Friday roundup

Earlier I posted a link about the horrors of past regimes in Tunisia. It won't come as any surprise that it was worse for women.

Things being worse elsewhere doesn't mean we shouldn't talk about things being bad here, Katrin Higher articulates:

“Enough of Mattress Girl; what about the victims of Boko Haram?” Daum asks before we’ve even started the column’s first paragraph. OK. But why the victims of Boko Haram and not the women in Sudan, Syria, and literally every other part of the world that lives under patriarchy? What about them? Where do we stop and start, when have we had “enough”? Has Daum really had “enough” of a movement that has been instrumental in raising awareness for the very real, very troubling occurrence of sexual assault on college campuses across the United States?

and

Perhaps President Obama stop focusing on the problems faced by the United States – you know, petty things like unemployment and police brutality — and instead go to other worse-off countries to “help”? The “it’s worse over there!” fallacy is a tactic used by conservatives, misogynists and classists alike to take the focus off of what they believe to be trivial problems in our own backyard and divert it towards more sinister problems in “scary” foreign countries – often to their own benefit, either because they literally profit from such diversions or have a stake in those things they’d like us to ignore.

and

Someone will always say there are bigger fish to fry. If feminists stopped doing the local work around their communities and instead tried to save those in other countries, how do you suppose we would all fare? Newsflash: you can support “Mattress Girl” and anti-rape activism in the United States and you can care about the women and girls brutalized by Boko Haram – the two are not mutually exclusive.

George Packer on the courage of migrants.

The perspective of an African in Europe.

Dudes don't get a cookie for not being horrible.

Playboy's Reza Aslan interview. Please read it (and pair with Dana Milbank's piece on the Duggars). See also this and this.

Haaretz on anti-Zionism vs. anti-Semitism.

Regardless of the ethics of the chocolate hoax, the point was made: much nutrition "science" is bullshit. Also, much beauty "science." These tips for cutting through the crap are not that helpful, but they're something.

No need to romanticize the supposed food of our grandparents, but we do need to be mindful of how our food system impacts food workers and the environment.

The leather industry is hurting (not just cows).

Carolyn on healthy relationships:

It’s also important for you not to say, “Okay, go to the game and have fun,” just because that feels like the cool-girlfriend thing to do even though you’re harboring resentment. Hiding how you feel is how love dies. You think he backed the wrong horse here? Then say so. A grown-up won’t make you pay.

I just want to give this woman a hug.

I want take away these people's social media.

By the way, people can get away with selling your photos.

A medical school appreciates an education in the humanities.

What an incredible way to give back (and how little it takes to help people find their way out of poverty).

You don't have to find your purpose. Pair with "Avenue Q."

Wow, this correctly predicted my year of birth, even though I was born outside the country.