So, I know that I’m really young and spent most of the feminist movement as a mere wish in my mother’s brain (well, hopefully). But I’m really confused about why an entire generation of men seems to have heard the message of feminism not as “Women want the same rights and opportunities as men” or …
Tag Archive: feminism
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 …
Jan 01 2013
Six Months
Every New Year’s Eve, I write a post about the year that’s about to end. When I was younger, I mostly used these posts to talk about significant things that had happened to me (getting a boyfriend, losing a boyfriend, getting into this or that program or college, and so on), explain what I’d learned …
Dec 30 2012
Writing A Better Love Story: On Pop Culture That Romanticizes Unhealthy Relationships
Imagine this story. You meet someone you really like and fall for them immediately. They’re attracted to you too and the sex is great. But you want something more serious and they drag their feet. They’re emotionally detached, they forget to call, they make you do all the work of moving the new relationship along. …
Sep 24 2012
On Taking People’s Word For It (Or, When Not to Argue)
“You’re not really depressed, you just get sad sometimes.” “You’re not really a lesbian, you’ve just had some bad experiences with men.” “You’re not really an atheist, you’re just questioning your faith. You’ll find God again.” Why do people say these things? Everyone I ask seems to have a story about a friend or family …
Sep 18 2012
[In Brief] On “Smug” Liberals
Sometimes I see conservatives derisively claiming that liberals/feminists/progressives are just “smug” and self-satisfied, that we hold the opinions that we hold because it gives us some sense of self-righteousness, that we do it in order to feel like we’re better than everyone else. I find this bizarre. I, for one, was considerably more smug and …
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 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 …
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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