The most compelling stories from our favorite sources.
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A Civil Rights Leader Has Disguised Herself as Black for Years, Her Parents Say
This strange and riveting story, which exploded on social media last night and is unpacked here on BuzzFeed, recounts the story of a blonde and freckled White girl named Rachel Dolezal, who is now the president of the Spokane, Washington, chapter of the NAACP, and has been passing herself off as a black woman for nearly a decade.
The Scarcity of Abortion Training in America’s Medical Schools
Medical student Mara Gordon’s dismal and chilling account at The Atlantic about how hard it is to even learn how to perform an abortion, let alone actually provide one to a woman in need.
What Makes a Woman Is Less Important Than What Makes a Feminist
One of the best things to come from Elinor Burkett’s New York Times sloppy, misguided op-ed on Caitlyn Jenner’s womanhood, is that it yielded a wealth of excellent essays: Ours, of course, and this brilliant essay on what makes a feminist, by Jill Filipovic at Cosmopolitan.com
McKinney, Texas: Rage Is Our Rightful Response to Anti-Black Racism
DAME contrib Kirsten West Savali’s pained and impassioned take on the McKinney pool party abuse and the repeated evidence that the lives of black children don’t matter.
If Jane Austen Got Feedback From Some Guy in a Writing Workshop
“Dear Jane, I don’t usually read chick lit…” Shannon Reed’s hilarious BuzzFeed piece begins and it only gets better from there.
Abortion Rights Leader’s Pregnancy Surprises Opponents: ‘Is That Real?’
NARAL president Ilyse Hogue is pregnant and as this Washington Post profile by Ellen McCarthy points out, abortion opponents can’t wrap their head around it.
Why I Defaulted on My Student Loans
Lee Siegel makes a solid and appealing case for giving the middle finger to the Department of Education in this New York Times op-ed.
DAME contrib Michele Filgate goes deep about feminist biography and its long lasting effects in this piece for The Brooklyn Quarterly.
I Always Thought Girl Squads Were for Silly Girls
Over at Elle, Elissa Strauss realizes the benefits of a tight lady crew, and the surprising reason she didn’t want one in the first place.
16 On-Point Responses From Female Scientists to Nobel Winner’s Sexist Comments
British biochemist and Nobel Prize winner Sir Tim Hunt said some real stupid stuff about women in his field. This roundup at Mashable of female scientists responses is so funny, you forget that you actually want to cry.
The New Yorker’s heartbreaking account of the short, harrowing life of Kalief Browder, which Jennifer Gonnerman recounted in these pages, who spent three years on Rikers Island, enduring abuse at the hands of inmates and officers alike, without ever being convicted for a crime.
Talking About Abortion with My Mother
Anna Mirer’s fascinating conversation with her mother, writer Mary Gordon, about her experience with abortion, before and after Roe vs. Wade.ortion, before and after Roe vs. Wade.