Feminism

Thoughty Thursday: Things that made me go hmmmm on the interwebz, May 14-20, 2017

/ Melanie Marttila

A little bit of this and a little bit of that, all to get your mental corn popping 🙂

SOS Safety Magazine lists four signs of a person with high-functioning depression. This is me.

How stress changes the brain and body (with helpful TED-Ed video). Mindful

ASAP Science shares seven ways to reduce your stress right now.

 

Wendi looks at the dark side of empathic people. Parhlo

Jesse Menayan shares what he and the Casper research team discovered about how couples affect each other’s sleep. Yeah, it’s a big ole advertisement, but the research is interesting and sleep is important. Medium

Dom Galeon: our brains might be 100 times more powerful than we thought. Futurism

Heidi Priebe profiles the personal hells of each Myers-Briggs personality type. My personal hell? Learning how everything I’ve said or done has hurt someone else, intentional or otherwise. Yup. Writhing already. Thought Catalog

A wee clip from Michael Moore on Finland’s school system.

 

Simon Parkin: teaching robots right from wrong. 1843 Magazine

Etan Vlessing covers the creation of A World without Canada, a dystopian series narrated by Dan Ackroyd and featuring Robert J. Sawyer. The Hollywood Reporter

Richard O. Prum writes of duck sex and the patriarchy. Though it’s hard to tell from the title, this is an amazing article. The New Yorker

Gaze in awe at these colourized photos of Russian women snipers, who terrorized the Nazis in WWII. Julian Robinson for Mail Online.

Alex Tizon tells the heart wrenching story of his family’s slave. The Atlantic

Chris Jones shares footage of how narwhales use their tusks. IFLS

Skandinavian folk on nyckelharpa, by Myrkur:

 

And your kawaii for the week: Ozzy, the desk weasel.

 

See you Saturday for my wrap up post about Writing the Other. Tasty, tasty!

Be well until then, my friends.

thoughtythursday2016

Thoughty Thursday: Things that made me go hmmmm on the interwebz, May 7-13, 2017

/ Melanie Marttila

Time to get your mental corn popping 🙂

Torey Van Oot sits down with Malala Yusafsai to discuss her Nobel and college. Refinery 29

Katie-Anne Laulumets explains how to love a daughter of the forest. The Elephant Journal

Thom Dunn shares 17 stunning photos of black Victorians that show what history really looked like. UpWorthy

Medievalists.net: women’s medicine and feminine embodiment in Morte D’Arthur, a middle English Trotula treatise, and The Mists of Avalon.

Nathan H. Lents, PhD, reveals the big news about homo naledi. Skeptic

Travis M. Andrews reports on a dinosaur fossil so well-preserved, it looks like a statue. The Washington Post

Here’s the additional cutural appropriation posts I promised:

Alli Kirkham shares a comic about double standards. Everyday Feminism

A Fordham professor becomes an accidental icon. BoredPanda

Rania Naim says, you’re allowed to leave … Thought Catalog

Dave Booda promises, it’s not lame to ask a woman’s permission. The Good Men Project

Lesley Stahl: what the last Nuremburg prosecutor alive wants the world to know. 60 Minutes

Steve Paulson: Roger Penrose’s theory on how consciousness doesn’t compute and why some scientists disagree. Nautilus

Steve John Powell looks at mindfulness: the Japanese skill that everyone wants to copy. BBC

Emma Seppala: happiness research shows the biggest obstacle to creativity is being too busy. Quartz

Phil Plait: colliding clusters of galaxies make gorgeous waves. Blastr

NASA’s Juno spacecraft beams back the sharpest images of Jupiter yet. EWAO (Earth. We are one.)

Wasn’t sure where to put this … Kate Rose discusses the full moon crossing Vishika, or, as a friend said, full moon in scorpio. The post comes with a lovely disclaimer 😉 The Elephant Journal

Selena Chambers pays tribute to the women surrealists helping her through the new political reality. Literary Hub

Marissa Fessenden reports that Lake Michigan is so clear its shipwrecks are visible from the air. Smart News

Adam Rogers: all the trees will die, and then so will you. Wired

Thomas Dambo makes wooden giants and then hides them around Copenhagen. Can You Actually

The bucket, A.K.A. some guy put a go pro at the bottom of a bucket. It’s quite cool, though. And tranquil.

 

This weekend, I’ll have a post about Story Masters for you.

