The Week in Patriarchy is a weekly roundup of what’s happening in the world of feminism and sexism. If you’re not already receiving it by email, make sure to subscribe.
Sign up for Jessica Valenti’s weekly newsletter on feminism and sexismThis has been a sad, terrible week – one that reminds us that despite outward appearances, you really never know what kind of pain or struggles people are dealing with internally. We lost Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain, two cultural iconoclasts – and lost them in the most tragic way possible.
I don’t know anyone whose lives haven’t been touched by suicide, and the problem in America is only growing – since 1999, the rate went up 25%. The best thing we can do for each other is be there, to sit with each other, and to reach out if we suspect someone is struggling. Just being present for someone does more than you’d think.
The actor and writer Rob Delaney, who has written frankly about his own suicidal episodes, tweeted yesterday that therapists refer to suicide as a permanent solution to a temporary problem. And I think that’s what we need to relay as well – that those kinds of feelings are temporary, that you can feel better. If you need help, please reach out to someone.
- In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255. In the UK, Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international suicide helplines can be found at www.befrienders.org.
Glass half full
An Iowa judge has temporarily blocked the state’s extreme anti-abortion law, ruling that it was unconstitutional. It’s not over by a long-shot – anti-choice advocates want to take this one to the supreme court – but I’ll take my good news where I can get it.
What I’m RTing
Andrew Golis (@agolis)
Underneath his “I don’t give a fuck” punk persona, he was clearly someone who deeply gave a fuck. And who felt a moral urgency to tell stories of people with less power, to teach us the histories of war & oppression, and to persuade us that we are all more similar than different.
June 8, 2018
Sarah Wine-Thyre
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