It is my great pleasure to introduce a new contributor to the Manifesto, Edwin Hodge.
Well hey there! You’re probably asking yourself exactly why, after finding your way to the blog of the Crommunist, you are instead reading a pile of words written by me, a complete stranger. Well, that’s a great question, my friend, I’m so glad that you asked it! Introductions are in order, and so I will oblige!
My name is Edwin, and I am a blogger, author, and political scientist soon to be attached to the University of Victoria. While my academic work is focussed almost exclusively on the subjects of gender and white supremacy, my non-academic ramblings are rather more wide-ranging. Over at my own little piece of the Internet – an obscure blog called the “Skeptical Cubefarm” – I write about pretty much anything that interests me, which usually includes the nonsense that is cult archaeology, the vapid mouthings of creationists, or the baseless assertions of alt-meddlers.
Every now and again though, I get it into my head to pick a fight with those groups who I feel are specifically poaching on my professional turf, and that more often than not tends to include the perpetual whiners from the Men’s Rights Movement. When I said that my academic work is concentrated around gender, it’s more accurate to say that I study masculinities in contemporary North American society – an area that MRAs seem to think is their area of expertise. It’s not. It’s mine, and they can’t have it.
I’ve only recently become somewhat involved in the area of social justice activism – mostly through my association with the Kelowna chapter of the Centre for Inquiry – and, if you take the time to read the work over at my blog, you’ll see that my entries have only more recently begun to stray into that area as well. A major reason for my earlier hesitance to dive into the realm of activism is that I am still struggling with my own privilege. That’s not to say that my privilege is a burden – quite the opposite in fact – and its relation to the aims of social justice is something I am trying to understand. I am a white, heterosexual, cis-gendered man of able body; I sit very near to the absolute pinnacle of the social hierarchy in Canada. If it wasn’t for my atheism and my rather-more-than-slightly-
Once upon a time, there was a gathering of skeptics in the sunny city of Kelowna. We had gathered in order to impress upon our fellow Kelownians (Kelownites? Kelownials?) the importance of vaccinations. We desired for our conference, a moderator and guest speaker who would bring great prestige and attention to our cause. We couldn’t afford one though, so we instead invited an up-and-coming blogger by the name of the Crommunist. We met at an informal meeting the night before the event, and he and I hit it off immediately. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but the Crommunist has a rather large personality; I do as well (so I’ve been told), and we were therefore destined to move towards each other as the laws of gravity and social interaction dictate. No one else really had much speaking time that evening, as the two of us rather quickly dominated the conversation, and after the next day’s event, we went our separate ways. We did not meet again for several months, until the Imagine No Religion 2 Conference in Kamloops, when our paths crossed once more.
We picked up pretty much where we left off, and by the end of that weekend, I felt pretty confident in considering this boisterous dude a friend. We’ve kept in contact in the time since the conference, and then, one day, I received a message from him asking if I’d like to contribute to his blog. Well hot damn, I thought to myself; that sounds like an excellent idea. And so it was that a decidedly minor blogger from an inconspicuous corner of webdom came to appear on this wonderful blog to share with a whole new crowd of readers my insights into the world of skepticism and social justice. I hope you will enjoy what I contribute, and I am eagerly looking forward to discussing and debating these issues with you!
Welcome! MRAs bug the crap out of me, so I’m really looking forward to seeing what you have to say about them.
I am actually planning on doing my graduate work in masculinities (I would love to get the other half of the human race onboard with the whole women-are-equal thing, as well as show them the ways in which the patriarchy hurts them, too), so fist-bumps to a comrade-in-arms.
And a happy fist-bump to you in return! Glad to hear that you’re thinking of studying masculinities – if you haven’t already, may I suggest you snag a copy of R.W. Connell’s “Masculinities” or “The Men and the Boys”? They’re both fantastic resources, and Connell’s unique perspective is incredibly insightful.
Edwin!
Welcome! I can’t wait to read your stuff here, you rock! I’m a fan of Skeptical Cubefarm and also know you IRL! Mwahahahaha! /creepy stalker
Hi there and welcome! What exactly do you mean by “cult archeology?”
What? Change? Change is bad. Change frightens me.
But meeting new people is great! Hi!
I like you already, Edwin.
Yup, the rest of your intro did nothing to dissuade me from that impression. Glad to have you at The Crommunist Manifesto!
Hi, and thanks for the welcome! By ‘Cult Archaeology’ what I’m referring to is the pablum that is pushed by the likes of Erich von Daniken, Graham Hancock, and Phillip Coppens – the sort of ‘historical research’ that includes ancient aliens, atlantean technology, and bizarre beliefs in hyper-advanced ancient civilizations whose empires spanned the globe yet mysteriously left no trace of their existence. In other words, ‘cult archaeology’ is archaeology without evidence, scientific rigour, or even a basic desire to actually know the truth.
So creepy. Look, I’m cool with us hanging out here in blogspace, but my tolerance ends when you start to camp out on the lawn beneath my apartment, or start stealing my stuff so that you have an opportunity to ‘find’ it and give it back to me.
be told.
J/K, I know who you are and I think you’re just swell!
Welcome to Crommunist’s humble corner of the blogosphere, now to be enhanced by your presence. We are all prepared to cluster at your feet, devouring the tidbits of wisdom which you will lay upon us, and raking you over the coals when we think you need it.
It’s not really that humble. Pretty arrogant, actually.
Sounds fair. I do enjoy the clustering hordes, and coal-raking is something of a hobby of mine, so I think this will all work out fine.
“perpetual whiners from the Men’s Rights Movement”.
I like your stuff already.
Welcome, and thanks to RB for asking my question, and thanks to you for answering.
Otoh, I haven’t had a cuppa yet this morning, so the chirruping in the first paragraph was grating. That’s one strike, fella 😛
I like the cut of your jib, and since you come recommended by the Crommunist, you’ve got my attention.
For some reason, I read “masculinities” here ans “masculinites” (only for half a second, but despite seeing it previously on this page).
Perhaps “masculinites” encompasses those who aren’t MRAs but those who have internalized all the cultural masculine baggage without examination. Or may be it’s an umbrella term. I don’t know, and since it is unlikely to be used anywhere, it probably does not matter. Just me, interacting with misprocessed words. (And feeling the need to share, for whatever reason.)
Thank you! I will snag those! Right now I have “Dude, You’re a Fag” and “Manhood in America” burning holes in my bookshelf, but I can’t seem to pull myself away from the Gaiman fiction and a great book on how standard English is a lie (a filthy lie, I tell you!). WHY CAN I NOT READ ALL OF THE BOOKS
Cult archaeology? You’ve won me over!