In The Buzz Cut, we bring you a round-up of all the weird, controversial, and wonderful stories we’ve been reading all week.
One writer attends a ‘marketing to moms’ conference and gets an inside peek at how brands target — and define — modern motherhood. A (condescending) sampling: “She is caring for new life—she will buy anything for that baby.”
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In case you missed it, 20,000 Google employees around the world staged a walkout in protest of the tech behemoth’s (mis)handling of sexual harassment. And it worked: Google is now revamping its harassment policies in response. Power to the people.
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This article asks ‘how to survive a disaster movie?’ and its answer is basically the same to ‘how to get the girl in a romcom?’: Be white and speak English. #disastermoviessowhite
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Lucid dreaming has always seemed like an over-hyped trend, falling somewhere between avocados and matcha, but this is the first time it’s seemed practical: A lucid dreamer on how she can control her nightmares.
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The forcible self-reliance of singlehood is perfectly summed up in this hilarious tale about moving a coffee table up several flights of stairs, alone. But it gets poignant when the author asks a question that dogs all relationships: “… how am I supposed to let go of all of my get-shit-doneness and adopt a sense of ‘we’re in this together?'”
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Take a moment to ruin all of the most iconic cinematic love scenes as you watch a lawyer watch and evaluate them for sexual crimes. Come for the discussion about consent, stay for her massive eye roll at Twilight.
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Speaking of videos, check out this deep dive into the digital neural network (aka, the algorithm) behind YouTube video recommendations. The takeaway is that the platform isn’t actively Machiavellian, just statistically manipulative — and we are all statistics.
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Were there transgender people back in the day? Of course. … Oh sorry, you were looking for a longer answer? Then read this brief history of gender dysphoria, queerness and carving out your own gender identity in 5th to 15th century Europe.
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Finally, enjoy this interview with Wednesday Martin, author of the upcoming Untrue, a book that goes deep (sorry) into all of the numerous misunderstandings about female sexuality: “We were taught that men were the ones who needed variety, but the exact opposite turns out to be the case,” Martin says.
