Ah, spring. What a wonderful time of the year. Flowers are blooming, birds are chirping, terrified college students are graduating, and dudes on the internet are pondering that age-old philosophical question: “But whyyyyy can’t I tell that random girl on the street that she looks hot?” It seems that men are finally starting to realize …
Tag Archive: beauty
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 …
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 …
Jan 08 2013
The Role of Feminist Criticism
In one of my recent pieces, I criticized a particular aspect of the love stories often found in popular books and movies. Whenever someone critiques pop culture–especially from a feminist perspective–it raises a lot of questions for many people. Questions such as: Does it really matter that this work is “problematic”? Can you even have …
Oct 31 2012
The Real Problem With “Slutty” Halloween Costumes
If you shame or ridicule women who wear “slutty” Halloween costumes, you’re missing the point. Here’s why.
Sep 02 2012
[storytime] An Abridged List of Lies I Was Taught as a Child
Money and success will make you happy. Being beautiful is an obligation. Being fat is the worst thing that could happen to you. College will be a magical la-la land where you will finally be happy. Men don’t like strong, opinionated women. Being gay is wrong. Never ask a guy out. Never have sex with …
Aug 31 2012
[Guest Post] The Evolution of 'El Tigre': A Feminist Discovers the 'Beauty' Aisle at Walgreens
Here’s a guest post from my friend Emily. I have stretchmarks, acne scars, oddly shaped eyebrows, a decades-long nail biting habit, rough spots on my feet, and hair that is generally nice, but tends to be boring. So, given that I’m not a girl who spends a quarter of her paycheck on creams, gels, goos, …
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 …
Jun 22 2012
"There are no hot girls at Northwestern."
The other day at a certain user-submitted news website, a new Northwestern student was asking for advice about “the party scene” at our school. He also inquires about the attractiveness of the “females” at our school (I think he means “women”), and several dudebros inform him not to get his hopes up. One writes, “No …
About the Author
Brute Reason Tumblr
- 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 […]
- Every minute you spend talking about the horror of the supposed feminists who claim that ALL MEN...Every minute you spend talking about the horror of the supposed feminists who claim that ALL MEN HAVE IT EASY and MEN HAVE NO PROBLEMS is a minute you do not spend talking about feminists who are racist, feminists who don’t care about poor women, feminists who want to criminalize sex workers to “save them,” feminists who use mental illness as the butt of a j […]
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Don't feel like commenting? You can also find/contact me here:
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!
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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