Another one inspired by the comment thread of doom. The hardest thing about explaining privilege to members of dominant groups is that, usually, the fact that you’re advantaged in certain ways doesn’t mean you’re not disadvantaged in many other ways. So when we’re talking about gender and a man is told that he’s privileged–or when …
Tag Archive: social justice
Apr 22 2013
Shit People Say to People Who Care About Shit
Or, an incomplete list of responses I get when I talk about the things I care about. “Yeah, well, what did you expect?” That’s an easy one to answer. I expect better. “So what, are you surprised?” I’m not surprised. I’m angry. Those are not the same emotion. Often people seem to think that just …
Mar 08 2013
[Liveblog] Real World Atheism Panel at DePaul University
In a little under two hours, my friend Andrew Tripp and his student group, the DePaul Alliance for Free Thought, is hosting a fantastic panel called Real World Atheism: A Panel on Godless Activism and Cultural Relevancy. I’ll be liveblogging! The panel starts at 7 PM CST. Some of the panelists should be familiar to …
Mar 06 2013
Totally Unsolicited Advice For Feminist Guys
Jezebel has a pretty good piece up about feminist men and what “we” (by which I take it the author means feminist women) want from them. Some excerpts: [E]ven allegedly unfunny feminists acknowledge how extra-dry fighting sexism can be, and so we hope that when men join us, they, too can have a good, not …
Jan 15 2013
The Supposed Virtue of Not Being Offended
Alternate title: YEAH WELL I’M NOT OFFENDED SO WHY DO YOU HAVE TO BE OFFENDED BECAUSE OBVIOUSLY IF I’M NOT OFFENDED IT’S NOT A BIG DEAL AND WHY CAN’T WE JUST HAVE THE EXACT SAME FEELINGS ABOUT EVERYTHING I often encounter people who are Not Offended by bigotry or microaggressions and are very proud of that …
Dec 05 2012
Update on Social Justice Resources!
Hey, did you know I had a huge list of social justice resources that I frequently update? Probably not, because I can’t get the tab to show up at the top of the page. But in any case, now you know. It’s pretty easy to use (in my humble opinion). Everything’s categorized and resources that …
Nov 05 2012
Argumentum Ad Third World: Or, “Think of the Starving Children in Africa” Redux
One way you know you’ve won an argument about social justice is when your opponent says something like, “YEAH WELL you don’t see people in the Third World whining about their preferred pronouns/racist Halloween costumes/the use of the word ‘retard’!”
There is a pervasive idea out there that people in the Third World only have Big Terrible Problems like poverty and genocide, and people in industrialized countries only have Stupid Silly Problems like getting toilet paper stuck on the bottom of their shoe or having to wait in traffic or whatever. There are, apparently, no problems between those two extremes in severity, and no problems are worth talking about besides the Big Terrible Problems.
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 17 2012
Update! Social Justice Resources
Because apparently I am not busy/obsessive enough already, I’ve decided to develop a massive document of resources about social justice and other political/personal issues that concern me (mental health, communication, sex, etc.). It will include links to blogs, websites, books, and individual articles that I’ve found interesting and useful, as well as the sorts of …
About the Author
Brute Reason Tumblr
- "It’s not just the internet. And we can’t push the problem aside with a wave of our hands and an..."“It’s not just the internet. And we can’t push the problem aside with a wave of our hands and an offhand comment of “Oh, that’s just how the internet is. Don’t you know better than to go to reddit?” For many women, reddit is not an isolated internet thing. It’s the community that we have to deal with face to face, day in and day out. So yes, we need to chang […]
- "I am one of the lucky ones. I managed to turn my history of science and philosophy degree into..."“I am one of the lucky ones. I managed to turn my history of science and philosophy degree into graduate education in a semi-practical field. I’m not too worried about my employment opportunities once I finish my PhD. But I have friends who are suffering. They are being bounced around between unpaid internships, or desperately sending out resumes, or stuck w […]
- "The big deal comes in when homeless people are being exploited to prove a point. Many homeless..."“The big deal comes in when homeless people are being exploited to prove a point. Many homeless people are already widely disenfranchised and lacking a platform to be heard or to get access to the resources they need. By attempting to make a brand look bad by associating it with homelessness, the message is that homeless people are so gross, dirty, shameful […]
- "What can I say? Northwestern, with all its issues with diversity and inclusion, has led me to be..."“What can I say? Northwestern, with all its issues with diversity and inclusion, has led me to be more thoughtful in my own words and actions. It’s made me more aware of the way we put each other down and perpetuate stereotypes without even realizing. I know that I can’t change that aspect of the world or even that aspect of Northwestern overnight. But I can […]
- "As long as conservatives are inclined to think that Mr Richwine was “bullied” and..."“As long as conservatives are inclined to think that Mr Richwine was “bullied” and “lynched” for his brave empiricism, instead of having been sunk by the repugnant prejudice exposed by the shoddiness of his work, non-white voters will continue to flock to a party less enthusiastically receptive to the possibility of their inferiority.” - Racism and immigrati […]
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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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