If you follow me on Twitter, you may have already seen these items of interest encountered recently in my feed-reader or via twitter (please consider following some of the bloggers/tweeters). What did I miss? Leave your own interesting links in comments. Shameless self-promotion entirely welcome!
(I’m storifying the links now to make it easier for me to collate. Let me know if there’s any problems seeing them.)
[View the story “Reader 2013-01-13” on Storify]
Reader 2013-01-13
Links of interest found via twitter
Storified by Viv Smythe· Sun, Jan 13 2013 04:57:38
Women should accept their lack of "merit" & stop the "tokenism" with those "gender cards" | Our Beautiful Meritocracy: http://taramoss.com/our-meritocracy/Viv Smythe
A True Larrykin "[making] freedom-lemonade out of feminazi lemons" / @benpobjie honours the wisdom of Larry Pickering http://benpobjie.blogspot.com.au/2013/01/a-true-larrykin.htmlViv Smythe
RT @MikeRStuchbery: I translated Larry Pickering’s latest grotesque attack on Anne Summers. – http://radiofreestuchbery.tumblr.com/post/40108280037/pickering-paraphrased #auspolViv Smythe
RT @MrDenmore: The Californian state teachers retirement system, which manages $150b, has become the first US pension fund to dump US gun makers’ shares.Viv Smythe
The Role of Feminist Criticism http://freethoughtblogs.com/brutereason/2013/01/08/the-role-of-feminist-criticism/Viv Smythe
RT @ClimateSciWatch: 2012 the warmest and second most extreme year on record for the U.S.: The U.S. government reported the average U… http://bit.ly/WP6HjDViv Smythe
RT @CAwkward: This is a very good analysis. Makes me miss the awesomeness of Sarah Haskins’ "Target Women" pieces for sure. http://www.genevievevalentine.com/2013/01/feminism-brownies-and-you/Viv Smythe
RT @maryannjohanson: Whoa MT @chris_coltrane RT @sturdyAlex: WOW. JUST WOW. RT @fazeypie: This poster is just as valid today as back in 1929 http://pic.twitter.com/pIeKSfwqViv Smythe
Poster Transcript
EQUALITY OF SACRIFICE
Poster shows four men standing on a ladder in deep water. The bottommost man only just has his head above water, and is described as “The Unemployed Man”. Above him, thigh deep, is the 250-a-year-man. Above him, ankle-deep, is the 1,000-a-year-man. Above him, totally dry, is the 10,000-a-year-man.
EQUALITY OF SACRIFICE
Poster shows four men standing on a ladder in deep water. The bottommost man only just has his head above water, and is described as “The Unemployed Man”. Above him, thigh deep, is the 250-a-year-man. Above him, ankle-deep, is the 1,000-a-year-man. Above him, totally dry, is the 10,000-a-year-man.
The Man At The Top:- “Equality of Sacrifice – that’s the big idea, friends! Let’s all step down one rung!”
VOTE LABOUR
/end-transcript
“I Never Really Understand When People Say That I Like Playing Strong Characters.” http://bit.ly/13iRdebViv Smythe
Significant omission of Just World Fallacy, but good / The 12 cognitive biases that prevent you from being rational http://io9.com/5974468/the-most-common-cognitive-biases-that-prevent-you-from-being-rationalViv Smythe
Respected ladies are never raped http://bit.ly/VStrQF / by @OpheliaBensonViv Smythe
RT @brendam: Interesting article "Free as in Sexist" about women in open culture. http://www.uic.edu/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/4291/3381Viv Smythe
RT @qot_nz: New post: the gender pay gap and school performance http://ideologicallyimpure.wordpress.com/2013/01/11/the-gender-pay-gap-and-school-performance/Viv Smythe
Study finds male jurors biased against obese women, but not obese men | No justice for fat women. http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2013/01/10/no_justice_for_fat_women_male_jurors_more_likely_to_find_obese_women_guilty.html via @doublexmagViv Smythe
RT @cristyclark: Autism; it’s for life, not just the weekend – http://www.abc.net.au/rampup/articles/2013/01/11/3668162.htm (via @jellyjellyfish)Viv Smythe
RT @scATX: Sexism 101: @hypermac Uses Naked Women Covered in Body Paint to Sell Their Stuff at #CES2013 http://wp.me/pXkjo-1pI h/t @iwriteplaysViv Smythe
RT @LisaMcIntire: I haven’t the faintest idea why there aren’t more women in tech! http://on.mash.to/URWUPc (via @MonikaBauerlein)Viv Smythe
RT @profsarahj: Oh how surprising. John Howard rejects IMF’s ‘big spender’ tag http://pulse.me/s/h9bQ5Viv Smythe
RT @genderlogindia: "But there is another rising." Eve Ensler on the global outrage, among women & men, and #OneBillionRising’s pushback. http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/international/13-Jan-2013/this-violence-will-no-longer-be-toleratedViv Smythe
RT @Camz99: Special report: World food injustice – the facts on a plate http://tinyurl.com/azbekawViv Smythe
