Image by Gage Skidmore

New year, new bleed.

1. Carrie Fisher's Force is Awakened.

Wait, if intergalactic space kweens aren’t even free from body-shaming trolls, then what about all us little earthlings? Help us, Carrie Fisher...you’re our only hope! And help us she did. This week, Fisher--the 59-year-old famous for portraying Star Wars’ Princess Leia nearly 40 years ago and now reprising the role for The Force Awakens--responded to online harassment about her aging body from Internet twerps who apparently were never taught that women have lives and purpose even if they don’t fit narrow beauty standards. Without letting anonymous dweebs damage her ego too much, of course, Fisher pointed out that she had to diet extensively for this role, and then emphasized the extent to which media and online harassers ignored the aged bodies of her co-stars, Mark Hamill and Harrison Ford--both older than she--while haranguing her about the appearance of her body. Yet another installment in the book of body-shaming and double standards used to tear down powerful women. YAWN. Wake us up when misogyny ends. And as Fisher tweeted on the matter, “blow us.”

2. No Justice For Tamir Rice.

Last week, we read about the decision not to indict any government, police, or prison officials in the Sandra Bland case, and the subsequent upset throughout human rights groups around the world. This week, we received a similarly bleak story--this time about the decision not to indict the white police officer responsible for shooting and killing 12-year-old Tamir Rice, a black child from Cleveland, OH., and immediately pinning down and arresting his older sister who rushed to the scene to care of her little brother. The judge, who many believe to be biased on the side of the police (uhh, ya think?) claims that Officer Loehmann’s decision to gun down an unarmed child of 12 within two seconds of assessing the “crime” scene was an appropriate one. In the wake of this decision, there has been a considerable buzz made about abolishing the grand-jury system--the system used practically every time a police officer is accused of killing an innocent, such as Eric Garner and Michael Brown. The grand juries are not open to the public (they’re actually called secret grand juries…#bye), and are not subject to creating fair juries made up diverse voices. Sounds awful fishy to us. Hopefully ridding of secret grand juries will lead to some long sought-after justice for communities of color.

As Cecile Richards said,"This week, a reminder."#blacklivesmatter

Posted by THINX on Tuesday, 29 December 2015

3. Ivanka Trump Confuses Just About Everyone.

When you try your best, but you don’t succeeeeeed… ← How we feel after reading that Ivanka Trump, business woman extraordinaire and daughter of you-know-who, explained to Town and Country this week that her father is a true “advocate for women.” Oops! Sorry, Ivanka, we were distracted by all the blood we were bleeding from our wherevers; what did you say exactly? It’s really true, peeps. She actually said that her father believes in gender equality and has been an exemplary ally to women throughout his career. To set the record straight, THINX has created these haikus using only Donald Trump quotes about women. And Ivanka? You may wanna pack your bags and find a new family. Pronto.

http://jezebel.com/5889702/navajo-nation-sues-urban-outfitters-over-the-navajo-hipster-panty?_ke=

4. Navajo Nation Sues Urban.

Uh-oh, here comes Captain Obvious again with another face-palm-worthy fact of life: Urban Outfitters is bad news wears (‘cause it’s clothing? Get it? No? Moving on). The clothing brand that captivated the hearts of wannabe hipsters everywhere has been accused a ridiculous amount of times of creating or selling offensive merchandise--but this time, they’re actually getting sued. The Navajo Nation (yeah, the whole darn thing) sued the company back in 2012, ordering that UO not affiliate itself with the Nation in any way. This came after accusations of cultural appropriation and corruption of the Navajo name when the clothing line began to sell “Navajo” apparel--entirely unaffiliated with and unapproved by the tribe. It wasn’t until this week, however, that judges decided to allow the case to continue, despite Urban’s claims that there had been no “injury in fact.” In fact, UO, it would appear that you are wrong. And you’ve just been serrrrved.

Gloria Steinem © Tara Toras-Whitehill

5. Celebrity Women Shout Their Abortions.

This past week, BUST magazine put out a list showcasing 10 celebrity women who have been open about the abortions they’ve received, and about not regretting or feeling ashamed of their decisions. First of all, the list was full of powerhouse ladies who have basically conquered the world and are some of the best feminist role models of all time (ahem, Nicki Minaj, Gloria Steinem, Cecile Richards...need we say more?), and it was moving to read about their triumphs in choosing to live their lives to their fullest. But more to the point, the list highlighted how so often it is assumed that women who choose to abort (or are forced to abort for any number of reasons) should feel guilty or ashamed of their actions for the rest of their lives. Pulling together 10 incredibly successful and inspirational women who have lived through the experience of an abortion and have come out the other side braver and better equipped to find themselves sends a message to women everywhere that receiving an abortion does not degrade your womanhood or your personhood, but is, in fact, a human right and, is in many cases, a smart healthcare decision. We have some rill serious thoughts about this, here. Please read. #TeamUterus

Ft. our day-one sheroes like Gloria Steinem, Nicki Minaj, and Cecile Richards. tysm to all the ladies who choose to live their best lives, we are stronger because of you ???????? #endthestigma

by Team Thinx