BY LISA MARIE BASILE
Sometimes the Internet is disgusting (@realDonaldTrump), but sometimes it's an amazing place of hope and intelligence and beauty. I have this goal of creating a weekly round up of great work, and I've failed you, dearest readers. But I promise to never fail you again and deliver the very writing we're loving each week.
The Cut
The Patronizing Questions We Ask Women Who Write
"'What will your kid think?' and 'Are you worried your son is going to hate you when he grows up?' and 'Are you going to let him read it?' and 'What’re you going to do when your kid Googles you?' are all questions that, even when offered lightheartedly and in a spirit of ostensible support, feel less like genuine questions and more like a chastening. 'Remember, you’re a MOM' and 'Remember, you have a mother' both mean 'Remember, you’re a woman, and there are consequences.' We don’t ask male artists to consider the consequences of their work, we don’t reframe them as fathers or boyfriends or sons." – Meaghan O'Connell
The Rumpus
Men Explain Submissions To Me
"And remember, no one is keeping track of whether you do follow the rules, whether you patiently never query, whether you quietly accept how you are spoken to, and then rewards you for that behavior. No one. So good luck, good luck, my friends. You will no doubt come across some serious bullshit." – Sarah Blake
The Establishment
Accidental Death Among The Mentally Ill And The Tragic Case Of Elisa Lam
"Conspiracy theorists wonder if Elisa ever really existed, but having read these words and experienced depression myself, I have no doubt she did. I know the darkness she expressed; the kind that makes women board planes alone for secret destinations and reasons unknown." – Melissa Petro
The Poetry Foundation
The Vanishing Act
"I am also thinking of writers who have been vanished by being excluded, as voices who do not fit nicely into the current trends. It’s not possible to think about these things without recognizing the power structures at work and the work of gatekeepers. Writers whose experiences lie outside the white, middle class experience (the experience of most of the gatekeepers) cannot transform and become something they are not in order to be seen and heard." – Cynthia Cruz
The Cut
I’m Modeling My Marriage on Frank and Claire Underwood’s
"Of course, there’s plenty not to admire about the Underwoods. This is a couple who represents the very definition of evil. But then again — why accept evil as the goalpost? Simply move it." – Mandy Stadtmiller
xoVain
7 Weird-Ass Beauty Tricks Used By Old Hollywood Icons
"A lot of old-school Hollywood icons were rumored to have some pretty nifty beauty — read: bananas — tricks they did on the reg." – Christina Seimenis
