I’m going to talk about Rob Portman now even though that bit of news is pretty old at this point. (Hey, if you want to read about stuff in a timely manner, go read the NYT or something.) Brief summary: Portman is a Republican senator from Ohio (yay Ohio!) who used to oppose same-sex marriage but changed …
Category Archive: psychology
Mar 26 2013
All These Years I Thought I Was Just Lazy
[Content note: eating disorders/weight loss stuff] My arms are on fire. When I woke up this morning I felt the burn immediately. I’ve been stretching and moving them around all day, simultaneously wincing and savoring the feeling because it tells me that I’m getting stronger. I’m on spring break right now and have been taking …
Mar 14 2013
Does Telling People to “Think Positive” Actually Help? An Informal Survey and Some Protips
Positive thinking is the bane of my existence. Not because I can’t do it, but because I’ve so often been exhorted to do it in the most unhelpful of ways. I’m someone who prefers to talk mostly about the neutral or negative aspects of my life to friends and family because I don’t want to …
Mar 12 2013
On “Sincerely Held Religious Beliefs” and Being a Counselor
Via JT, here’s a new bill that recently passed in the Tennessee State Senate Education Committee by a 7-2 vote: Republican state Sen. Joey Hensley encouraged fellow senators to pass SB 514 to “prevent an institution of high education from discriminating against a student in the counseling, social worker, psychology programs because of their religious beliefs.” Hensley’s bill …
Mar 09 2013
Blaming Everything On Mental Illness
The Associated Press has revised their AP Stylebook, the guide that most journalists use to standardize their writing, to include an entry on mental illness. Among many other important things that the entry includes, which you should read here, it says: Do not describe an individual as mentally ill unless it is clearly pertinent to …
Feb 06 2013
[guest post] We Need To Talk About Incest Survival
[Content note: incest, sexual assault, self-harm, eating disorders] Someone I know and respect asked me to publish this anonymous guest post. -M Mia Fontaine wrote an article in The Atlantic recently about the incest problem in America. Although we talk about sex scandals, stranger danger, and the abuses of the Catholic Church, as a society, …
Feb 01 2013
Feminism and Victimhood
What’s this I keep hearing about feminism promoting “victimhood”? Anti-feminists often suggest that feminism encourages women to “see themselves as victims,” that feminism is actually insulting to women because it suggests they need “special rights” in order to be able to compete with men. The concept of programs that encourage women to pursue STEM professions …
Jan 15 2013
The Supposed Virtue of Not Being Offended
Alternate title: YEAH WELL I’M NOT OFFENDED SO WHY DO YOU HAVE TO BE OFFENDED BECAUSE OBVIOUSLY IF I’M NOT OFFENDED IT’S NOT A BIG DEAL AND WHY CAN’T WE JUST HAVE THE EXACT SAME FEELINGS ABOUT EVERYTHING I often encounter people who are Not Offended by bigotry or microaggressions and are very proud of that …
Jan 14 2013
LGBT Celebrities Do Not Owe Coming Out To Anyone
Everyone’s got an opinion on Jodie Foster’s speech at the Golden Globes last night. If you haven’t seen it, here’s a video with a transcript. In the speech, Foster spoke affectionately of her ex-partner, with whom she raised children, and explained that she “already did [her] coming out about a thousand years ago back in …
Jan 11 2013
“Love Yourself”: A Beautiful But Flawed Idea
Ever since the 1990s, we–especially women–have been hearing about the importance of self-esteem. It’s associated with better mental health, relationship outcomes, academic achievement, career success, you name it. It’s part of what it means to be a mature and emotionally developed person. Much time and resources have been expended on the development of children’s self-esteem–I …
About the Author
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- "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can make me think I deserved it."“Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can make me think I deserved it.” - xkcd: Sticks and Stones […]
- On Useful and Not-So-Useful Definitions of RacismOn Useful and Not-So-Useful Definitions of Racism: Richard Dawkins, whose Twitter feed never fails to amuse, has lately been discussing racism–specifically, against white people. Dawkins sounds eerily like my high school self here–desperate to stick to his own definitions of things and reject the definitions of others, all while claiming that everyone needs […]
- In which I have zero patience for sexism and mansplaining on my Facebook Wallpiedpi: No country for Reddit/MRA arguments. The article being not-debated is here. The thing that sucks the most is that this is one of my good friend’s fiance… And she actually liked the article when I posted it. IT’S SO WEIRD WHEN PEOPLE TALK ABOUT SOMETHING I WROTE AND THEN I COME ACROSS IT. […]
- WHO THE FUCK IS IN BOTH A RADICAL FEMINIST MEETUP AND A PUA...WHO THE FUCK IS IN BOTH A RADICAL FEMINIST MEETUP AND A PUA MEETUP […]
- "It's not about gender.""It's not about gender.": Sea turtles (superfamily Chelonioidea) are found in all of the world’s oceans except the Arctic. They spend the majority of their lives in the sea, but females return to shore to lay eggs. All seven surviving species of sea turtle are on the endangered species list. Like many marine animals, they are threatened by oil […]
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Two things to keep in mind:
1. I am bad at answering lengthy emails. Sorry!
2. I may ask you for permission to blog about our correspondence. However, if you are harassing/abusive/trollish, then I no longer have to ask you for permission. Proceed with caution!
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