The Minnesota Senate passed marriage equality today! By a margin of 37-30, the senate approved the measure, which was approved by the house on Friday. It will now go to Governor Dayton, who has pledged to sign it.

new-ways-to-complain:

conservativegirlonpolitics:

That was the most informative thing I have ever been told by a duck

And I have been told a lot of things by ducks.

Seriously. This. I learn a lot from ducks.

womenofthe113th:

Modification of the last infographic. Congressladies + men = still a ways to go.

Source: Office of the Clerk

*le sigh*

plannedparenthood:

Great news: The FDA will now require Plan B to be available over the counter! It’s available for people 15 and older, an important step forward in expanding access. Read more.

skeptikhaleesi:

Some interesting info: This is very reminiscent of the Baby X experiments, in which it was discovered that people reacted differently to a baby’s behavior depending on whether or not they believed the baby to be male or female.  People were asked to watch a video of a baby reacting to a startling image (a Jack-in-the-box popping up), and describe the baby’s emotional state.  When people believed the baby to be female, they described the baby as being scared and upset; when they thought the baby was male, they perceived the baby to be angry.  This was very telling, as it showed that literally identical behavior could be construed differently based on the perceived gender of the subject.

I will not get into it with my Republican family on Facebook…

I will not get into it with my Republican family on Facebook. I will not get into it with my Republican family on Facebook. I will not get into it with my Republican family on Facebook. I will not get into it with my Republican family on Facebook.I will not get into it with my Republican family on Facebook.I will not get into it with my Republican family on Facebook.IwillnotgetintoitwithmyRepublicanfamilyonFacebook. IwillnotgetintoitwithmyRepublicanfamilyonFacebookIwillnotgetintoitwithmyRepublicanfamilyonFacebookIwillnotgetintoitwithmyRepublicanfamilyonFacebookIwillnotgetintoitwithmyRepublicanfamilyonFacebook.

I. Will. Not. Get. Into. It. With. My. Republican. Family. On. Facebook.

edwardspoonhands:

OK, I agree we over-react to “terror” and under-react to “every-day gun violence” but we can’t pretend like those two things are the same thing. 

Shooting someone is generally an attack on a person. The reasons for shooting that person may be hatred, jealousy, greed, or idiocy, but you’re shooting a person. 

Blowing up the finishing line of a marathon is not an attack on a person, it’s an attack on a culture. 

There are a lot of reasons why we see “terror” as more terrifying, and some of those reasons are bad (like that we’re “used to” gun violence, and that most of those deaths take place in communities that people in power don’t identify with or understand well.)

But there are also good reasons why we feel this way. We all recognize that we are cultural beings, and thus attacking culture is viewed as worse, and should be viewed as worse, and /IS WORSE/ than attacking people, because the culture we create as individuals is more important than any single person. 

An attack on a culture is felt as an attack on every member of that culture. This is why “hate” crimes are often categorized differently, because those acts are often aimed not at hurting an individual, but at hurting all people who are “like” that individual.

So while the personal tragedies of the Boston Bombing are no more or less tragic than the personal tragedies of those 900,000 gun deaths, those incidents are different, and should be treated as such.

Thanks Hank Green, for putting into words a concept I couldn’t quite wrap my head around.

khaleesi:

jewbilant:

you see this?

it’s called a razor

if you’re a girl, USE IT

your hairy legs and armpits aren’t cute okay

you’re not helping out for woman’s rights or anything

YOU’RE JUST MAKING YOURSELF LOOK NASTY

Or!

Women have been socialized to believe that they must remove hair for a number of reasons, primarily the following:

1. hair is historically and Biblically associated with power; we as a patriarchal culture are obsessed with keeping hair on men (facial hair, Hair Club for Men, hair plugs, whatever) and keeping it off women. You say hair on women is nasty; why is it only hair on women? Women and men have the same pubic hair. We all grow it out of our follicles for the same reason. Why is it only gross on women?
2. women’s bodies have been considered the property of men since the dawn of time, and therefore we have been held to a standard of beauty and attractiveness that is not determined by us but is instead determined by something called the male gaze, which is erases all sexualities and genders other than cisgender heterosexual men and assumes that women are performing for it.
3. childlike women are considered less “threatening” and more “feminine” because they are naive, quiet, and rely on ~*adult men*~ to take care of them.

AND ALSO:

1. there is a fallacy about pubic hair that it is dirty. It is not dirty. In fact, it’s there to keep your genitals cleaner. Pubic hair and armpit hair are also there to spread your pheromones around and make it easier for you to attract a mate. 
2. all mammals have hair. We’re mammals.

AND FINALLY:

1. No one else’s body is your business. Ever. You want to shave? Go ahead! That’s totally your prerogative and if you’re more comfortable shaving, feel free. But given that pubic hair isn’t innately dirty, there’s no reason for anyone to remove it if they don’t want to.

You’re not sending out some edgy, hardcore message here. You’re just reinforcing what our culture wants you to reinforce. Before you pick up that razor again, think about why you want to shave. Is it just because our culture told you to? Why’d they tell you to? What’s the point?

Do what makes you comfortable and what makes you happy, and let others do the same.