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Rightwing protesters in handmaid’s costumes are taking gaslighting to a new level

The shapeless scarlet cloaks and oversized white bonnets have become a familiar sight at protests around the world. From pro-choice demonstrations in Belfast to women’s rights marches in Buenos Aires, the clothes worn by Margaret Atwood’s handmaids in her dystopian novel The Handmaid’s Tale have become a striking symbol of female defiance.

Now it seems the handmaid’s uniform has taken on a newly dystopian dimension: the outfit has been appropriated by Trump-supporting protesters at the anti-quarantine rallies that have been spreading across America. These rallies, orchestrated by a network of far right and extremist groups, have also seen rightwingers hold up signs with pro-choice slogans like “my body, my choice”.

Do these protesters not understand the irony here? Do they not understand how hypocritical it is to fight against a woman’s right to choose while simultaneously fighting for their own right to do whatever they like? Do they not understand how you can not possibly be “pro-life” if you’re flouting lockdown laws to participate in dense protests that could cause a surge in coronavirus cases?

It’s always been clear than anti-abortion extremists aren’t actually pro-life, they’re just pro-controlling women. They have always been shamelessly hypocritical. However, their hypocrisy has become particularly brazen during the coronavirus crisis. On Monday, for example, Dan Patrick, the virulently “pro-life” lieutenant governor of Texas, called for the reopening of the country, saying there are “more important things than living”.

This is the same guy, by the way, who went on Fox News last month and said “lots of grandparents” would rather die than see the US economy suffer. This is the same guy who suggested senior citizens ought to “take a chance on … survival” for the good of the Dow Jones. This is the same guy who seems to see no disconnect between sacrificing old people and sermonizing about the rights of foetuses.

I could go on and on about the hypocrisy of the anti-abortion brigade but it’s pointless to do so. Politicians like Patrick (who is an evangelical Christian) don’t respond to logic or reason; many of them are simply fanatics, intent on turning America into a theocracy.

Logic and reason, more broadly, seem to have little place in American politics anymore. I mean: on Thursday Donald Trump suggested that injecting yourself with disinfectants might cure coronavirus. We’ve reached a stage where the president of America has become so unhinged that the manufacturers of Lysol have to urge the public not to inject themselves with household chemicals. We’ve reached a level of dystopia that I’m not sure even Margaret Atwood could have imagined.

Former Labradoodle breeder led coronavirus task force

Continuing the theme of “America has become a bizarre dystopia”: Reuters reports that a senior lead on the Health and Human Services (HHS) coronavirus task force is a former labradoodle breeder with little public health experience. Truly a reminder to always channel the confidence of mediocre white man.

The problem with ‘benevolent’ sexism

A new study from NYU has found that children who hold “benevolent” views about women are also likely to hold negative ones. “It might seem cute when a boy acts in chivalrous ways toward girls, or when a girl pretends to be a princess who’s waiting for a prince to rescue her,” one of the lead authors of the study noted. “Many times, this is just play, with no deeper meaning. But other times, these behaviors …might signal that children view women in a negative light, as weak, incompetent, and unable to survive or thrive without a man’s help. The study, which examined the attitudes of more than 200 children, aged five to 11, also found that benevolent sexism decreased with age only for girls. “Boys may be less likely to recognize that their benevolent attitudes toward women are, in fact, patronizing.”

Texas will allow abortions to resume

Abortion services have been largely unavailable for over a month after Governor Greg Abbott’s 21 March executive order suspending “non-essential” medical procedures. After a long battle the state has finally agreed that abortions can continue. Not because they’ve been deemed essential, mind you, but because they qualify for an exception to medical providers that don’t use hospital beds or request personal protective equipment.

‘PPE is made for a 6ft 3in rugby player’

Health professionals and trade unions in the UK are warning that female healthcare workers’ lives are being put at risk because of ill-fitting personal protective equipment. “PPE is designed for a 6ft 3in bloke built like a rugby player,” one NHS worker said. While PPE may be designed with men in mind, 75% of workers in the NHS are female.

Tara Reade deserves to be heard

Joe Biden still hasn’t directly addressed the allegations that he sexually assaulted Tara Reade in the 1990s. “Whether you believe Reade or not, it’s hard to justify the media’s refusal to give her a hearing,” Katie Halper, who published the former aide’s accusations when other outlets ignored them, writes in the Guardian.

Google Translate addresses gender bias

Google has introduced a new artificial intelligence model that tries to weed out bias in its translation tool. Previously Google Translate would reinforce sexist assumptions. For example, when translating phrases from English from Turkish (which has gender-neutral pronouns) o bir muhendis would become “he is an engineer”. Meanwhile o bir hemsire would become “she is a nurse.”

The week in period-archy

(That’s periods of the punctuation kind.) Microsoft Word has waded into the long-running debate about whether you put one space after a period or two. The verdict? One space good, two spaces bad. Finally, one-spacers are vindicated!