cross-posted from: https://szmer.info/post/16364148

So much of what we once took for granted—democracy, belonging, institutions, even our sense of a shared future—feels unsettled. Being a good community member feels equally fraught, yet in the face of uncertainty, it has become all the more essential in the collective fight for a better tomorrow.

We asked women working across different fields, countries, and cultural backgrounds a simple set of questions: What does community mean to you? What can a person do today to become a better neighbor, organizer, and partner in a shared future? And what advice would you offer to anyone looking to strengthen their relationship to their community?

Their answers point toward a common practice and perspective: A shared future is not something we wait for. It is something we make together.

Four years after the fall of Roe v. Wade, abortion — which defined the 2022 midterms and much of the subsequent presidential campaign — has largely receded from the spotlight as 2026 candidates focus on issues of affordability, the proliferation of data centers and the prolonged war in Iran.

But in four midterm races spanning different regions of the country, voters will have a chance to weigh in directly on how their states approach abortion.

One ballot measure could overturn a strict ban. Another could undo abortion rights protections voters secured just two years ago. And in two others, voters won’t change what abortion access looks like, but they will have a chance to strengthen existing protections by amending their state constitutions.

Here is a breakdown of where abortion is back on the ballot.

archive.is link

After being evicted from their St. Louis apartment in January, Angelique Oliver-Jones and her 13-year-old daughter, Karriah, packed what they could, loaded up their dog Chanel and set out to rebuild their lives thousands of miles away.

Over the next several months, the family bounced between eight cities across three states before eventually arriving in Portland where they are currently staying at an overnight-only shelter.

Amid that instability, Oliver-Jones has been searching for a moment to breathe. She finally found that at Good Circumstance, a women’s library and day center in Old Town.

“I feel like I manifested this place,” Oliver-Jones said.

The library, which opened July 21, offers women and other people of marginalized gender identities, especially those experiencing homelessness, with a place to spend time during the day. It provides books, computers, art supplies, musical instruments, classes and peer support. The selection of quiet activities differs somewhat from other day centers around the city that are often more focused on providing showers, mailboxes and support services. “I can’t stress enough how safe it feels to be able to be in an environment such as this,” Oliver-Jones said.

Remember in 2007 when the then president of Iran told students at Columbia University, "In Iran, we don't have homosexuals, like in your country?" The response was laughter, but I had a sinking feeling that something more serious than denial was going on. It did indeed turn out that Iran's "solution" to freely chosen same-sex relationships was to criminalize them and to subsidize and even compel sexual reassignment surgery. I doubt I would have been so suspicious if his words hadn't hit memories of four decades ago when I began traveling as a feminist organizer.

European Parliament Vice President Pina Picierno on Saturday praised Taiwanese Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) as a role model for freedom-loving women around the world and told CNA that she would soon begin planning a trip to Taipei after accepting Hsiao's invitation to visit.

Hsiao made an unannounced visit to Italy to attend the Second Ventotene European Conference for Freedom and Democracy on the Italian island of Ventotene at the invitation of the event organizers, despite strong protests from Beijing.

In an interview with CNA on the sidelines of the event on Saturday, Picierno, the conference's main initiator, described Hsiao as a role model.

"I believe the world needs the courage of women; and throughout history, many women have changed the course of history through their determination," Picierno said.

...

"As authoritarian regimes threaten our democracies, we have an even greater need for courageous women like Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim," she added.

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Picierno noted that Hsiao fights for human rights and women's rights and is a "staunch pro-democracy activist who inspires freedom-loving women across the world."

,..

The trip was Hsiao's second visit to a European country that recognizes Beijing instead of Taipei since she took office in May 2024. Her first visit was in November 2025 to Brussels to address a meeting of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China.

...

Web Archive link

The late feminist icon spent her later years using her voice for transgender rights.

One of the most striking features of modern reactionary politics is its ability to co‑opt the language of liberation to further restrictive agendas. Trans-exclusionary radical ideology exemplifies this tactic: it cloaks itself in the rhetoric of feminism—invoking safety, rights, womanhood, and empowerment—while using these very concepts to justify exclusion and discrimination.

This strategy is not accidental. It is deliberate, structural, and politically effective.

Spend any length of time in any trans related space and the sexualisation of trans women’s bodies leaks out. Be it the demonisation of trans women’s aesthetics by gender critics, people chasing trans women because they have a sexual proclivity for women with certain genitals, or trans women themselves working through their personal sexualities, the sexualisation of trans women is both overt and subtle due to how society has framed trans female bodies. This has deep historic roots, to the point that when you engage with the history of trans womanhood you are engaging with the sexualisation of those bodies and the fetishes of those who recorded those bodies. This piece examines the hyper sexualisation of trans women, unpacking how the fetishisation of trans bodies has in part caused the backlash against trans women and the rolling back of trans rights.

From childhood, women are trained to restrict their appetite. And there’s a huge, hidden, cognitive price to pay for it

cross-posted from: https://slrpnk.net/post/41776095

Content Notice

discussions of abuse, sexualized violence, and rape.

I'm guessing that anyone around here who is still using Instagram or one of the mainstream platforms would've seen this. Thought I would share here because I think this is a great idea.

The days when social media seemed to care about things like astroturfing or brigading are in the past. And in the era of bots, this problem is out of control. Online bullying and harassment and swarmed with hate comments is rife, pushing the suicide rate higher. Online groups and spaces exist to target specific people for specific reasons and nothing is done by the lizard brained people running these platforms.

So in order to counter this, a mailing list and / or WhatsApp group has been created to mobilize an army and instead of battling it out with bots in the comment section, giving the bullying victim love and support and rallying around them.

I know that I could do with a cause like this because just fighting bigots all the time poisons you too. You'll likely need accounts on mainstream platforms for this though, if you're interested in taking part.