CaitieCat, a frequent and awesome commenter around here, has a guest postI It’s not news to any activist for any cause that people just love to whip out dictionary definitions as ostensibly authoritative guides to what words mean. Even so august a person as a fellow whose name may or may not rhyme with Shmichard …
Category Archive: sociology/culture
I realize that this category is entirely too broad, so if you're interested in this sort of stuff, you should probably use the tags at the right side of the screen to look for specific topics.
May 24 2013
On 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: [Here's the link in case you can't see this] [View the story "Richard Dawkins on Racism" on Storify] Dawkins sounds eerily like my high school self here–desperate to stick to his own definitions of things and reject the …
May 12 2013
Richwine and the Inherent Goodness of Intelligence
[Content note: racism] In news that should surprise absolutely no one, conservatives have once again embarrassed themselves by attempting to “prove” with “science” that people of color are stupider than white people. Yup, again. You’ve probably read this story elsewhere so I’ll make my recap brief: It has come to light that Jason Richwine (I’m …
May 05 2013
[blogathon] Restorative Justice for Sexual Assault
This is the eighth and last post in my SSA blogathon. It was requested by a reader. Don’t forget to donate! [Content note: sexual assault] Restorative justice is a word you sometimes hear in discussions about how to reform our criminal justice system. It refers to “an approach to justice that focuses on the needs …
Apr 14 2013
Viewing History Skeptically, Part 2: Beauty
One of the first things one learns in a college-level history or sociology course is that the ways we define and think about various human attributes and qualities—sexual orientation, mental illness, gender, race, virginity—are never static. They vary geographically and temporally, and even though it may seem that the way we currently conceptualize a particular …
Mar 23 2013
Viewing History Skeptically: On Shifting Cultural Assumptions and Attitudes
I’ve been reading Odd Girls and Twilight Lovers, Lillian Faderman’s sweeping social history of lesbians in 20th century America (this is the sort of thing I do for fun). At the beginning of the chapter on World War II, Faderman makes this insight: If there is one major point to be made in a social history …
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 27 2013
“We Saw Your Boobs” and Distorted Views of Female Sexuality
I’ll leave it to others to thoroughly excoriate Seth MacFarlane’s performance at the Oscars. What I want to address specifically is his gloating “We Saw Your Boobs” video, and the interestingly skewed notion of sexuality that it presents. If you believe MacFarlane, and others who think like him, sex is a sort of competition between …
Feb 14 2013
I Really Strongly Dislike Valentine’s Day!
Hey everyone! I’m going to poop on your parade. Don’t worry, I’ll be cheerful about it. I’m not going to say I hate Valentine’s Day, because hate is a strong word and I reserve it for things I really mean it for, like coffee and misogyny. I was going to just let today go by …
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 …
About the Author
Brute Reason Tumblr
- "We don’t give other people credit for the same interior complexity we take for granted in ourselves,..."“We don’t give other people credit for the same interior complexity we take for granted in ourselves, the same capacity for holding contradictory feelings in balance, for complexly alloyed affections, for bottomless generosity of heart and petty, capricious malice. We can’t believe that anyone could be unkind to us and still be genuinely fond of us, although […]
- itchbay-srps:
brute-reason:
Sometimes when I’m texting/IMing/exchanging OKC messages/whatevering...itchbay-srps: brute-reason: Sometimes when I’m texting/IMing/exchanging OKC messages/whatevering with someone I like, I still get this little voice that’s like “you shouldn’t be responding to them so quickly OR ELSE THEY’LL NEVER LIKE YOU” but then I realize that life is too short for this fucking bullshit. Fuck that noise. If anything, you can tell a lot by […]
- I know you don't need me to tell you this, but: don't let people get you down for showing a more personal side on your blog, if any are. I think it's great for your work and great for people trying to understand the life and mind of at least one, or one more, feminist. :)Thanks! :) Nobody’s given me crap for it yet. If they do, I’ll ask them politely to crawl out of their own ass. I don’t write for anyone but myself and my own goals. […]
- Sometimes when I’m texting/IMing/exchanging OKC messages/whatevering with someone I like, I...Sometimes when I’m texting/IMing/exchanging OKC messages/whatevering with someone I like, I still get this little voice that’s like “you shouldn’t be responding to them so quickly OR ELSE THEY’LL NEVER LIKE YOU” but then I realize that life is too short for this fucking bullshit. […]
- "You know what I love? When people don’t see my race. There is nothing more affirming for me as..."“You know what I love? When people don’t see my race. There is nothing more affirming for me as a person than to have essential parts of myself and my experience completely disregarded. I mean, inside we’re all the same. And there’s only one race: the HUMAN race! Amirite??? Ugh. Listen. If your ability to respect someone’s right to exist requires pretending […]
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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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