Until next I blog, be well.

thoughtythursday2016

WorldCon 2016: The state of feminist fantasy

/ Melanie Marttila

Disclaimer: I am not perfect and neither are my notes. If you notice anything that requires clarification or correction, please email me at melanie (dot) marttila (at) gmail (dot) com and I will fix things post-hasty.

FemFant

Panellists: Julia Rios, Ann Leckie, Dr. Janice M. Bogstad, Tessa Gratton

Joined in progress …

AL: In science fiction, feminist authors and novels are being recognized. Why isn’t this happening in fantasy?

JMB: In a culture where everyone is equal, can there be feminism? We’d have to step back and compare.

TG: The feminist conversation is very dynamic right now. Feminism is a tool for dismantling the patriarchy and the conversation is complicated by sexism, ageism, ableism, racism, etc. We can’t talk about feminism in isolation. There’s a lot of intersectionality. I think Kate Elliot and N.K. Jemisin are feminist fantasy authors.

AL: When someone looks at the genre from the outside, feminist fantasy isn’t identified as a sub-genre.

TG: Science fiction is more overtly political.

JR: When people talk about science fiction, everything gets lumped together. Aren’t the classical texts fantasy? Aren’t fairy tales fantasy? What happens when women authors retell myth and folklore? I’d put forth Catherynne M. Valente and Angela Carter as feminist fantasy authors.

JMB: People outside the genre depend on the frame. In academic circles, they call it the literature of the fantastic. Robin Hobb’s novels have feminist themes. Game of Thrones can be read as feminist. Does it have prominent female characters? Yes. Is it feminist fantasy, though? Perhaps that’s another discussion. How do we define fantasy separate from science fiction? Patricia Briggs and Kij Johnson write feminist stories. We’ve had realistic fiction for a very short period of time, relatively speaking. We’ve had fantasy forever. What else is Beowulf?

JR: Who influenced you as a writer?

TG: I have two big influences: Kate Elliot, because she interrogates the issues I want to explore, and Katharine Kerr.

AL: Andre Norton was a big influence on me. There’s a question as to whether she was feminist. C.J. Cherryh doesn’t consider herself a feminist. I didn’t identify as feminist initially.

JR: If an author identifies as feminist, are their novels feminist?

JMB: People describe a feminist author in relation to their work. Are there feminist themes, gestures, sentiments expressed in the work? We need to define our terms first. Is there a canon of feminist fantasy?

TG: I’m uncomfortable imposing a definition of feminism that doesn’t address intersectionality. You can’t talk about sexism in isolation.

JMB: The same people who wrote science fiction also wrote fantasy. Russ was a lesbian. Intersectionality was part of the discussion. We just didn’t call it that.

TG: Explorations of young adult feminist fantasy aren’t interested in anything before Twilight. It’s the opposite problem.

AL: In science fiction, all of the classic feminist authors are from the 70’s. But current novels are being used to say that this is a new conversation in isolation from history. We need perspective regardless.

And that was time.

This was the last of my session notes from WorldCon 2016.

Next weekend: I’m going to talk about changing things up on the blog a bit and reasons 🙂

Until then, as ever, be kind, be well, and stay strong. Tell your stories. We need them.

Thoughty Thursday: Things that made me go hmmmm on the interwebz, March 5-11, 2017

/ Melanie Marttila

Time to get that mental corn popping!

Some lovely pieces for #InternationalWomensDay

Today I rise. Films for Action

Jina Moore shares 16 stories that will expand your mind on IWD. Buzzfeed

Australian school boys share the stories of their female friends: why feminism is important to me.

 

Courtney Shea: why sports psychologist Dr. Peter Jensen works like he’s a smoker. The Globe and Mail

A Danish psychologist says “positive thinking” has turned happiness into a duty and a burden. Olivia Goldhill for Quartz.

Jen Schwartz says the secret to happiness is to simplify. Outside

The Usual Routine: why empaths act strange around inauthentic people.

Artists have structurally different brains. Melissa Hogenboom for the BBC.

Susan Storm profiles the INTJ personality. Psychology Junkie

Olivia Goldhill: Blaise Pascal understood that people are best convinced by their own data. Quartz

Rutger Bregman makes the case for universal basic income. The Guardian

The Medievalist think these ten Medieval women are worth knowing about.

Explore Canada’s great women on Canada’s History.

Paul Dalby writes about Maria Lindsay Cobham, Canada’s pirate queen. Canada’s History

Nanaboozhoo and the Wiindigo: An Ojibwe History from Colonization to the Present. Bezhigobinesikwe Elaine Fleming for Tribal College: Journal of American Indian Higher Education.

