What’s Current: Amazon pulls book penned by serial killer Robert Pickton after public outcry

Images from Pickton book -- photograph: Globe and Mail
Images from Pickton book — photograph: Globe and Mail

After public outrage, Amazon pulls book penned by serial killer of women, Robert Pickton.

Taylor Swift donates $250,000 to support Kesha after ruling denies her an injunction that would provide an escape route from working with her rapist, Dr. Luke

“The likes of Lady Gaga, Ariana Grande and Lorde have voiced their shock and backing for the singer following the outcome, while many Kesha fans gathered outside the New York state supreme court under the banner of the #FreeKesha movement. Grammy winner Taylor Swift, instead, provided financial aid.”

In response to news of the legal system failing to protect women online, psycho man refuses to take down revenge website until his ex-wife is “dead or homeless.” (This is an utter travesty if not illegal).

Romantic Comedies teach women that stalking is a compliment. New study suggests rom coms perpetuate dangerous myths and make it harder to prosecute stalkers.

“Take the scene in ‘Love, Actually’ in which Keira Knightley’s character discovers that her new husband’s best friend has been secretly filming her while simultaneously treating her like garbage […] Later, when he shows up at Knightley’s character’s house and wordlessly professes his love while her husband, his best friend, sits unknowingly upstairs, it’s supposed to be the romantic climax of their storyline, and it remains one of the most beloved moments of this modern classic.”

UK grapples with policy questions on prostitution. Feminists call to criminalise the sex buyers, not the prostitutes:

“The reaction to a young woman’s murder in England’s legalized ‘managed zone’ in Leeds was certainly muted, for a country that gets exercised about domestic violence, forced marriages, child rape. Many women in prostitution were underage, visibly so, when they were first exploited. For them, the rules are different. One UK campaigner argued recently for the legalisation of co-working for women in prostitution, ‘as this is the main way in which they believe their safety will be enhanced.’ That the inessential business of prostitution should be as synonymous with serious physical danger as it is with organized crime barely registers as anomalous. If there were consistency in health and safety alone, Leeds police would be insisting on hi-vis jackets and lanyards in their night-time ‘managed zone.’”

Susan Cox

Susan Cox is a feminist writer and academic living in the United States. She teaches in Philosophy.