Our weekly recap highlighting the best feature stories from around the internet.
This week Racked asks whether the feminist ideology of lingerie brand Thinx extends to the brand's employees. Photo: Racked
Thinx Promised a Feminist Utopia to Everyone But Its Employees, by Hilary George-Parkin, Racked
‘“I remember one of my coworkers started crying,” said another source, whose recollection of the meeting was confirmed with two other employees present at the time. “She said, you know, ‘I love working here. I love working for women. But it hurts to know that I'm giving my whole life to Thinx basically, like I work all the time, but I can’t even afford birth control. And what does that mean if we're at a feminist company and I can't afford to keep myself safe and protected?’”’
Here Is the Scandalous Father John Misty Interview You’ve Been Waiting For, by Jillian Mapes, Pitchfork
‘“If you think that pop stars are anything other than prisoners, then you are fucking kidding yourself. I know them. They are crying for help in their music. We think that we’re doing the world a favor by recognizing the innate wholesomeness of this form of music, like, “Oh, I don’t know, it’s just fun! Something that was made to be liked!” But why do you think that Lady Gaga or Beyoncé would come to old Uncle Jerry over here for songs if they weren’t looking for something?”’
In a Place of Need, an Unhealthy Contradiction, by Jessica Contrera, The Washington Post
Ruby is another patient who voted for Trump because of his promise to bring back jobs. She hasn’t yet lost hope that she can become a secretary, but for the past two years she’s been working at KFC. She has health insurance only because she was fined on her taxes for not having it, at which point she found out that because of the ACA, she qualified for Medicaid. It is insurance at its most tenuous, though, because if Medicaid reverts back to a program only for the neediest people, the working poor will be most at risk of losing their coverage.
Meet the Woke Misogynist, by Nona Willis, Fusion
“The woke misogynist is a guy who talks a big game about gender equality and consent, uses vocabulary like “triggering” without rolling his eyes, wears a pussy hat to the Women’s March, prefers to fuck feminists and may freely call himself one, too—then turns around and harasses you, assaults you, or belittles you. Perhaps his behavior throws you off because, unlike the whimpster or emosogynist of the aughts, he’s confident in himself and his pro-woman bonafides. Or because he apologizes nicely and indulges you in a thoughtful conversation after the offending incident. Or, most likely, because his misogyny is more ambiguous and subtle than that of, say, Bill Cosby or Roger Ailes or Donald Trump.”
Pipe Dreams: Life on the Road in Pursuit of Surfing Glory, by Jonny Weeks, The Guardian
‘“In the past I’d study and train and my dad would pay for everything around the world,” she explains. “But I thought maybe there wasn’t enough hunger because life was so easy. There was no ‘If I don’t win I cannot go to the next comp’. There was no real urgency. So that’s why I’m living in my car.”’
The Roots of Cowboy Music, by Carvell Wallace, MTV
“I think about the American government sending armies to wipe out the nations that had thrived here for millennia, warring with them for generations, committing atrocities that most Americans have never heard about in order to clear out the West so that rough-hewn men, gallant cowboys and lion-hearted ranchers, could homestead their land and claim their stake. Grow their cattle and bequeath land to their families. So they could watch life raising itself from the earth and contemplate the miracle of it all as they gazed into the heavens. And compose terse and delicate verses about how marvelous it all is.”