This week’s roundup of our favorites from across the interwebs to help you make sense of men and women.
1. McDonald’s Gave Me The ‘Girl’s Toy’ With My Happy Meal. So I Went To The CEO by Antonia Ayres-Brown of Slate says McDonald’s is estimated to sell more than one billion Happy Meals each year. When it poses this question—“Do you want a boy’s toy or a girl’s toy?”—McDonald’s pressures innumerable children to conform to gender stereotypes.
2. Army’s Ban On Some Popular Hairstyles Raises Ire Of Black Female Soldiers by Helene Cooper of The New York Times says in reaction to a new Army regulation banning numerous hairstyles—twists, dreadlocks and large cornrows—popular with black women, the 16 women of the Congressional Black Caucus have asked Mr. Hagel to overturn the regulation on behalf of the 26,700 African-American women on active duty in the Army.
3. Not All Women Get To Decide Between Opting Out And Leaning In by Dr. Peggy Drexler of The Huffington Post says more women are staying home, and more women are working. But not all women get to decide between opting out or leaning in. That, as a new Pew report has shown, is a luxury becoming increasingly rare.
4. Is This The End Of Terry Richardson? by Mary Elizabeth Williams of Salon says new claims against the photographer reveal what it might take to bring him down.
5. Postpartum Depression Can Happen To Any Parent by Julie Beck of The Atlantic says the baby blues aren’t just the domain of birth mothers: fathers, adoptive parents, and nonbiological mothers are also at risk.
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