Stories about sex with celebrities are bringing women together online
  NOVEMBER 17, 2021 THE BIG STORY
Stories about sex with celebrities are bringing women together online  Madison Ketcham for BuzzFeed News After receiving months of requests for secretive, "very embarrassing" sexual demands from David (an actor whose name has been changed in this story), Jenny (also a pseudonym) felt exploited and pressured into doing things she wasn't comfortable with.
Eventually, she put out a callout on Deuxmoi, a crowdsourced celebrity gossip Instagram account, asking if other people had had similar experiences with David. It wasn't long before her phone started blowing up.
"There were women in the double digits contacting me," she said. "It was constant." Jenny made a group chat where women could compare notes about David's actions, adding to the rise of online spaces for people to speak candidly about power imbalances during sex with celebrities.
Discussing celebrity activities with such fervor might seem trivial. But communications professor Hilde Van den Bulck argues that dissecting a famous person's sex life allows people to "talk about things that are difficult to talk about." These conversations allow people to ask, Where do we stand as a society? What's considered acceptable behavior?
"I just don't really want women to be treated this way," said one group chat member. "I feel like there needs to be an education in our society that just because someone isn't raping women doesn't mean what they're doing is OK." STAYING ON TOP OF THIS
Ableist language is everywhere, but we can still avoid it
Ableism is defined succinctly as "discrimination or prejudice against individuals with disabilities." This form of discrimination has pervaded our vocabulary, and many words we use on a daily basis have an insulting and inhumane association.
Beyond "crippling," ableism can be seen when people use words like "lame" and "handicap" — and even more commonly used terms such as "crazy," "insane," and "stupid," all of which were previously used as official diagnoses for people housed in institutions.
SNAPSHOTS
Jan. 6 cases are resurfacing some familiar faces from Trump-era legal battles. Lawyers from Trump's impeachment are now representing Steve Bannon and a number of pro-Trump activists in court.
More and more states are making COVID-19 booster shots available to anyone over 18. State officials are opting to ignore federal guidelines, which recommend boosters for certain groups only. Via The Washington Post.
ART AND ENTERTAINMENT
Celebrities being celebrities  Bryan Bedder / Getty Images Jamie Dornan doesn't regret filming Fifty Shades of Grey, despite calling the criticism difficult to deal with. "The thing is every move I have made in my career, post those films, I have only been able to do because of those films," Dornan said in an interview with British GQ.
John Mayer responded to death threats from a Taylor Swift fan after the rerelease of Red. "I'm not upset, I just tend to have a curious mind and feel compelled to ask. Do you really hope that I die?" Mayer wrote in response to several messages sent on Instagram.
THE JOYS OF NORMALCY
Britney Spears shared the little ways her life has already changed since she's been free of conservatorship  Evan Agostini / Invision / AP In a new Instagram video, Britney Spears discussed some of the very normal things she's been able to experience now that her conservatorship is over, like having the keys to her car, "owning an ATM card," "seeing cash for the first time," and spending her own money to buy things like candles.
The pop star also credited the #FreeBritney movement with saving her life, and added that she'd like her conservatorship experiences to help others. (The public rarely hears directly from people under the conservatorship system, though it affects at least a million Americans and has a reported history of rampant exploitation and abuse.)
"I'm here to be an advocate for people with real disabilities and real illnesses," Spears continued. "I'm a very strong woman, so I can only imagine what the system has done to those people. So hopefully my little story, hopefully my story will make an impact and make some changes in the corrupt system." November is half over. What are you excited about for the rest of the month? Alexa 📝 This letter was edited and brought to you by Alexa Lee and BuzzFeed News. You can always reach us here.
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