Here are the highlights from our social media coverage this week:
-“As a grocer’s daughter who rose to become Britain’s first female prime minister, she stands as an example to our daughters that there is no glass ceiling that can’t be shattered.” – President Obama on Margaret Thatcher, who passed away Monday at the age of 87
-The Huffington Post asks, “Do We Have to Celebrate Margaret Thatcher? (And Other Women We Don’t Agree With).”
-“Now, although I don’t think it’s realistic to expect Sheryl Sandberg to speak on every issue that affects women, it’s disturbing that she hasn’t spoken out about the blatant misogyny that takes place in her own company … an online community that censors their vagina-shaped cupcake pictures but refuses to take down content promoting rape? More importantly, why is a woman who is profoundly dedicated to encouraging women “to stand up for themselves” not standing up for them right now?” – Elizabeth Plank of PolicyMic, on why she thinks Facebook’s COO should help revamp the censorship policy of the social network
-April 9 was Equal Pay Day. Women on average earn 77 cents for every dollar a man earns for comparable work—a gender wage gap of 23 percent, which goes up when men are compared with women of color. (Center for American Progress)
-This week is “International Anti-Street Harassment” week. Check out this new PSA campaign in Philadelphia, created byHollabackPhilly.
-Elizabeth Plank at PolicyMic reports, via a study from Dove, that 60% of girls quit sports because they don’t like the way they look.
-“The Herald News published an article titled “Who failed Rehtaeh Parsons?” The truth is that we all did. Rape culture isn’t an amorphous force that lives outside of people. It takes form and perpetuates itself through our actions. We promote rape culture through the smallest gestures–laughter at a rape joke, objectifying “compliments,” our hesitation to call out a friend, our willingness to make excuses for the known rapists in our midst, our paralysis in the face of complex systemic cruelty, our silence–and these seemingly inconsequential moments build a world where 15-year-olds are gang-raped by classmates. We build a world where it is no longer shocking when victims of sexual assault and harassment commit suicide…Instead of wallowing in injustice, let’s finally wake up from the delusion that we have any more time to waste. Rape culture kills. Rehtaeh Parsons is dead and we are in a state of emergency.” – Feministing.com reacts to the tragic death of teenager Rehtaeh Parsons