Weekly Round-up and Open Thread

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Welcome to another weekly round-up, where we share (what we see as) the most interesting and important articles and essays from the previous seven days.

At the beginning of last week we woke to the sad news that iconic musician and all-around cultural trailblazer David Bowie had died. You can read what he meant to A-Level student Melanie in her article for the F-Word, Gender is Performance! However, among the outpourings of grief and tributes, there was a fair amount of unease from certain quarters about Bowie’s status as an unchallenged feminist icon. You can read more about this in the articles below and we would love to hear your thoughts.

As always, linking to articles does not mean endorsement from the F-Word and certain links may be triggering. We welcome debate in the comments section and on Facebook/Twitter but remind readers that any comments containing sexist, racist, homophobic, transphobic or disablist language will be deleted immediately.

If you notice that we’ve missed out any important articles from the past week, feel free to let us know!

The “Carol” Oscars Snub: The Problem Isn’t Lesbians, It’s Misandry (By Heather Hogan, AutoStraddle)

8 incredible Oscar-worthy performances that deserved nominations (By Nikita Richardson, Hello Giggles)

Amy Winehouse, Kurt Cobain and the Gendering of Martyrdom (By Molly Beauchemin, Pitchfork)

UK a long way from transgender equality, MPs say (BBC News)

It’s time to end the ‘last acceptable racism’ – against Gypsies and Travellers (Mike Doherty, The Guardian)

‘Lovely and Slim’ (Kuir Fest)

Three misfit polyamorous queers poke fun at the social pressure to be lovely and slim to an ironic soundtrack. Filmed in a day in the trio’s front room, this delightful short celebrates funny-looking bodies, lo-fi values, DIY and punk philosophy throughout.

Notes Towards a Theory of the Manarchist (Strike!)

CONTENT WARNING: misogyny, sexual assault, rape

From the article: “The Manarchist is the best activist. He knows this in his heart. The Manarchist proposes the most radical actions, articulates the most meaningful theories. He alone is enlightened. We all must read Adorno, but only the Manarchist understands him properly…”

Sex Equality: State of the Nation 2016 (The Fawcett Society)

The rebel feminist artists of the 70s, uncensored (By Alice Newell-Hanson, i-d)

Some Complex Thoughts on David Bowie and Consent (Ferrett)

From the article: “In the end, I think it’s good to promote models of consent. And it’s good to call out people who violate models of consent. But if we get so caught up on the model that we actively ignore people saying, “No, wait, this was actually a positive event in my life” after they’ve had literally decades to ponder its effect, then I think we’ve abandoned some essential principle of humanity in the pursuit of an ideal.”

David Bowie, rock star groupies and the sexually adventurous ’70s: “Labeling us as victims in retrospect is not a very conscious thing to do” (By Scot Tinberg, Salon)

How Labyrinth led me to David Bowie (By Charlotte Richardson-Andrews, The Guardian)

David Bowie was wonderful. He was also an abuser. How do we handle that? (By Aoife, Consider the Tea Cosy)

The following post is a response piece to the comments Aoife received on her first post about David Bowie (above).

Aoife is a vile opportunist attention-seeker, jumping on a bandwagon for clicks and money (By Aoife, Consider the Teacosy)

From the article: “What on earth is wrong with wanting attention in the first place? Let’s say that I did want attention. That I wrote a post on a blog so that other people could read it. And then I shared it on social media so that people would read it. Let’s say that I liked it when more people started to read it. Let’s say that I loved writing and would love to earn a living from it. Maybe I took the time to think about what topics people would like to read about, and then spent more time writing them. Why do you have a problem with that?”

Reconciling David Bowie’s genius with rape (Dr Rebecca Haines)

David Bowie: Death of an author (Really Ely?)

David Bowie: Time to mourn or call out? (Aida Manduley)

The following post was published last year but it’s worth reading again given circumstances, which is why it’s being included.

What Is It About Our Artists and Very Young Girls? (By Emily, XOJane)

The image is used under a creative commons license with thanks to Wowser on Flickr. It shows David Bowie holding a beautiful Abyssinian cat. In the photo, Bowie’s hair is dyed blonde and is tousled at the front. He is wearing a black leather jacket and is holding the cat protectively against his chest.