From the Mailbag

Shaker The Sea Hag forwards this post about a writer whose experience is wildly different when he's presumed to be a woman. The SeaHag warns (and rightly so) that the end is a little problematic, but it's still worth a read, with that caveat.

Shaker BrianG sends the link to this BuzzFeed thread with the note: "So tell me, which is worse: the list of stereotypical 'men don't leave the seat down, tee-hee!' complaints or the doodz in the comments saying 'you ladeez just get uglier as you age so be nice if you wanna hang onto a man'?" I'm going to call a tie.

Shaker The Bald Soprano emails this article about "Baubotanik," or "building botany," in which structures are built using living trees. Supercool!

Shakers InfamousQBert and Becky send articles, respectively here and here, the latter by the author herself, about the image of a white girl being used on the cover of a book whose protagonist is a black girl.

Shaker CH forwards this Career Builder/CNN article about odd or inappropriate things said at job interviews. CH notes many of them are not particularly strange at all, and many of them are considered funny for dubious reasons. Referencing one about a woman who inquires about a potential employer's breast-pumping room (which did exist), CH says: "LOLZ! A woman betrays in interest in the company's accommodations for mothers of young children, then realizes her mistake and assures the interviewer that she has no immediate plans to become a mother (because she wants the job). What a 'weird' thing to say in a job interview! I don't know why this stupid little article hit me so hard — maybe it was the tone of unbridled, compassionless glee at the hapless job candidates who do things like ask about benefits or reveal that they're going through hard times. At a time when so many people are looking for work, it seems in bad taste." Indeed.

Shaker SamanthaB sends this piece about UN worker Lubna Hussein, "who was taken into police custody with 10 other women, all accused of violating Article 152 of Sudanese law, which prohibits women from wearing pants in public."

Shaker Margosita emails this article with the wry note: "A man takes his wife last name and doesn't lose his entire identity. Shocking!" Will wonders never cease?

Shaker SamanthaB also writes: "The Cambridge Journal has a FASCINATING piece up, 'Images of Black Americans,' which explores stereotypes and how they relate to perceptions of Obama. Briefly addressed are stereotypical perceptions of professional women, but it was the really the last section of the piece, on habituation and the process of overcoming stereotypes, that hit me as particularly important to women and to affirmative action generally."

Shaker Farore sends the link to this June episode of "This American Life," in which is featured, as Farore describes, "an interview, in Act Two, with Lynndie England (the American servicewoman shown posing in the Abu Ghraib prison photos) and some in-depth discussion of what happened at the prison. However, the interview takes a rather strange slant; while Lynndie is talking about a manipulative and, from the sound of it, potentially abusive relationship with one of her co-workers (and I believe her superior? I'm not sure about American army ranks), the interviewer refers to her experience as 'a love story' and talks about the whole thing in rather wishy-washy 'romantic' terms."

Shaker BlueRidge forwards this Amnesty International action item about Nicaragua's total ban on abortions. Amnesty International is urging the Nicaraguan authorities to:

• Immediately repeal the law that bans all forms of abortion.

• Guarantee safe and accessible abortion services for rape victims and women whose lives or health would be at risk from the continuation of pregnancy.

• Protect the freedom of speech of those who speak out against the law and offer comprehensive support to the women and girls affected by the law.

"Send a letter to the President of the National Assembly in Nicaragua calling for the total ban on abortion in the country to be lifted" here.