Pages

Sunday, May 14, 2017

Corbyn, Cultural Appropriation, Colombia and more -- The Left Chapter Sunday Reading List May 7 - May 14

This week's list of articles, news items and opinion pieces that I see as must reads if you are looking for a roundup that should be of interest to The Left Chapter readers.

This list covers the week of May 7 - May 14. It is generally in order of the date of the article's release.

1) 13 Reasons Why is being devoured by teenagers. We must understand why

Nancy Jo Sales, The Guardian

“Guys talk at our school and they do shit,” says Jessica, a character on the controversial new Netflix series 13 Reasons Why. “They do things to girls that no one ever talks about and no one ever does anything about.” “Like what?” asks an adult. “Like what do you think?” Jessica says ruefully.
Yes, like what? 13 Reasons Why is about misogyny, rape culture, casual sexism and the kinds of things that go on in the lives of girls, but “no one ever does anything about” – or is even willing to acknowledge, much less discuss. It has been interesting to see, in the firestorm of debate that has followed the show, so much emphasis being placed on the series’ graphic depiction of the main character’s suicide, yet so little attention paid to those “13 reasons why” she actually decides to end her life.

Read the full article.

2) ‘They’re not seen as human beings’: life for unmarried mothers in Tunisia

Sarah Souli, The Guardian

Tunisia is often hailed as a progressive Arab country, where, according to US human rights watchdog Freedom House, “women enjoy more social freedoms and legal rights than in most other countries in the region”. A series of gender reforms under then president Habib Bourguiba between the 1950s and the 70s abolished polygamy, gave women the right to vote, divorce and have abortions, and elevated the status of women in Tunisian society. For all, it seems, apart from unmarried mothers.

Read the full article. 

3) Canada’s MMIW inquiry is falling apart before it even begins

Brian Hutchinson, Maclean's 

With hearings about to start, some already fear the inquiry into missing and murdered indigenous women and girls is failing in its mission

Read the full article.

4) Why women shouldn’t bother reporting sex assault

Rosie Dimanno, The Toronto Star

Why would any woman subject herself to the ordeal of accusing someone of sexual assault and testifying in a trial?

Read the full article.

5) Never mind who leaked it, this Labour manifesto is a cornucopia of delights

Polly Toynbee, The Guardian

What a cornucopia of delights is here. The leaked Labour manifesto is a treasure trove of things that should be done, undoing those things that should never have been done and promising much that could make this country infinitely better for almost everyone.

Read the full article.

6) Labour promise to give women in Northern Ireland equal abortion rights, says leaked manifesto

Roisin Lanigan, The Tab

Details from Labour’s leaked manifesto revealed today that the party would extend abortion rights to women in Northern Ireland if elected.

Read the full article.

7) Let’s worry more about violent Islamophobes—and less about writers who fear being called ‘Islamophobic’

Jasmin Zine, The National Post

When I read Barbara’s Kay’s column about me, it was with a mixture of anger, frustration and a heavy heart. I came upon it as I was about to board a flight to a conference in Berkeley where I was to be a keynote speaker. The column was devoted to maligning my work and that of my esteemed colleague Dr. Hatem Bazian from the Islamophobia Research and Documentation Project at UC Berkeley, where I serve as an affiliated faculty member.

Read the full article.

8) A Bunch of White Canadian Editors Really Love Cultural Appropriation

Sarah Hagi, Vice

This week’s media controversy is a great reminder that the most powerful people in Canadian media are very white.

Read the full article.

9) It may be harmless appropriation to you. But it’s our preservation

Drew Hayden Taylor, The Globe and Mail

A thousand years ago, I wrote a play titled Dead White Writer on the Floor.
In it, six familiar native stereotypes – all created by non-Native writers – wander across the stage pondering the point of their creation. Perhaps many of these settler writers merely wanted to explore “the lives of people who aren’t like you.” in the words of Hal Niedzviecki, the former editor of Write, the Writers’ Union of Canada magazine.

Read the full article.

10) Cultural appropriation prize fund was the unkindest cut of all

Shree Paradkar, The Toronto Star

Dismissing the concerns of the few colleagues who don’t look like them just confirms the cluelessness of the default flagbearers of the fourth estate.

Read the full article.

11) Colombia’s Largest Right-Wing Paramilitary Group Labels Human Rights Defenders ‘Military Targets’

Internationalist 360

The Colombian government refuses to acknowledge the paramilitary problem, even as the bodies of activists continue to pile up.

Read the full article.

12) The fight for potty parity: how sports venue toilets value men over women

Arielle Retting, The Guardian

The Oilers’ decision to convert two women’s toilets to improve the experience of their male fans is indicative of the hostility women often face in the sports world.

Read the full article.

13) Corbyn says Labour will transform Britain as he launches election campaign

Heather Stewart, The Guardian

Labour leader says Tories are holding UK back and highlights problems of housing, education and retirement faced by many.

Read the full article.

14) Venezuelan Revolutionaries Demand ‘Truly Communal State’

Ryan Mallett-Outtrim, Venezuela Analysis

Thousands of Venezuelans took to the streets of Caracas this week to rally in support of the country’s commune movement.

Read the full article.

15) Africa’s new slave trade: how migrants flee poverty to get sucked into a world of violent crime

Emma Graham-Harrison, The Guardian

Six months after Muhammed Yusuf had been sold, tortured and forced to watch as a friend died, he found himself back at the parched, dusty bus station where his ordeal began, facing the man who had made him a slave.

Read the full article.


See also: Jordan Edwards, Uber, Bernie Sanders and more -- The Left Chapter Sunday Reading List April 30 - May 7

See also: Carding, Streaming, Police in Pride and more -- The Left Chapter Sunday Reading List April 23 - 30


No comments:

Post a Comment