We’re trying a new feature here at BUST.com—a roundup of the day’s biggest feminist political and pop culture news. Here are our picks for February 13, 2018, a.k.a. Galentine’s Day. Give your girls huge hugs and maybe, you know, handmade mosaic portraits a la Leslie Knope, and read about what’s happening in the world today.
Photo via NBC / Parks and Recreation
Just today, American snowboarder Chloe Kim made history as the youngest woman to ever win an Olympic gold medal for her sport. Congratulations, Chloe! Read about her big win on ESPN.com.
In our future favorite Netflix series, Umbrella Academy, Mary J. Blige will voice a time-traveling hit woman. The script is an adaption of Gerard Way’s comic series of the same name, and Ellen Page will also play a role. Read more about the cast, crew, and premise on the Hollywood Reporter.
Five women—and counting—have accused James Franco of sexual misconduct. Despite these allegations, though, Franco will continue to both star in and produce the second season of HBO’s The Deuce. The show’s co-creator David Simon told Variety that “in our experience, he was entirely professional as an actor, director, and producer.”
In better news, for the first time ever, the Olympics are not only hosting over 2,900 athletes and 16,000 volunteers, but are also creating a space for participants to seek guidance and speak out about sexual and gendered violence during the games. Counselor Jeon Won Hee told NBC News that, largely inspired by Olympians like Aly Raisman who have spoken out against sexual abuse, four locations called the Gender Equality Support Centers are open and accessible to anyone at the Olympic Park in PyeongChang, South Korea. “I’ve been worrying about building a sexual violence counseling center, because some people might not like it,” said Jeon, “but this has a symbolic meaning. The important thing is knowing that sexual violence can occur anywhere at any time.”
As part of an endless quest to hurt and impose restrictions on low-income Americans, the Trump administration is proposing a change to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program—also known as SNAP, or the food stamp program—that would limit the kinds of groceries available to those who need them. This change would reduce the SNAP budget, but as Hunger Free America CEO Joel Berg said, “they [are] taking over $200 billion worth of food from low-income Americans while increasing bureaucracy and reducing choices.” Read more on NPR.
Today, Governor Larry Hogan of Maryland is signing a bill to guarantee that women who become pregnant as a result of rape will not have to grant parental rights to their abusers. Though this is long overdue, Maryland will be joining over 40 states that already have this bill in place. Read more about it in The Washington Post.
An Arizona bill that would promise unlimited menstrual supplies to those in the state’s prisons has stalled. Fighting back in the best way possible, activists are sending pads, tampons, and cash donations to the Arizona Department of Corrections, and asking that these supplies help incarcerated women. Check out more about #LetItFlow, and how to get involved if you’re a constituent.
We’re all freaking out over Lupita Nyong’o’s Allure cover story and shoot for the magazine’s “Culture of Hair” issue. Nyong’o and her hairstylist, Vernon Francois, were given the freedom to create her cover look, and she traced the history of her relationship with her hair in an endlessly quotable interview. “[My hair] is like clay in the right hands. Clay can be dirt in the wrong hands, but clay can be art in the right hands,” she said. Check out the whole story here.
Deadline reports that Tiffany Haddish and Melissa McCarthy will star in The Kitchen, debut director Andrea Berloff’s upcoming mob movie with DC Entertainment. A Tiffany Haddish/Melissa McCarthy movie? We can’t wait!
Top photo via usskiandsnowboard.org
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Lydia Wang is a writer, pug enthusiast, and hopeless romantic. She lives in New York, writes for BUST, and overshares on Twitter: @lydiaetc.