I was listening to music today when I noticed something odd about the lyrics to many of the songs: Give me a reason to fall in love Take my hand and let’s dance Give me a reason to make me smile Cause I think I forgot how (Meiko) Who doesn’t long for someone to …
Category Archive: sociology/culture
Aug 30 2012
The Case Against Celebrity Gossip
Celebrity gossip bothers me. I think it’s both interesting and sad how we assume that accomplished, well-known people exist for our consumption. That is, we not only consume the work they produce; we consume their lives themselves. We expect them to be perfect and demand apologies when they fail, but we also gleefully feed on …
Aug 26 2012
[In Brief] Most Beautiful Teenager
I stumbled upon (don’t ask me how) this Facebook page today. It’s called “Most Beautiful Teenager.” Teens post photos of themselves on the page and see how many likes and comments they can rack up. Sometimes there’s a “scale” for the number of likes, usually going from “ugly” (100 likes) to “OUT OF THIS WORLD” …
Aug 23 2012
[storytime] These Streets Are Mine: On Street Harassment
I got sexually harassed today. Actually, it happens all the time. Like, almost every time I venture out on the city streets for longer than ten minutes. It’s kinda like when you have to drive in the city and you can never find a good parking spot, or when you’re stuck behind a group of …
Aug 15 2012
Public Breastfeeding Should Not Be a Big Deal
Breastfeeding has been somewhat of a hot topic lately. On one hand, mothers’ decision to breastfeed or not has been subject to intense moralizing and even actual regulation, which is creepy. On the other hand, public breastfeeding has been under attack, too. Facebook disables/deletes accounts of people who post photos of themselves breastfeeding. Mothers lose …
Aug 08 2012
[Guest Post] The Importance of Skepticism and Critical Thinking in American Society
This post was written by a fellow skeptic and student of psychology, Matthew Facciani. At best, a lack of skepticism and critical thinking in our society will leave humanity uneducated, insipid animals. At worst, it will be the cause of our ultimate demise. To begin, I would argue that critical thinking (disciplined thinking that is …
Jul 30 2012
[Guest Post] Runway Rising: Perks and Challenges of a Socially Conscious Fashion Company
Hey everyone! In this guest post, my friend Danielle writes about fashion, mental health, and running a socially conscious business. To all fans and readers of Brute Reason, I am Danielle Kerani, CEO/Founder of the knit fashion company AK Kerani and a fellow student at Northwestern with Miriam. When Miriam first asked me to write …
Jul 20 2012
[Guest Post] What is Sensible Drug Policy?
It’s another guest post! In this one, my friend and fellow activist Frances discusses the parallels between good sex education and sensible drug policy, and why we need more of both. Ever since you’re young, you’re taught that sex and drugs are just plain “bad.” Many high school health classes teach you that if you …
Jul 15 2012
Outraged Beyond Your Understanding: On Listening to Minority Voices
This whole Tosh thing is making me think about how, in our culture, we discuss problems that disproportionately affect a certain group of people. For example, one thing I noticed as I read as many articles about Toshgate (and their accompanying comments) as I could stomach is that the people defending Tosh were almost always …







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