In The Buzz Cut, we bring you a round-up of all the weird, controversial, and wonderful stories we’ve been reading all week.
Mega fashion brand Forever21 sent Atkins diet bars in its promotional material primarily to shoppers who had ordered its plus-size clothes online. After receiving backlash from consumers who accused the brand of being fatphobic, Forever21 issued an apology — but it’s not believable.
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Women in South Korea are increasingly rejecting marriage and motherhood, and refusing to be considered failures for their choices. This may be great for the women, but it is taking a toll on the country’s economy. But maybe hitting patriarchy in the pocket is how norms change?
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The retweet is a valued Twitter mainstay that lets users spread statements far and wide, without ever having to provide context. Chris Wetherell, who developed the retweet button, now thinks his invention was a big mistake — “We handed a loaded weapon to 4-year-olds.”
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Lawyers Menaka Guruswamy and Arundhati Katju — the power duo that helped strike down Section 377 and decriminalize gay sex in India — recently came out as a couple themselves. And everybody’s hearts are a-flutter.
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Existing invisibly is not an existence — a truth some Nigerian queer youth are realizing and championing with the help of the Internet. What’s it like to exist — proudly so — in a country that criminalizes your very existence?
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Megan Rapinoe, the star footballer who blew people away with her charm and charisma on and off the pitch throughout the recent FIFA Women’s World Cup, is getting not one, but two book deals. She’s going to talk about social justice — and hopefully get that money the U.S. Soccer Federation refuses to give her and her female colleagues.
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Of all the things women are robbed of — from opportunity, to safety, to kindness — time might be one of the most important. How are women, throughout history, supposed to have excelled at art or music or business, when their time was constantly interrupted by housework and childcare? A redistribution of time more equally might just solve other inequalities.
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What happens when your brand is synonymous with gay dating, and is a tool in fostering dating opportunities for queer folks — and then your president says marriage should be between a man and a woman? Grindr, the popular gay dating app, doesn’t have an answer, but it needs one amid resulting layoffs, mismanagement and a federal investigation.
