Jessica Valenti is traveling this week, so I am stepping in for her.
This week the Financial Times published an exposé of sexual misconduct at the male-only Presidents Club Charity Dinner in London.
Held at a swanky hotel and attended by the business and media elite, the dinner is ostensibly meant to raise money for good causes but seemed more like an exercise in bad behavior.
Around 150 scantily clad hostesses were paraded in front of the men and reportedly subject to groping and sexual harassment. One of the particularly Handmaid’s Tale-esque details of the party was that a security guard was apparently positioned outside the women’s toilets to ensure none of the hostesses were away for too long.
The FT report was a reminder that business is still very much a boy’s-only club. But it was also a reminder of the power of journalism to change things. In just 24 hours, the President’s Club, which has held this dinner for 33 years, folded. I would like to welcome all of its former members to 2018.
Glass half-full
The gender pay gap is a lot worse for black women. On average women in the US are paid 80% of what men make; but for black women that figure is 63%. If we’re going to do something to fix that then people with privilege need to flex their privilege to help others.
This week, Octavia Spencer revealed that Jessica Chastain has done just that –helping Spencer negotiate a higher pay package on a film the pair are starring in by tying their pay negotiations together. Now that is the true meaning of allyship! More stories like this please.
What I’m RTing
This is how you ally. Right here. You make sure the people around you benefit from your privilege. https://t.co/UQQSQF01Jw
— Mikki Kendall (@Karnythia) January 25, 2018
This is TIRED. I'd much rather see bars take a hard line against harassment in their establishments than being smug about the particulars of young women's speaking patterns. pic.twitter.com/GDynFC4jjf
— Sara Cress (@saracress) January 25, 2018
Ursula K. Le Guin's take on the singular 'they' is my absolute favorite pic.twitter.com/k2jNBLkpxp
— dave 🌌🚄 spacetrain.space (@davemakes) January 23, 2018
Youth "race to success" culture is wild, the fact that I am 26 and called "older"/"established" or made out to be an "art mom" makes me want to lay down and go to sleep. Y'all have to stop acting like everything you'll ever do will be done in your 20s.
— Samantha Mash 🌾 (@anamericanghost) January 25, 2018
Workers at men's clothing stores make 56% more than workers at women's clothing stores. @katiadmi uncovers more gender dynamics at play as retail goes through big changes https://t.co/3Rrasxal4R
— Jennifer Clark (@jenn_clark) January 25, 2018
Who I’m reading
Lili Loofbourow on how “we live in a culture that sees female pain as normal and male pleasure as a right”. Nitasha Tiku’s Wired piece on “the dirty war over diversity in Google.” Lorna Finlayson’s review of Butterfly Politics by Catharine MacKinnon in the LRB. Finlayson asks “whether it makes sense for feminists to attempt to change the world by changing the law”?
What I’m watching
A lot of Kate Tempest on YouTube. She’s an incredible poet/musician/talent. And a Turkish series called 20 Minutes on Netflix. One of the brilliant things about Netflix is that it gives you access to international TV, so you can pretend you’re not procrastinating but, rather, learning a foreign language.
How outraged I am
I’m at a 3/10. This piece in the Guardian by Ashley “Dotty” Charles, an amazing BBC Radio 1Xtra presenter, sums up a lot of my recent feelings about the ubiquity and futility of modern outrage.
“If outrage is currency then think of your expression of outrage as an investment. It is emotionally draining to be truly outraged.” Taking a bit of an outrage break this week.
How I’m making it through this week
Lots of tea. Which is how I make it through most weeks.
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Jessica Valenti returns next week.
