Around the Dial: Friday Link Dynamite

Personal blog: Sour Duck

Mickle at True Confessions of an Hourly Bookseller discusses how female expressions of desire are marginalized in "We Know Why You Watch Lost":

"I adore teen books like Twilight and Tithe, and yes even The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, because they neither pretend that emotions and personalities aren't a big part of sexual attraction nor deny that girls are just as vulnerable to plain old lust as boys are. For the most part though, such honest depictions are limited to teen books and magazines where such content may be kept safely in the teen section - and outside of the mainstream."

Her argument moves towards an interesting conclusion - pop over and read the entire piece.

Ginmar at A View From a Broad gives an update of the abortion/women's health care initiative by Cecilia Fire Thunder, President of the Oglala Sioux, in South Dakota last March:

"The council of the Pine Ridge Sioux have outlawed abortion on tribal lands and ousted Chief Cecilia Fire Thunder. Gee, what a shock. That means that the council now has control of the donations sent to the tribe for the clinic she was planning. Spread it around."

Read the whole blog post, including the link to the news item, in Ginmar's post, "Sexism—it's what brings men together".

In the comments thread there are contact addresses as well as a pointer to a petition supporting Cecilia Fire Thunder. For background on the story, see Bitch Ph.D.'s post, "Heroine of the Week".

Australian bloggers respond to Premier Morris Iemma's assertion that gay and lesbian relationships should not be acknowledged in daycare centers. Georg at Larvatus Prodeo explains in "It's gay school all over again":

"It's got nothing to do with SEX. Get it? They're not explaining the mechanics of it. No one believes that all stories about a mummy and a daddy imply they have sex so why would you believe that all books about gays or lesbians do the same? Because when YOU think of gays and lesbians you only see sex. You don't see the whole person. You don't see love. Just debased and depraved sex. Kids don't understand or know about sex so why would they suddenly wake up to it when given a picture of a different type of family? Because an adult feels uncomfortable and makes the issue about sex."

There's quite a healthy comments thread there, as well as at Stack, where the piece is cross-posted.

Around the Dial is an ongoing surfing guide edited by Melinda Casino for BlogHer. For previous issues, see the archives.

Melinda Casino, Feminism & Gender
Sour Duck