• Our Viktoriya found this on LiveJournal: Fun picspam post of non-English speaking lead cinematic female characters. Gave us some ideas for the collective DVD wishlist. Vik adds: “Although I’m surprised that there is no Isabelle Adjani in La Reine Margot, no Franka Potente in Run Lola Run, no Sophie Marceau in Les femmes de l’omre/Female Agents, and no Noomi Rapace in Girl with a Dragon Tattoo. (I also think that Lina Leandersson should qualify in Let the Right One In.) And what about the scary, scary Yeong-ae Lee in Lady Vengeance, or Li Gong in Red Sorghum (with bonus stealth!genocide)?” Good points all. To the sale at play.com, at once!
• “We are FiG. We stand for Feminism in General, a new network who embrace feminists from all walks of life, with a view to discussing anything relating to women’s issues and feminism… We are an all inclusive feminist collective, which means we welcome trans feminists, queer feminists, male feminists, feminists of all genders, races, classes and ages.”

  Sounds good to us – and they’ve just gotten started, so go check ’em out: Feminism in General.

• “How would you define normal? Is it when you wear shoes on your feet at the mall or eat toast for breakfast? Is it when you’re female and feel like a woman? What happens when you go somewhere else and they don’t even have shoes or toast, or when you’re in a group of people who are female and don’t feel at all like women? What’s Normal Anyway is a webcomic that discusses the trans male experience and aims to add another voice representing a part of the wide spectrum of human diversity. And be funny about it too.” It’s charmingly drawn and well worth a read.
• “Whether or not your story includes the Bechdel scene says absolutely nothing about whether it’s sexist or not. The measure of sexism is whether your story denies women the opportunity to participate in it.” Hathor Legacy issues a wake-up call with The Bechdel Test: It’s Not About Passing .
• Tinchy Stryder’s Game Over gets a Female Takeover courtesy of a collective of female MCs after a rallying cry, issued on Twitter, brought them together. BBC article here, Radio 1Xtra discussion here… and check the track out here. (For comparison, here’s the much-vaunted all-male original remix.) Currently on regular rotation here at BR towers, the track itself makes the editor do a dangerously over-energised dance – listen to the interview; their energy and drive is infectious.
• “Summing up what feminism means has always been a tricky business. Whilst there are formal definitions to be found, ultimately the concept is a fluid one: made real, developed and adapted by those that subscribe to it. So what does it actually mean for a publishing house to be steered by its feminist guiding principles?” India-based publishing house Tara Books tell For Books’ Sake how they do it here.

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