Links roundup

Posted by Lashings of Ginger Beer

We're back from Edinburgh and the weekly Lashings links round up has returned! Feel free to add your own links in the comments, with a brief description and trigger warnings if appropriate.


Sally Outen was interviewed in The Scotsman about her Edinburgh show Non-Bio.

Gender Across Borders  is hosting a series of blog posts on the theme of sexuality and stigma. They are looking for writers to contribute. Deadline Friday 2nd September.

Believing in bondage - The Guardian reports on a court case over whether a midwife may wear a BDSM collar to work as an emblem of her beliefs.

The heart of the matter was whether her lifestyle was capable of constituting a belief in accordance with the employment equality (religion or belief) regulations 2003, which have already seen beliefs in foxes' rights and the hypothesis of man-made global warming – not to mention a belief in the higher purpose of public service broadcasting – all ruled capable of being protected philosophical beliefs. As debates went, this was possibly a tad above the pay grade of a local employment tribunal.

All bi myself: Rose Cooper on bisexuality

Edinburgh!

Posted by Annalytica

As we may have mentioned, we're heading up to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival very soon! The first of us are travelling up on Thursday, which is also the day that marks six months since this blog was launched.



While we're away, we won't be updating the blog regularly, so things will be rather quiet around here for the next couple of weeks. Service as usual will resume in September!

In the meantime, if you're in Edinburgh yourself, here are some shows to look out for:

Batman! Holy Spoof Musical Batstravaganza! featuring Lashings' own Jenni


Mae Day: I'm Not Waving, I'm Drowning: Lashings were lucky enough to see comedian Mae Martin performing live at Red Box. With her quirky, self-depracating style, she is very likeable and very very funny.


Morgan & West: Crime Solving Magicians Morgan and West can be held partly responsible for bringing together several of the Lashers-to-be, back in the depths of Lashings history.Their own show is well worth a look.

And, obviously, you should see Sally and Lashings!

Links roundup

Posted by Lashings of Ginger Beer

Welcome to the (almost) weekly Lashings links round up! Sorry we skipped a links round up last week - we're all pretty busy preparing for Edinburgh! Feel free to add your own links in the comments, with a brief description and trigger warnings if appropriate.



In An Open Letter to David Cameron's Parents, Nathaniel Tapley responds to the Prime Minister's moralizing about the riots.

But, of course, this is different. This is just understandable confusion over the rules of how many houses you are meant to have as an MP. This doesn’t show the naked greed of people stealing plasma tellies.

Sindelókë gives a useful metaphor for understanding privilege

The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl is a cute, funny web series about.... an awkward black girl.

Remember the "It Gets Better" project? I thought it had jumped the shark when David Cameron recorded a contribution, but then a teenager from Texas went and proved me wrong. [TW for references to child abuse] - you're not alone (YouTube video, but all the content is written on cards, so can be viewed without sound).

Women and Comics (The Positive Side!)

Posted by Jenni

Warning: this post is link heavy!

I recently wrote about women and comics, and it seems that I’m writing on that topic again. The reason? Since my last article, something pretty amazing has happened, and that’s a project called Womanthology.

Okay, here’s the point that I admit I’m pretty biased, being involved in the project myself. But that’s beside the point. I figured I’d show a contrast to the negativity of my previous article, and some of the steps that are being taken.

Edinburgh Feminists & Queers - we need you!

Posted by Sebastienne


Are you currently in Edinburgh? Do you want to help a bunch of queer feminists to spread their politics around?

Join the Lashings of Ginger Beer Time street team!

To get two tickets for the price of one to see Lashings of Ginger Beer Time at the Edinburgh Fringe this summer, all you need to do is put up five posters for our shows in high-visibility areas around Edinburgh. We are particularly interested in queer and feminist spaces - pubs, clubs and community centres - but we'll be equally happy with random cafés and bars, or even your bedroom window if you live on a busy street! The one place that we won't accept are the "poster pillars" that get put up around town for the duration of the fringe - these are too transient for the limited number of posters that we have available. Also, fly-posting is illegal and can get us into trouble, so please don't do that!

You can collect posters from the Bongo Club (37 Holyrood Road) any day between 11am and 7pm. When you have displayed the posters, please email feministburlesque@gmail.com to tell us where you have put them up, and to claim your cheap tickets. This offer is only available until 18 August.

Your help will give our grassroots feminist collective a real boost in breaking into the big bad Edinburgh Fringe - thanks so much for your contribution!

Five Fat Facts

Posted by Sebastienne




I thought it was time to unpack some of the assumptions behind our RENT filk, "Fat". (Lyrics)

1. "Fat" is a neutral descriptive term. It describes the way that a person's body carries adipose tissue, and says precisely nothing about their moral character, their health, their lifestyle, or their attractiveness. It is not offensive to call me fat - but it is offensive to assume that using the term to describe me is in some way insulting. And as for "but you're not fat - you're gorgeous!" - care to elaborate on what your problem is with my being both of these things?

Now - of course - as with any self-identification, there are going to be people who disagree with me here. Fat is a descriptive term with a nasty history - like "queer" or "dyke" - and there are going to be people who won't want to apply it to themselves under any circumstances; we have to respect that.

Links roundup

Posted by Lashings of Ginger Beer

Welcome to the weekly Lashings links round up! Feel free to add your own links in the comments, with a brief description and trigger warnings if appropriate.



All Out, the LGBT campaigning organisation, has launched a new campaign to ask Facebook to allow people to present genders other than male or female on their profiles. Judging by the response when we raised this issue in our brand new Facebook sketch, performed for the first time at Moulin Rage, this is something that matters to a lot of you!

Queers with Beers is a podcast in which Ariel Silvera and Avery Dame discuss queer community issues and their nerdy loves. The most recent episode looks at callout culture in online social justice communities, and setting in gaming.

Womanthology will be a massive all-female comic anthology, including work by both new and established writers and artists, as well as "how to"s & interviews with professionals, and features showcasing iconic female comic creators. It's producers are currently raising money to cover the publication costs.

Rahat Kurd: The hijab is the most powerful item of clothing in secular Western society—and the least understood.

In praise of Joanne Rowling’s Hermione Granger series

"The character of Harry Potter is an obnoxious error in the Hermione Granger universe, made more obnoxious by his constant presence."

[TW for sexual violence] Addressing Abuse in BDSM Communities & [TW for victim-blaming, graphic descriptions of sexual violence] The response she got for speaking out