Hits
Débora Adorno and Other Brazilian Women Combat Sexual Harassment With An Unlikely Weapon
A Brazilian woman named Débora Adorno was experiencing street harassment while walking alone in the streets. She felt that calling the harassers out on their gross, perverted behavior was not enough so she came up with a creative, new way to combat harassment: a goofy, toothy face. While this may seem like a ridiculous way to respond to street harassment, her toothy facial expression made her bewildered harasser back off. She urged women to try “the power of the tooth,” causing women to follow suit and create a trending hashtag, #CaretaDoDentinho. While I’m sure a silly face will not magically stop men from harassing women, it’s good to know that it allowed these women to feel safer and diminish the sexist treatment they receive from men.
Marina Diamandis (Marina and the Diamonds) Releases Song About Rape Culture, “Savages,” in Her New Record, “Froot”
Marina Diamandis has always been one of the very few pop stars who has spoken out about the importance of feminism without worrying about the consequences of identifying as a feminist. She decided to use her album as a platform to discuss an issue that is a very important part of what feminists want to change: rape culture. Diamandis discussed the inspiration behind the song, saying,
“I’m not a political person at all, but I am interested in society. And seeing rape culture explode over the past few years and be pretty much in the news every single day is sickening. It’s more about trying to start a conversation on why these things are in our human traits. Because they are natural to us even though it’s really hard to hear. No one wants to say that rape is natural, but it’s something that’s been embedded in us, and it’s horrendous.”
As a pop singer who has over a million fans on Facebook, she’s able to use her position as a well-known artist to bring attention to something that is necessary to talk about. Thanks for making us feel proud of being your fans, Marina!
Feminist Attorney Alexandra Lúgaro Runs For Governor In the Puerto Rican 2016 Elections
Puerto Rico will have its first independent candidate for governor, as Alexandra Lúgaro does not align with any of the two dominant parties in the island. Although Puerto Rico had its first female governor a couple of years ago, Lúgaro brings something different into Puerto Rican politics because she intends to legalize marijuana, legalize gay marriage, tax religious institutions, and repair the island’s economic issues. The island has been going through an economic crisis and the majority of the population is unhappy with the current governor. Lúgaro’s goals sound promising and hopefully she’ll be able to bring the much needed change.
Robyn Launches Tech Festival For Women
Swedish electro-pop artist/goddess Robyn is organizing a tech festival, Tekla, in Sweden, for young women between ages 11-18 who are interested in technology. The world of technology is mostly run by men and marketing the event to girls will allow them to feel more secure about exploring their interest in technology in a welcoming environment. The event features workshops, guest speakers, and robots—along with a dance party with Robyn at night. Everything about this sounds amazing.
Shits
Eva Mendes Claims That Sweatpants Cause Divorces
In a recent interview with Extra, Eva Mendes said that she cannot wear sweatpants around the house because they are the “number one cause of divorce.” She then jokingly urged women to not wear sweatpants around the house. If you don’t want to wear sweatpants, that’s cool, you do you. However, telling women what not to wear is not exactly following her partner’s meme’s mantra. Hey girl, you should be able to wear whatever you want without the fear of risking your relationship.
Diplo Is A Dick, Surprising No One
In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, M.I.A. recalls her relationship with Diplo at the beginning of her career. She says,
“When I got signed by Interscope, he literally smashed my hotel room and broke all the furniture because he was so angry I got picked up by a major label and it was the corniest thing in the world that could possibly happen. And then Missy Elliott called me for the first time in 2005 to work with me on her record, and I’m sure we had a massive fight about that — the fact that I was talking to anyone who was, like, popular. I wish I enjoyed it because I had this person on my shoulder the whole time saying, ‘It’s shit, it’s shit, it’s shit. You shouldn’t be on the charts. You shouldn’t be in the magazines and you should not be going to interviews. You should not be doing collaborations with famous people. You should be an underground artist.’
Male musicians in the EDM scene have a bad rep for being sexist and not very inclusive or supportive of women in the industry. However, it is quite shocking to know the extent of what a man can do when he begins to envy his partner for her success and talent. As much as I’d like to think Diplo has changed since then, this is the same man who made demeaning comments about Taylor Swift’s buttocks. Man-children need to get their crap together and stop treating women like this. Good riddance, M.I.A!
Afghan Woman Killed By Mob Was Wrongfully Accused
A 27-year-old Afghan woman, Farkhunda, was killed by a mob of men last week for allegedly burning a copy of the Koran. Footage recorded on phones showed that police officers did not do anything to stop her from being attacked with sticks and stones and being set on fire. Although the men justified their actions by stating that they were defending their religion, new evidence shows that Farkhunda was innocent. Although those involved in her murder have been condemned by the Afghan president, it is sickening to know that this woman suffered such an extent of abuse and did nothing to deserve such a thing.
Seventeen-Year-Old’s Spring Break Nudes Are Shared All Over the Internet
Two weeks ago, a teenaged girl was photographed in the nude surrounded by shirtless men. After the image was shared on Twitter, it quickly was spread around social media, causing authorities to launch a campaign to search for her to make sure she was okay. The young woman identified herself and revealed that she is a minor. She said that her involvement with the men photographed with her was consensual, yet she did not give consent to be photographed. It is never acceptable to photograph someone without their consent, much less if they are naked and underaged. However, it is good to know that she is safe.
