Amid Fierce Patriarchal Backlash and Surging Fascism, Does Freeing the Nipple Still Matter? A transgender woman with “indecent” breasts makes the case that topless equality is still worth fighting for.

Have you every wondered what the heck happened to #FreeTheNipple? That's the question that inspired @thebugbeardispatch.bsky.social to write a deep dive on nipple equality: 

The Flytrap Feminist cultural criticism against the algorithm

To celebrate the joy of building all of this together, we are giving 20% on subscriptions for a limited amount of time! Help us bite back, together, and get feminist cultural criticism in your inbox every week. Get the deal at the link:

I Saw My Own Search for Sunlight in “Heated Rivalry” 'Heated Rivalry' dares to ask: Why should queer athletes be forced to choose between their identity and their sport?

And last but definitely NOT least, @katelynburns.com wrote about seeing herself in Heated Rivalry, a tender piece on queerness and sports. 

Dehumanizing Humans, Personifying Computers: Why Modern Fascism Wants You to be Lonely Welcome to fully-automated luxury fascism. Can I take your personhood?

Another essential read, @andreagrimes.com on why modern fascism thrives on your loneliness, and how we can run towards each other as an antidote: 

The Paradox of Thrift My newfound love for thrifting high-quality items inadvertently triggered old childhood traumas and memories of imposter syndrome .

@tinavasquez.bsky.social recently wrote this piece about the paradox of thrifting, and how finding high-quality items at the thrift store triggered her imposter syndrome:

Sex Workers Versus the Algorithm No seriously, fuck the algorithm.

We often say fuck the algorithm, but @sesmith.lol went long on how sex workers actually deal with income-stopping algorithms every single day:

"This is not algorithmic softening. It is algorithmic violence."

 

How the Religious Right Won the Trump Era Media failed to reckon with the evangelical support for Trump and we’re all paying the price.

Have you ever wondered if things would be different right now if the media had actually tried to reckon with evangelical support for Trump? @thebugbeardispatch.bsky.social has: 

Think of What We Can Do, Together Recent TV and film like “IT: Welcome to Derry” and “Moana 2” show us why we love Artemis II: collectivism and hope are the only way to survive dark times.

This week, @freeblackgirl.bsky.social wrote about a growing trend of pop culture about collectivism as a solution to the horrors. A hopeful piece for a terrible time in history: 

The Radical Idea That Children Are People And they deserve rights too.

A few weeks ago, @nicolefroio.bsky.social wrote about children's rights, and how many, many societal issues could be fixed if we actually, truly considered children to be people: 

The Flytrap is having a 20% off sale, so what? Well, if you subscribe, you can get immediate access to hopeful, critical, feminist writing and reporting. You don't get that anywhere else but here. Here's some of out greatest hits so far:

Confronting Uncertainty Through Play I don’t do great with uncertainty. The last few years I’ve been dealing with a lot of that, especially when it comes to finding direction and a vocation in life. My instinctive response to a lot of un...

Poetry of the Small and Strange returns this week, as I reflect on how one of my favorite board games (Arcs: the Blighted Reach) has helped me grow as a person and cope better with things I can't control.

poetry-of-the-small-and-strange.ghost.io/confronting-...

The Flytrap Feminist cultural criticism against the algorithm

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The Flytrap Feminist cultural criticism against the algorithm

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The Flytrap Feminist cultural criticism against the algorithm

We are still a couple of months away from the World Cup of Fascism, but @katelynburns.com has promised us a piece about that. And it will be edited by @nicolefroio.bsky.social , our resident Brazilian and FIFA hater, so you KNOW it's going to be good. 

The Flytrap Feminist cultural criticism against the algorithm

In a few weeks, we will be publishing @andreagrimes.com's piece on male loneliness and predatory betting markets, connecting the dots on a social phenomenon that depends on both patriarchy and uncontrolled capitalism. You don't want to miss that one. 

The Flytrap Feminist cultural criticism against the algorithm

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Hi Anita, glad to reconnect here!

Amid Fierce Patriarchal Backlash and Surging Fascism, Does Freeing the Nipple Still Matter? A transgender woman with “indecent” breasts makes the case that topless equality is still worth fighting for.

Have you every wondered what the heck happened to #FreeTheNipple? That's the question that inspired @thebugbeardispatch.bsky.social to write a deep dive on nipple equality: 

We Will Be Jaguars (Reese's Book Club Pick): A Memoir of My People A Memoir of My People

If you grew up on Through Gates of Splendor and the martyrdom of Saint and Elliot I would recommend reading We Will Be Jaguars which tells another story of the same community. I didn't realize that when I picked it up, then I saw Rachel Saint's name in it.

bookshop.org/a/84905/9781...

There is absolutely no question that political administrations have used Christians, particularly evangelical Christians, for decades to promote foreign and domestic policy. To build schools and hospitals that centralize people and move them off land needed for agriculture or extraction.

A church that doesn't provoke any crises, a gospel that does not unsettle, a word of God that does not get under anyone's skin, a word of God that does not touch the real sin of society in which it is being proclaimed - what gospel is that? Saint Oscar Romero, April 16, 1978

When liberation theology emerged from Catholic priests in Latin America, the US government encouraged churches to send missionaries to counter what they saw as communism from the Catholic Church.

I grew up reading about the courage of men like Nate Saint and Jim Elliot, not Romero.

It is also the wrong question and simply calling Hegseth and others fake Christians lets millions of others off the hook.

Why does it always WORK? That's the question. Why is the US government able to mobilize Christians so easily. And that's something for churches to work through.

Thanks!

The Bugbear Dispatch A Newsletter about Navigating Modern American Moral Panic

The question of whether or not some people are really Christians is unhelpful because it assumes that there is a kind of "real" Christianity that is inherently good. @thebugbeardispatch.bsky.social has written EXTENSIVELY about this and her blog is worth subscribing to.

www.bugbeardispatch.com

Support Autonomy News We will never put our reporting or analysis behind a paywall. Your support makes that possible. Here are a few different ways to power our work: Become a member Support our journalism and help comb...

I’m so serious, if any of you are paying for that woman’s substack and not @autonomynews.co which is run by two trained journalists…

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The Flytrap Feminist cultural criticism against the algorithm

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Censorship of Pro-Palestine Speech in the Music Industry Shows the Power of Demands for Decolonization The liberation of Palestine is a threat to how we live today—that’s precisely why we should keep calling for it.

The liberation of Palestine is a threat to how we live today—that’s precisely why we should keep calling for it, writes @nicolefroio.bsky.social on pro-Palestine bands & artists.