A rabbit hole in a farmer’s field leads to “mystery caves.” BBC

Farah Halime profiles the millennial who might be the new Einstein. Ozy

Katherine Hobson: what going to Mars will do to our minds. Five Thirty Eight

Mark Malloy reports on scientists who have discovered how to upload knowledge into your mind. The Telegraph

Ryan F. Mandelbaum reports on the observation of time crystals. Gizmodo

Dana Dovey: scientists identify the first sign of Alzheimer’s Disease. MSN

Patton Oswalt explains why pop culture gets grieving wrong. Ari Shapiro for NPR.

The second sight among Scots Irish. McCain’s Corner

George Dvorsky shares the first footage of one of the most reclusive whales in the world. Gizmodo

It’s been a long day, and you’ve earned this video of Sir Patrick Stewart greeting his new foster dog. William Hughes for the A.V. Club.

Hope you got your fill of thoughty.

Until next I blog, be well.

thoughtythursday2016

Thoughty Thursday: Things that made me go hmmmm on the interwebz, Feb 26-March 4, 2017

/ Melanie Marttila

This week’s mental corn popping fuel is all—or almost all—about the ladies 🙂

Nicole Mortillaro: Oldest traces of life on Earth discovered in Quebec, dating back roughly 3.8 million years. CBC

Elon Musk to build three more gigafactories to change the way the world uses energy. Lorraine Chow for EcoWatch.

Ellen Dolgren: why don’t women talk about perimenopause? CBC

ASAP Thought: being a woman.

 

Chimamanda Adichie’s 15 suggestions on how to raise a feminist daughter. Audie Cornish for NPR.

Madison Pauly provides a brief history of men taking credit for women’s accomplishments: “I made that bitch famous.” Mother Jones

The Daily Health Post gets down and stretchy with your piriformis.

This week’s kawaii: baby sloth talk. Bright Side

We’ll see you on the weekend for more WorldCon 2016 reportage.

Be well until then!

thoughtythursday2016

Thoughty Thursday: Things that made me go hmmmm on the interwebz, Sept 11-17, 2016

/ Melanie Marttila

Time to get your mental corn a-poppin’!

Anna Lovind wants you to find the vision that wants to be born through you.

Kristen Lamb takes aim at the fashion industry.

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: we should all be feminists. TEDX Euston.

 

Illustrator Rasneth (Razzy) shows bros why everyone needs feminism. Bust

Daphne Patai: how diversity came to mean “downgrading the west.” Minding the Campus

Throat singer Tanya Tagaq combats indigenous stereotypes. Liz Przybylski for KCET.

Exorbitant food prices on the James Bay coast mean that children are going hungry. Olivia Stefanovich for CBC.

The Irena Sendler story.

 

Sweden is officially moving to a six-hour work day.

 

The wreckage of Sir John Franklin’s HMS Terror may have been found. Garrett Hinchey for CBC.

Phil Plait features Xkcd’s latest comic on global warming. Slate

Anna Nowogrodzki shares a first glimpse of a black hole being born from a star’s remains. New Scientist

Ria Misra reports on new evidence that points to a different theory for the moon’s formation. Gizmodo

The Martian landscape looks like Utah. Phil Plait for Slate.

Wasn’t sure where to put this . . . creepy. David Brown reports on the discovery of a skeleton that points to cannibalism in the Jamestown colony. The Washington Post

Photographer, Lorenzo Montezemolo, takes enchanting long exposure shots of fog over California. My Modern Met

Elyse Wanshel lists ten ways dogs show they love you. The Little Things

Hugs and stuff, ‘cause you’re all grand, you are!

See you Saturday for some movie madness and some series discoveries (midseason follies).

Thoughty Thursday

Thoughty Thursday: Things that made me go hmmmm on the interwebz, May 22-28, 2016

/ Melanie Marttila

Thoughty Thursday is weird and wonderful this week. Well . . . weird, anyway.

On refugees: a history of the ‘other’ in Sudbury. Nilgiri Pearson for Sudbury.com

This was one of the sad bits of new to come out in Canada this week: Gord Downie, lead singer of The Tragically Hip, diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. The Globe and Mail.

Here’s the sensationalist article: bodies of strange creatures found in the basement of old London home. Design you trust. And now, the real story: the truth behind the viral story of mysterious skeletons in London basement. The Earth Child.

Complain all you want, but your busy schedule may be helping your brain. Angus Chen for NPR.

