Links: Knitting, Litographs, & Shirtless Men

Workspace with computer, journal, books, coffee, and glasses.Happy Wednesday! Are you ready for December? I know I am because I am certainly ready for 2016 to be over. Here are some great links we’ve found and some from our readers.

This link is from Reader Elizabeth S. and it’s on the history of shirtless men and masculinity. Elizabeth said, “Considering how many naked male chests we see on romance book covers, this is quite an interesting take on the topic.” We couldn’t agree more:

Look at a moment of prominent male shirtlessness and you’ll see a culture trying to sort out its “ideal” chest, but you’ll also observe standards for how men should behave and feel in public and in private, on the job and in the bedroom. When a celebrity takes off his shirt, whether it’s Marlon Brando in the ’50s or Justin Bieber in the 2010s, he’s summoning ever-fluctuating currents of masculinity to the surface, to be read, appreciated, and analyzed.

I also don’t mind doing a bit more “research” on this, if you know what I mean.

With so many options to engage in activism, it can be a little daunting on where to start. My Civic Workout helps get you started with manageable activities:

We know that just like working out, civic activism can feel intimidating at first. It seems like everyone else knows how to use the machines, and you’re just not sure that activism is your kind of place. We’re here to help you get started with emails a few times a week that have 5-minute, 10-minute, and 30-minute activism “workouts” that will help you (and America) get in shape.

I know that Sarah subscribes to the newsletter and finds it to be rather useful.

Thanks to Reader Karen for sending us this link to Sarah MacLean on Litographs! Litographs is a great company that prints the full text of a book onto things like t-shirts, scarves, and more. For romance readers, they have the text for Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake. In the contemporary category, there are other much-loved books, including OutlanderThe Princess Bride, and Naked in Death.

From Elyse, the Pussyhat Project has a free knitting pattern in order to outfit the attendees of The Women’s March in D.C.:

The Women’s March on Washington D.C. is happening January 21, 2017! The Pussyhat Project launched this week! As of now, we have 54 days to knit 1.17 million pink pussyhats. Will you knit for the movement?

It doesn’t hurt that the hats are pretty damn cute, too.


Frixion click pen in blue

Frixion Erasable Pens

I love these pens far more than is probably natural. They write smoothly, they erase for real (yes, way!), and they come in a bunch of colors. I have one with me at all times.


Don’t forget to share what super cool things you’ve seen, read, or listened to this week! And if you have anything you think we’d like to post on a future Wednesday Links, send it my way!

Comments are Closed

  1. Darlynne says:

    Thank you for the Pussyhat Project and Civic Workout links. Still feeling overwhelmed and these both help.

  2. Shana says:

    When I first saw the Pussyhat project, I really really wanted it to be anatomical pussy rather than kitty kat…

  3. cleo says:

    @Shana – me too!

  4. Stefanie Magura says:

    That Buzzfeed article on the shirtless men is so fascinating even though I have no way of seeing the images. I love pop culture study articles like that.

  5. Susan says:

    Great links! I want to read the BF article while wearing a pussyhat and litograph shirt.

    I’m seriously debating going to the march, but I’m just not sure I’m physically up to it. 🙁

  6. Joy says:

    Please everyone send kind thoughts to the march even if you aren’t going to it. Somehow in the last decades I’ve seen interest in “women’s issues” slide to the back and feminist become a dirty word.

    The Women’s Right Amendment did not pass because WE’LL ALL BE FORCED TO SHARE BATHROOMS. (Horrors! I’ve seen suburban women stage a takeover of the men’s room when the lines were too long at a play and the world DID NOT END, we didn’t become lesbians or grow penises.) Let’s breathe a little life into the movement to treat people fairly and respectfully whatever their genitalia.

  7. Stefanie Magura says:

    So this isn’t at all related to the links, but I am so excited about the news contained within this link about the reissue of Dorothy Dunnett’s books and a possible TV series of the Lymond Chronicles. Redheaded Girl could this be your next TV project in a few years? http://dunnettcentral.org/archives/3925

  8. Demi says:

    Loving the pussyhat – great idea!!

  9. Amy says:

    Don’t know how I missed the Pussyhat project mention the first time around….but circled back roundtrip via the internet and found it here. Of course. Thanks for existing SBTB.
    I am unable to travel to Washington for the big protest, but am considering holding my own on a lonely street corner of the ‘Deep South’, California town where I live and work.
    It still doesn”t seem real and all the crazy sauce keeps oozing. The media did some short term introspection and blaming of themselves for normalizing that man’s campaign. Yet here they are, back at it, normalizing these confirmation hearings. Asking if it’s proper for the director of the government ethics office to speak out on the president-elects ethics? WTF?
    Sending out deepest thanks & love for those taking action on our behalf. This is NOT FUCKING NORMAL.

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