The Femisphere: A Link Roundup

A Link Roundup of Body Politics, Body Image & Body Justice News

Mind/Body

Salmon Caught Near Seattle Are Full Of Cocaine And Antidepressants. “Apparently, samples taken from the water showed high levels of Prozac, bug spray, cocaine, Zantac, ibuprofen and 77 other drugs. These drugs littered not only the water but also the tissue of juvenile chinook salmon.” It is another example of how environmental pollution and unenforced protections endanger local communities. The Suquamish are one of more than a dozen tribes that have fishing and shellfish-harvesting rights all across this region, and their fishing traditions, which are thousands of years old.

Vanessa Willoughby resonates with me in her essay on The Pains of Being Woke. She reminds me of the self-care needed to be a Black woman who chooses not to ignore the painful parts of your experience in the world. “To be woke means that the pursuit of knowledge takes precedent over accepting popular opinion. To be woke also means that ego should never sway your awareness. To be woke is a journey without a final resting place. To be woke means that not everyone will understand you. When existing in this state of wokeness around white people, some may call you “crazy” or “too sensitive,” and argue that your lived experiences are exaggerated, a lie, irrelevant. To be woke means short victories offset by unstoppable growing pains.”

Justice

Did you know that by law, anyone with a severe disability is eligible to have the government discharge their federal student loans? “The Obama administration plans to forgive $7.7 billion in federal student loans held by nearly 400,000 permanently disabled Americans. The administration took steps four years ago to make the process easier by letting people who are totally and permanently disabled use their Social Security designation to apply for a discharge, but few took advantage. The Department of Education is now taking it upon itself to identify eligible borrowers and guide them through the steps to discharge their loans.”

Bustle breaks down the outrageous discriminatory nature of the new PRENDA bill. On Thursday, the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing to consider the Prenatal Nondiscrimination Act of 2016, also known as PRENDA. The legislation claims to help communities of color and even women by putting bans on sex-selective and race-based abortions. However, as NARAL Pro-Choice America President Ilyse Hogue stated in her Congressional testimony to be given on Thursday (which Bustle was given an advance copy of) PRENDA could mean that abortion providers may face “five years in prison for failing to determine if race or sex is a factor in a woman’s decision to terminate a pregnancy.” Hogue added that, “ultimately, the legislation could erect new barriers to reproductive health care for women and perpetuates stereotypes about immigrant communities and communities of color.”

Identity

Linette Reeman introduces a poem they wrote called Dear Birth Gender on Bitchtopia. “I’ve recently been struggling with depression and anxiety related to my gender identity and sexuality, as well as some other miscellaneous factors. This poem is an open letter to the different parts of my gender, and it strives to bridge the chasm that has opened within me over the past few months. I wrote it also as a reminder to myself; you are allowed to change your identity as you grow and gain new experiences, your feelings are valid even if they’re confusing, and society has this weird way of putting gender and sexuality into boxes that are not accurately representative of the way they work in the real world.”

The Northern Ontario First Nation of Attawapiskat declared a state of emergency on April 9, the same day that 11 residents attempted suicide—one of them reportedly as young as 10. Chief Bruce Shisheesh and six councilors declared the emergency in hopes of receiving medical and mental health assistance to combat the situation. …During his Speech to the Throne earlier this year, Trudeau vowed to renew government relationships with First Nations, pledging $8.4 billion in support of aboriginal communities. However, no specific funds were earmarked to battle mental health issues, a fact that was noted by indigenous leaders at the time. – Indian Country Today Media Network

Refinery 29 features 9 Stunning Photos Of Differently Abled Women Taking Back The Beach. “I’m not really concerned about what other people think or what they’re looking at or the questions that they have. I’m there to enjoy the company of my friends. They know what I look like and they know my situation; that’s not a concern for me at all. I think I made a conscious decision when I lost my legs that I just was going to ignore people looking at me strange. There’s already so much energy that it takes to get through the day that I don’t want to waste any of it thinking about what other people are thinking of me.” – Danielle Perez

Art/Media/Culture

“A few weeks ago, the CW’s sci-fi teen dystopia show “The 100″ did something television shows do all of the time: It killed off a major character. In 2016 alone, 10 characters identifying as lesbian or bisexual have been killed. Angry fans revolted calling out the longstanding television trope known as Bury Your Gays where LGBT characters are frequently killed off — often in tragic ways, following a happy event. When the show returned from a two-week hiatus, fans tweeted with Bury Tropes Not Us, sending the topic trending nationally.”

ColorWeb magazine features an analysis of how disability tropes define the villains and heroes of Star Wars. “[O]ne constant that might escape the ableist point of view is that all of the Star Wars films involve a relationship between the main character(s) and disability. Specifically, one of the central themes of the film series is how disability comes to define and/or change the character, either taking them further along their hero’s journey or down the path to the Dark Side. The paths Anakin/Darth Vader and Luke take inform how Finn, another character with a disability, will be treated as he develops in the films after The Force Awakens.”

Remezcla interviews Gabby Rodriguez who debuts a young adult novel about a Queer Latina. “Published in late January, Juliet Takes a Breath tells the story of Juliet Milagros Palante (aka La “Sin Verguenza”), a 19 year-old Puertorriqueña from the Bronx who comes out to her family just before heading to Portland to intern for her favorite feminist author, Harlowe Brisbane. This coming-of-age tale, loosely based on Rivera’s personal experiences, is truly exceptional in that it not only brings complex issues to the forefront—coming out to your traditional familia, the erasure of intersectional feminist narratives, painful crushes on hot librarians—but also beautifully maps out radical possibilities for queer Latinx youth and queer people of color.”

AdiosBarbie