Angela Hanscom wonders why can’t children stay still in the classroom? It turns out that movement is critical to attention and learning. The Washington Post.

How to be happy: lessons from an Amazonian tribe. Rick Warren for Medium.

A psychologist identifies three elements that determine happiness. Diane Koopman for LifeHack.

Finding 16 cents on the sidewalk helped one person recognize something important about happiness. The Business Insider.

The more I learn about this man, the more I love him. Albert Einstein: racism is a disease of white people. Open Culture looks at his little-known fight for civil rights.

The #HeForShe Media Summit (it’s an hour and a half long) featuring Patricia Arquette and Joss Whedon. UN Women.

 

Maisha Z. Johnson offers a black feminist’s guide to the racist shit too many white feminists say. Everyday Feminism.

Amanda Vickery says it’s time to bring female artists out of storage. The Guardian.

This is too cool. This Finnish university gives its doctoral graduates a funky top hat and sword. This is so Hogwarts, I have the desire to get my PhD! Oh. Tuition. Dissertation. But top hat and sword!

Jupiter gets his by visible asteroid impacts six times a year. Phil Plait for Slate.

Ed Yong reports a shocking find in a Neanderthal cave in France. The Atlantic.

The gruesome history of eating corpses as medicine. Maria Dolan for The Smithsonian.

Coming up: The next chapter will be coming out this weekend. I might have one more DIYMFA QotW, too! Oh, the writerly life 🙂

Thoughty Thursday

Thoughty Thursday: Things that made me go hmmmm on the interwebz, April 10-16, 2016

/ Melanie Marttila / 1 Comment

It’s mega-thoughty Thursday this week 😉

This is the next emergent issue in Canada: the quality of life in First Nations. This is our Prime Minister’s next big challenge. One First Nation has become the focus of media, recently, but it is not the only place where living conditions have been shown to be deplorable.

Attawapiskat in the news:

Just because our Prime Minister’s a geek (and yes, I realize he was dodging a question, but he did it well, don’t you think?).

 

Sandra Martin explains why we need better end-of-life policies in seniors’ residences. The Globe and Mail.

North Carolina passed ridiculous legislation that discriminates against transgendered people in the name of safety. Lindsay King-Miller covers the issue for role reboot.

Carla Ciccone wrote an article to warn women about Jian Gomeshi and it nearly destroyed her life. Chatelaine.

Samhita Mukhopadhyay wonders, will ‘it’s on us’ finally put an end the sexual assault on America’s college campuses? I hope so. It’s time and long past. Mic.com

Jia Tolentio explains how empowerment became a product for women to buy. The New York Times Magazine.

Leah McLaren explains why she’s teaching her son to embrace the ‘girlish.’ The Globe and Mail.

James Phelps, MD, makes the distinction between borderline personality disorder and bi-polar disorder. The Psychiatric Times.

The Mighty shares the secrets of people with anxiety.

 

Nancy C. Andreasen shares the secrets of the creative brain. The Atlantic.

I didn’t know where to put this tasty tidbit: How to see all the companies tracking you on Facebook and block them. Tech Insider.

The Shell Grotto in Margate, England.

 

Göbeklitepe. An amazing ancient site.

 

Photos of the Fukushima exclusion zone show how nature has taken over in a few years. BoredPanda.

Phil Plait debunks the planet nine comet scare for Slate.

Yuri Milner develops Breakthrough Starshot. CBC.

Phil Plait presents a tale of three Jupiters in four parts. Part one: A lonely young Jupiter wanders the galaxy. Part two: A Jupiter analogue orbits another star. Part three: Jupiter’s brother has three suns. And, finally, part four: Great Jupiter’s ghost! Slate.

Where do minds belong? In this fascinating essay, Caleb Scharf speculates on the fate of human, and alien, intelligence. Aeon.

Ariana Eunjung Cha examines Sean Parker’s revolutionary project to ‘solve’ cancer for The Washington Post.

Sarah Laskow considers the original copy of the Malleus Malificarum in Cornell’s witchcraft collection for Altas Obscura.

Food in its growing state 🙂 Bright Side.

Dog shaming always makes me smile. They know we’ll always forgive them 😉 Here are a couple of sites to bookmark in case you need a mid-week pick-me-up. Dogshaming and Dog Shame Awards.

Be Deutsch! Just AWESOME.

 

All the best.

See you on Saturday!

