Weekly round-up and open thread

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Welcome to another (slightly late!) weekly round-up, where we share (what we see as) the most interesting and important articles and essays from the previous seven days. This week’s collection of links includes everything from Beyonce’s “Lemonade” to feminist narrowboats! We’d love to hear your thoughts on either (or both!) of these subjects or on any of the other issues covered.

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 gender pay gap will screw you, even after you retire (The Pool)

Asian-American Actresses Call Scarlett Johansson’s ‘Ghost in the Shell’ Role “Blackface” (Hollywood Reporter)

Idle Women: Creating a female-friendly arts space on a narrowboat (BBC)

From the article:

“In part, this a conversation about the arts and a woman’s place in the arts, but it’s also about our place in everyday life – the way we constantly have to consider our security. Whether that’s walking home at night or in our relationships with men, and the things that we have to navigate in terms of inequality or our role as mothers.”

“The issues for women are everywhere and it’s really important that we have a space to just be. It doesn’t have to be about looking at those issues.”

“I think the starting place always has to be about women and women’s capacity to breathe, so let’s take it from there and see what impact that has.”

We have to teach girls about more than consent – let’s teach them refusal (New Statesman)

Rules about how to behave in pregnancy diminish women’s freedom (The Conversation)

An Unbelievable Story of Rape (The Marshall Project) CONTENT WARNING: This article contains lengthy descriptions of stalking and rape.

Nicola Sturgeon: We should help kids make informed choices about their gender and sexual identity (Pink News)

Polyamorous women aren’t just ‘pleasing their man’ – it’s a choice (The Guardian)

From the article: “The story where the woman wants just one guy for ever is easier to tell – especially when men are the ones telling it.”

If you’re interested in the subject area covered in the above post, you can also read Megan Stodel’s on polyamorous women, Opening up and shutting down.

Oh for the days when we merely tolerated the Queen (The Guardian)

Feminist Twitter Celebrates Prince’s Life & Transgressive Masculinity (Bustle)

My hero: Victoria Wood by AL Kennedy (The Guardian)

What Beyoncé’s “Lemonade” Means to Young Black Women (Feminist Culture)

Students vote to sabotage plans to rate teaching in universities (The Guardian)

Facing psychological coercion and manipulation has become a daily part of claiming benefits (The Conversation)

Labour’s ban on McDonald’s is no snobbery, it’s crucial support for its staff (The Guardian)

Domestic violence: ‘Home Office must act to save lives’ (The Ferret)

A Brief History Of Women In Slapstick Comedy (The Establishment)

Blast off! Why has astronaut Helen Sharman been written out of history? (The Guardian)

The image is used with the permission of L.Taylor. It shows the outline of an apple blossom tree against a bright blue sky.