin walked in and started talking about cervical mucus. And about sexual positions, and whether certain configurations work best for conception. “Does female orgasm make a difference?” asked Mike Huang, one of the startup's co-founders.* It was around the time that Levchin declared his intention to “help crowdfund a lot of babies” that I worried I’d been sucked into an Onion parody of TechCrunch.

   
   

Thoughts on any of these stories? Also, what have you been reading (or writing!) this week?