RT @ben_hr: RT @NSWRFS: Aerial photo of the Wambelong fire threatening the Siding Springs Observatory http://benhr.net/13qmbkLViv Smythe
RT @bevanshields85: New webcam timelapse footage showing #coonabarabran blaze hitting Siding Spring Observatory http://youtu.be/WlHP9J1UPrs via @youtube #nswfiresViv Smythe
RT @SLSingh: Good summary of siginificance of recent news RT @TimHarford: Has global warming ground to a halt? – New Scientist http://dlvr.it/2nNfG4Viv Smythe
RT @Colvinius: That pesky multiplier. IMF admits it "severely underestimated" the cost of austerity. http://ow.ly/1QOzoBViv Smythe
RT @stuarthoughton: Julie Burchill has poured oil to calm troubled waters. Then drowned some seabirds in the oil. Then set fire to the oil.Viv Smythe
RT @ilauredhel: Fun Fact: the WA Electoral Commission officially considers wheelchair access to be "extra assistance".: http://www.elections.wa.gov.au/faq-page#t30n114 #disabilityViv Smythe
RT @doctorow: A visit to Makerkids, Toronto’s makerspace for kids http://boingboing.net/2013/01/13/a-visit-to-makerkids-toronto.htmlViv Smythe
RT @thestrayworld: We Endorse this Petition in Support of Diversity and Feminism in the Secular Community http://wp.me/pJg9X-KuViv Smythe
RT @pamspaulding: MT @parismemata: must-read on death of RSS co-creator Aaron Swartz, Internet use judicial/corporate greed. @ggreenwald http://goo.gl/2yRM9Viv Smythe
RT @mikebutcher: Apparently Academics are posting their papers online for free in tribute to Aaron Swartz using hashtag #pdftributeViv Smythe
RT @edyong209: Here’s a calculation of the number of seagulls it would’ve taken to actually lift James’s giant peach http://boingboing.net/2013/01/09/great-moments-in-pedantry.html #readthisinsteadViv Smythe
Other people’s linkfests:
- The Lady Garden shares the link love
- bluebec’s linkspams
- Geek Feminism Linkspams
- Limited News weekly Long Reads collation
- Melissa’s Blogarounds at Shakesville
- Feministing‘s What We Missed linkfest
Disclaimer/SotBO: a link here is not necessarily an endorsement of all opinions of the post author(s) either in the particular post or of their writing in general.
Categories: linkfest
The 109th Down Under Feminists Carnival is up! 
The 105th Down Under Feminists Carnival is up! 
Hoyden About Town 
Have just discovered two more regular link round-ups!
Feminaust does a Weekly RoundUp
The Early Bird Catches The Worm does regular On The Net linkdumps and weekly On (The Rest of) The Net RoundUps.
Hi
I was puzzled but haven’t had time to look at the actual research/ decision (from alleged Canadian researchers a few months ago) behind this opinion piece
http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/society-and-culture/pms-may-be-gone-but-women-are-in-no-mood-to-lose-anger-20130114-2cpnd.html
but um, am extremely puzzled and wondered if there was a more nuanced view somewhere.
Mary Bennet: In the very first paragraph, along with the offensive description of the researchers as a “death squad”, is a blatant error that shows the author/editor/whoever has no idea what they’re talking about: PMS is not PMDD. They also haven’t given the author names, paper title, or journal of publication, making it pretty hard to find the source in the first place.
I’m also pretty deeply suspicious of claims that only Western women “have a concept” of PMS. I suspect that that’s kinda along the lines of saying that only Western babies cry, or women in some mystical elsewhere all give birth painlessly, or no cultures anywhere else in the world contain women who experience any menopausal symptoms, etc. I suspect that it’s a weird mishmash of “noble savage” misconceptions, failing to ask the right people in the right way (or there being no “right way” to ask), higher parity and fewer menstrual cycles reducing the risk of PMS, and a powerful drive on behalf of some to tell those whinging women to STFU about their embodied experiences.
Hang on. I think I’ve found the source. The NHS gives a fair better explanation of the paper:
http://www.nhs.uk/news/2012/10October/Pages/pre-menstrual-syndrome-pms-pmt-a-myth.aspx
which includes this:
Not only did some of the studies include fewer than 10 participants, but most of them only looked at one cycle for each participant, most of them were not ‘blinded’ (the participants knew exactly what was being studied)… the whole thing’s a mess.
Here’s the abstract of original review.
Thank you.
It did strike me as a similar slow news week conversation starter based on massive generalisation from tiny sample and as the Jared Diamond piece about comparative parenting http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/jan/11/traditional-family-values-without-smacking that was reprinted in the Fairfax press last week-end.
Australian school girl science sensation!