Tag Archive: friendship

Mar 20 2012

On Coercion and a Different Social Ethic

One of my favorite bloggers once wrote a post about the idea of “consent culture” as an alternative to rape culture. After describing various ways to help create a culture of consent surrounding sex, she brilliantly expands the idea to social interactions in general: I think part of the reason we have trouble drawing the …

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Jan 31 2012

The Friend Zone is a Myth

This week’s Daily Northwestern column. As Valentine’s Day approaches, many of us are probably thinking the same thing : Dating is hard. And it is, especially in college. People who look for serious relationships (as opposed to casual dating or hookups) face plenty of challenges, such as jam-packed schedules, breaks away from campus, study abroad …

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Jan 10 2012

You Don't Need Alcohol

[This is my first column for the Daily Northwestern, NU's student newspaper. I can't find the link on their website so I'm not linking to it, but here's the full piece.] You don’t need alcohol. Wait, hear me out. You really don’t need it. Before I came to college, I obviously expected that there’d be …

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Sep 23 2011

On People Who Think They're so Damn Funny

[Snark Warning] Like many depressives, I have a love-hate relationship with humor. A well-crafted joke, anecdote, or cartoon can cheer me up during the worst times, but because of the various cognitive deficits associated with depression, I have a lot of trouble processing humor when it’s directed at me or my life. Enter another thing …

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Jul 30 2011

I'm Not Sorry

[TMI Warning] As a person with a mental condition that often drastically affects interpersonal relationships, I’m a total pro at apologizing. I do it practically every day. Here’s a sample of depression-related things I’ve apologized for lately: crying being too tired to meet up with a friend being late leaving early getting upset when a …

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May 09 2011

Mea Culpa

mea cul·pa. Latin. through my fault; my fault (used as an acknowledgment of one’s responsibility). Apologies have an interesting social function. I think that many people underestimate their power because they don’t necessarily “fix” the harm that was done, but in my opinion that’s an overly simplistic view of things. Many people have trouble saying …

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