ON TOPIC: PERIOD POLITICS, #SAYHERNAME, AND “MAKING LAUNDRY FUN FOR MEN”

Let’s talk. Period.

• Comic duo Key & Peele’s ‘Menstruation Orientation’ for men
• Bloody Hell! A new feminist, self-published zine that is all about periods
• Artist Rupi Kaur of the ‘period-photographs-removed-from-Instagram-as-inappropriate-content fame’ on her work and why men need to see it most
• The lovely piece from Ladies Finger that we are hearting, on menstrual cups and the need for sustainable means of menstruation management
• Period activism and transphobia in the media: read about how period activism often alienates trans-women, -men, and gender non-conforming folks here and here

Policies, Systems and Resistance

• The recent anti-Muslim Supreme court verdict forbids hijabi women from taking an exam in the veil. Ratna Kapur speaks out, questioning the Islamophobia of the courts
• More about women’s voices in light of the verdict: a Muslim hijabi woman discusses her experience on being religiously/cultural profiled when seeking housing in the city of Delhi
• “Saving” The Girl Child: These brave women conduct sting operations to help activists uncover the sex selection practice perpetuated by doctors to “alert” pregnant mothers
• This recent Scroll article reveals the declining numbers of senior women advocates in India’s courts
• Delhi’s first LGBTQ flash mob stuns the crowd at Connaught Place! Watch the video here.
• What happens when adivasi women spearhead a powerful resistance movement to protect and safeguard their communities, and the forests of India?

Yours, Mine &  Ours: On Lives, and Lived Experiences

• Rati Ramadas Girish speaks to the trying (and pleasurable) experiences of working, stay-at-home mothers
• Catch a glimpse of the incredibly refreshing work of Sohini Basak, Nandini Dhar and Divya Ranjan: three emerging Indian women poets you cannot ignore
• Kausar Ansari’s creation of Rehnuma Library Centre, a space exclusively for young women and girls to read, learn and grow in Mumbra, a Muslim-populated, ghettoized township outside of Mumbai

Sandra Bland, #BlackLivesMatter and the Lives of Black Women

• On what happened to Sandra Bland, #BlackLivesMatter responses to her death, and why we must #SayHerName
• Roxane Gay, writer of Bad Feminist, on writing as a Black woman about Sandra’s death
• Africa Is A Country remembers Sandra Bland, as a woman who “knew her rights“
• Charlotte Alter and Kila Nicole Gross comment on how police brutality disproportionately affects Black women’s bodies

On Gender, Race and Popular Culture

• Critics discuss Baahubali’s romanticization of rape, and “masculinity porn“, while some explore the consequences of this criticism in lieu of the misogynistic films in the Telugu film industry.
• Women Doing Housework in Ads and “Making Laundry Fun for Men”:  what are the noteworthy, and what are the irksome, aspects in Ariel’s recent “progressive” ad, in a culture of sexist advertising of domestic goods like washing powder?
• Nicki Minaj’s instagram posts about Sandra Bland and why they matter
• The 101 on the Nicki Minaj-Taylor Swift Twitter exchange and Girl Squad Feminism.
• Model Nykhor Paul’s open letter calling out racism in the fashion industry.
• A beautiful exhibit on Black British girlhood curated by Bekke Popoola.
• Zeba Blay on MTV documentary ‘White People’ and the much-needed dialogue on race.
• In a first, 2 African-American women nominated for an Emmy in the Best Actress, Drama category.

Keep reading for other engaging updates and interesting stories! We ope you had a blissful (and not-so-soggy) July.