So. Micheal Jackson is dead. I am having serious trouble processing that. I expected to hear this when I myself was much older. Not now. I wasn’t ready for now. Damn. *sigh* His songs were always there… I liked most of them, but these were my favs Stranger in Moscow and Dirty Diana May he RIP. Damn that’s so freaking surreal…

Anyway. Links.

First, the heavy posts:

Timing Is Everything: Nicolas Sarkozy Defends Women’s Rights by Restricting Them More feminism being used as a pretext for racism. Perfect.

I Didn’t Know “Rest In Peace” Came with a Citizenship Requirement! Yeah, I can’t comment on this one. Because the language I would be using is not allowable in polite company. At all.

And…with very very very STRONG TRIGGER WARNINGS:
Intersectionality and Rape There is a large conversation about rape going on on LJ and I thought that this post was a very very good compilation of links to intelligent posts on the topic.

Then, the thinky posts:

The Intersection of Race and Steampunk: Colonialism’s After-Effects & Other Stories, from a Steampunk of Colour’s Perspective [Essay] Excellent article. But Racialicious consistently brings the cool, don’t they?

Speak CD

Finally, the lighter posts:

The writer of the Steampunk article above, Jha, introduced me to the blog of one Talulah Mankiller. People. You read to be reading her. Seriously.

Take for instance her hilarious and on point eviseration of romance novel tropes in I Love My Dead Gay Husband I&II.

Orgasming Through Penetration Alone

Guys, I took Women’s Health: for most women, this just does not happen on a regular basis, if at all. It’s not because they “haven’t found the right man”; it’s because it’s often physically impossible. So please stop writing this–in some states, romance novels are what passes for sex ed. Think of the children who will one day grow up to be disillusioned, sexually frustrated adults if you keep writing this shit. Do you really want them killing you in a fit of post-coital rage? I didn’t think so.

People, speaking as someone whose expectations are STILL messed up by that pervasive bit of batshittery? I cheered! How can you not love her like I do? And she has more! See I Love My Dead Gay Husband III: Still Dead. Still Gay. And Now with Bonus Manic Episodes (especially the part about the Creamy white thighs *snerks*) and The Werewolf Ate my Homework for a dissection of the wonderful (barf-inducing) world of YA Fiction!

In terms of recs for this week? The Al Jazeera English Program Artsworld, on youtube. Its an absolutely fascinating look at art from around the world, from English gardens to Canadian DNA art to Ghanaian coffins (when I die, I want a book-shaped coffin let me tell you) to Tunisian glassblowing and tons more!

And that’s it for this week! Have yourselves a peaceful weekend!