We’ve put together our pick of the most interesting articles from the last seven days from across the web. As always, linking to articles doesn’t equal endorsement from The F-Word. We’ve added content notes where possible, but some links may contain upsetting information so please click with caution.
We welcome debate in the comments section and on social media, but any abusive comments will be deleted. This includes any use of sexist, racist, homophobic, classist, transphobic, disablist or anti-sex-worker language. If you think we’ve missed out an important article from the past week then let us know in the comments.
Thanks to Holly Combe and Lissy Lovett from The F-Word team for contributing links to this week’s round-up.
The Angela Rayner row isn’t just sexist – it’s classist, too (Harriet Williamson, The Independent)
From the article: “This is further proof – if any was needed – that the classism running like a thick vein through Britain’s public life is still healthy indeed. Oxford graduates and those who attended private schools are vastly overrepresented in parliament, in the judiciary, in the diplomatic service, in the House of Lords, and among civil service permanent secretaries. People from similar backgrounds to Rayner are in the minority.”
What Autistic Pride Tells Me When I Look In The Mirror (Kris McElroy, The Art of Autism)
[from 25 April, for Autism Acceptance month]
Sex workers hope Elon Musk will leave them alone on Twitter (Samantha Cole, VICE)
From the article: “‘Twitter has generally been regarded as a ‘safe haven’ for many sex workers. It allows us to promote our work and embrace the full range of our creativity, without the harsh censures that come with other platforms like Instagram and TikTok,’ adult content creator Lucy Banks said, adding that this news has sent ‘shockwaves’ through the community. ‘There are many workers who have established their entire careers on the back of sizable Twitter followings. For them, the uncertainty is more than just having their Twitter accounts threatened, but also their entire income.'”
How sex workers are coping under UK laws since the pandemic (Karolina Piras, EachOther)
Fuck Tim Westwood and his enablers (Tobi Kyeremateng, gal-dem)
[CN: sexual assault]
From the article: “Let’s be clear: Tim Westwood’s status as a pioneer and ‘gatekeeper’ within the Black music industry has a direct correlation with the lack of accountability from his peers and the establishments that have supported his career. Those that have benefitted in one way or another from Westwood’s positionality have been very clear that their moral pendulum swings in whichever direction offers the most for their individual success, whether that be radio play, exposure, or access to an industry that is often said to operate on a ‘who you know’ basis. The industry itself has benefited from a white man performing a minstrel act to predominately Black audiences while utilising his power and privileges to elevate himself into a position where he gets to handpick which careers to ‘make’ or ‘break’. Every so often on social media, Westwood’s Avengers emerge to silence discussions on abuse allegations, reading from the same hymn book that proclaims how Westwood is above questioning because of what he has done ‘for the culture’.”
I went through ‘conversion therapy’ – no trans person should face that torture again (Anonymous, The Guardian)
[CN: abuse]
Trans people are fed up with our lives being used and abused for political gain (Ugla Stefanía Kristjönudóttir Jónsdóttir, Metro)
Trans history and bad history (Isabel Ruffell, Artemisia)
From the article: “The denial of trans history is a central plank of anti-trans activists and politicians. The determination not to see plain evidence to the contrary is deep-rooted (I’m reminded of my own parents who claimed that there never used to be trans people in outer Essex, despitethe local papers being full of someone transitioning <em>in the same village</em> in the 1980s and who used to go to the petrol station where my mum worked. ‘Oh yes, fancy you remembering that.’)”
Stop telling women they have imposter syndrome (Ruchika Tulshyan and Jodi-Ann Burey, Harvard Business Review)
From the article: “The impact of systemic racism, classism, xenophobia, and other biases was categorically absent when the concept of imposter syndrome was developed. Many groups were excluded from the [1978] study, namely women of color and people of various income levels, genders, and professional backgrounds. Even as we know it today, imposter syndrome puts the blame on individuals, without accounting for the historical and cultural contexts that are foundational to how it manifests in both women of color and white women. Imposter syndrome directs our view toward fixing women at work instead of fixing the places where women work.”
From the article: “But maybe the only way to be a good parent is to constantly try to be a better one. Any civil liberty I exercise, or any space I take up in the world, is space I am trying to clear for my daughter and the rest of her generation. If I can successfully navigate my own life as a trans person, then I may create some path for a younger person to follow. I can show them they don’t have to be afraid of turning out like me.”
Malaika Arora calls out society’s ‘misogynist approach’ towards relationships: ‘Considered a sacrilege to date a younger man’ (The Indian Express)
Featured image shows a sign held up, decorated with flowers, with the word ‘Feminist’ in the centre. Photo by Gayatri Malhotra on Unsplash