Weekly round-up and open thread

It’s time for another weekly round-up where we share (what we see as) the most interesting and important articles from the previous seven days. We’d love to hear your thoughts on any of the issues covered in the articles we’ve picked.

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, classist, 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.

My Words to Joanne Rowling Above the Towers of Hogwarts (Grace Lavery, The Stage Mirror)

Is There Space for Disabled People in the Period Positive Movement? (Shona Louise, Rooted in Rights)

From the article: “I am a strong supporter of the period positive movement, which aims to break down the stigma that surround periods while providing education and starting a positive conversation around periods. But I felt like choosing to stop my periods made me less of a supporter, like I was contributing to the stigma or not embracing my period like others do. But disabled people are often forgotten in these conversations within the movement, making me feel even more shut out.”

Pro-choice supporters hold biggest-ever protest against Polish government (Christian Davies, The Guardian)

From the article: “Protests have been held across the country since Poland’s constitutional tribunal declared earlier this month that abortions in instances where a foetus is diagnosed with a serious and irreversible birth defect were unconstitutional. Such procedures constitute about 96% of legal abortions in Poland, which already has some of the most restrictive abortion laws in Europe.”

The importance of queer space (Molly Fleming, Red Pepper)

Traveller families win court battle over living on land they own (Cherry Wilson, BBC News)

Reeva Steenkamp was murdered. Shame on the BBC for forgetting (Sonia Sodha, The Guardian)

From the article: “So often, the stories that get told are of upstanding citizens, loving fathers and respected colleagues who, having been provoked, lose control and lash out in a moment of madness. The tragedy is theirs, not of the women they kill, who are so often cast as the spurned lover or unfaithful temptress.”

Asexual Awareness Week: I am the A in LGBTQIA+ (Danielle Desouza, gal-dem)

Celebrating a new era where pop music doesn’t just mean ‘white’ (Melissa Kasule, gal-dem)


The image is used under a creative commons license with thanks to monkeywing on Flickr. It is a photograph of a completely empty London tube carriage.