Thoughty Thursday

Thoughty Thursday: Things that made me go hmmmm on the interwebz, June 7-13, 2015

/ Melanie Marttila

There’s a little bit of somethin’ somethin’ for everyone 🙂

Here was the thoughty controversy of the week: Tim Hunt doesn’t want women in the lab. Why? Because they fall in love with their male coworkers, they distract their male coworkers, and they cry (there’s no crying in science!).

So, of course, after making the statement, Hunt quit. That didn’t stop these ladies from taking it out of him with #distractifyinglysexy 🙂

Understanding the sensitive heart. The Elephant Journal.

This is for anyone who has had to watch a loved one die. There is something poetic about being there to witness the final struggle, even if the struggle is not a physical one. To sit with death. The Elephant Journal.

Sarah Knight left a job because happiness is more important to her than commitment. Quartz.

Which countries are the happiest? Find out in this article from 24/7 Wall St. Canada’s in there, but the Scandinavians rule (apparently)!

Indigenous cultures have less back pain. Why is that? NPR.

Baba Yaga’s House, a feminist alternative to seniors’ homes, opens in Paris. RFI.

Eight feminist lessons from Jane Austen. Bustle.

The psychology of inspirational women: Veronica Mars. Janina Scarlet for The Mary Sue.

Caitlyn Jenner got Vi Hart thinking about gender. Honest and awesome.

Sarah Jones delivers a sex talk from the future by way of six characters. Amazing TED Talk.

Margaret Atwood speaks out about Bill C-51. The National Observer.

The problem with patterns. The Creativity Post.

Find out more about the SEAL team that’s famous for taking out Osama Bin Laden. The New York Times.

The moon terminator illusion. Vsauce.

Did the dinosaurs really go extinct? It’s okay to be smart.

Eek! If a Boomslang bites you, you bleed to death (out of every orifice – ew). IFLS.

Here’s a little futuristic retro for you: This is what 1956 marketers thought 1976 roads would be like. Popular Mechanics.

13 rarely seen photos of Marilyn Monroe. Elle. She was such a beautiful woman.

This tribute to a beloved dog will have you bawling. But it is SO beautiful. Denali. Bustle.

So kawaii! A family of weasels scales a wall. The Telegraph.

And in case the song at the end of the Denali video got to you like it got to me:

Now go get that squishy grey thing of yours into gear 🙂

I’m off to get ready for the M.H. Callway workshop taking place in Sudbury this evening.

I will probably not post on Saturday this week because of Wordstock, but I’ll post Ad Astra and Wordstock reportage on Sunday. Ok? Ok. S’alright? S’alright!

Thoughty Thursday

Thoughty Thursday: Things that made me go hmmmm on the interwebz, May 31-June 6, 2015

/ Melanie Marttila / 6 Comments

A little bit of interesting and a little bit of controversial this week.

Listen to the wisdom of trees. OM Times Magazine. I’ve done this. Yes, I’m paganish.

What it means to have the heart of an empath. The Elephant Journal.

How the highly sensitive person may be accessing clairsentience. OM Times Magazine.

We need to address the gap in medicare for patients with mental illness. The Globe and Mail.

This raised a few eyebrows among some of my friends who do not identify as feminist. I understand their position and defend their right to hold it, but I still think this rant from Mark Ruffalo is pretty awesome (no offence, ladies).

In that vein, here’s the trailer for Suffragette. This. Looks. AWESOME!

Jon Stewart makes a brilliant point about Caitlin Jenner that no one is talking about. News.Mic.

Former Prime Minister, Paul Martin, believes that indigenous thought belongs in the classroom. The Globe and Mail.

Truth and reconciliation may be progressing, but there are still issues that remain unaddressed in northern Ontario. CBC.

Residential school survivors and their descendants share their stories. The Globe and Mail.

Truth and reconciliation is not an aboriginal problem, but a Canadian one. CBC’s the Current.

Buffy Ste. Marie speaks out on the need for a new deal for Canada’s First Nations. CBC.

Science fiction author, Veronica Sicoe, wrote this lovely post on our failure to find developed, space-faring civilizations: Blowing up the Kardashev Scale.

Crazy facts about Japan. OMG facts.

Newfoundland’s fairy traditions. Canadian Living.

Want a cheap mansion? It’s haunted . . . CTV News.

For your musical enlightenment: Five new albums to try out on Spotify. The Guardian.

Your edutainment is served. You’re welcome 🙂

See you Saturday for more Ad Astra, and maybe I’ll have some good news on the home destruction front.

Oh, BTW, what do you think of the site revamp? Yeah, I finally did that shit.

Thoughty Thursday