What I’m Reading, July 8, 2014

Posted on July 8, 2014 by wellsdc

The birth control debate is really about the housing market, Eric Garland, Eric Garland Blog, March 4, 2012

All of this debate is about the housing market. And unemployment. And Afghanistan. And health care for Baby Boomers. And Netflix. And drones. And the bankruptcy of Greece. And more. None of this spontaneously vomited national debate has a thing to do with healthcare or birth control or morals. It has everything to do with a nation that is afraid to discuss its real future, so it would much prefer to re-fight the great debates of the 20th century.

As somebody who discusses the future professionally with leaders of organizations, I will tell you that people everywhere are so terrified of what is coming next that they are fundamentally incapable of having a discussion about it. The American Mindset is almost entirely about Growth and Winning, and the simple fact is that we are likely unable to grow geographically or economically due to fiscal and demographic constraints. Thus, our steady-state economics, or even steadily receding economy, will not look like winning, either on a balance sheet or in people’s minds. Americans are addicted to seeing the Dow Jones go up every year. They want their houses to be worth more and more, forever. They want to stay “number one,” whatever that means, at all costs. And virtually none of that is likely in the near future. It is so difficult for Americans to consider that they are reverting to all manner of fantastic, irrational thinking to avoid the painful realities that may be ahead.

A Fascinating Study of How Creationists Understand Early Human Fossils, Mark Strauss, io9, July 2, 2014 Continue reading →

What I’m Reading, July 7, 2014

Posted on July 7, 2014 by wellsdc

Introducing TV’s Best Female Monster Yet, Lili Loofbourow, New York Magazine, July 3, 2014

In horror, once a person has been cast as a victim, a victim they remain — or at best, a deeply damaged survivor. In Orphan Black, the victim becomes the monster becomes the victim again with bewildering and humorous ease. Just when you think you’ve settled, the camera cocks its head, says “don’t be baby,” and refuses to let things be so simple. The camera confounds our relationship to Helena by seesawing the horror script, and in doing so, makes us rethink what a female monster can be. You’re forced to shift your sympathies on a shot-by-shot basis.

Judge says man who raped sleeping woman is not a “classic rapist,” just “lost control”, Katie McDonough, Salon, July 3, 2014 Continue reading →

Hey, Fellow Guys, Please Don’t Try to [Re-]Claim the Word “Mansplain”

Posted on July 7, 2014 by wellsdc

I noticed this yesterday (h/t Lynn):

I tried to calmly mansplain Hobby Lobby to hysterical liberals, but it only resulted in more hysteria. Vicious cycle. http://t.co/HHw2yGkDLP

— John McCormack (@McCormackJohn) July 4, 2014

Followed by this:

Mansplainer does not realize "mansplain" is an insult RT “@McCormackJohn: I tried to calmly mansplain Hobby Lobby to hysterical liberals…"

— Kristen Marttila (@KMartSpecial) July 4, 2014

I can’t say for certain whether Mr. McCormack intended to use the word “mansplain” in any sort of ironic way, if he was trying to “reclaim” the word for us dudes, or if, as Ms. Marttila posits, he just had no idea. Of those three choices, his prior writings incline me to think it’s the third option.

Speaking as a guy, “mansplain” is not our word to claim—and it was never ours, so we can’t reclaim it, either.

There are some aspects of public discourse that men should not dominate. Let’s all get over ourselves, shall we?

Isn’t it awfully nice to have a penis?

Posted on July 5, 2014 by wellsdc

The Raw Story has a list of “5 sexual health services insurance will cover… for men.”

I’m sure someone will make the arguments for the medical necessity, under whatever circumstances, of each of these five procedures, which is completely not the point of bringing up these five procedures. The issue is the way that someone is (or many someone’s are), sooner or later, going to rush to defend these five procedures as legitimate and medically necessary while still blithely dismissing various forms of women’s contraception as mere recreational implements for being a big ol’ Slutty Slutterson.

So I’ll just go ahead and get the ball rolling by making statements I know to be counter-factual, so that maybe people who are inclined to dismiss contraception as slut pills will get some smidgen of an idea of what it’s like to see demonstrably false statements treated as fact (or as “sincerely-held religious beliefs” when push comes to shove comes to science): Continue reading →

What I’m Reading, June 30, 2014

Posted on June 30, 2014 by wellsdc

“God’s Not Dead”: A Preview, Robert Geroux, Commonweal, June 17, 2014 (h/t Ed Brayton)

I have a theory about contemporary conservatism generally, and the religious right more specifically. They’ve studied the post-68 playbook of the center-left. They’ve appropriated the language of civil rights, the student movement and identity politics and turned it in a new direction: targeting “religious discrimination,” cultural indifference and even aggression (the “War on Christmas”), and so on. Both then and now, many of these battles took place on college campuses. Kevin Sorbo’s arrogant professor is surely a distortion, but the persona is meant to resonate with conservative viewers, especially young people who have been told repeatedly that the secular classroom is the place where faith commitments are deconstructed and stripped-away, often painfully. In God’s Not Dead this myth becomes hyperbole: no philosophy professor requires – on the first day no less! – the disavowal of God. What the distortion discloses however is the cynical belief that the role of authority in the pursuit of knowledge and even wisdom is nothing more than a sham, a mere power trip, intellectual combat for its own sake. According to these terms, the young man in question doesn’t really belong in a Philosophy class, since he already has all the wisdom he needs.

What Makes a Slut? Apparently, Just Being a Woman, Jessica Valenti, The Guardian, via AlterNet, June 23, 2014 Continue reading →

What I’m Reading, June 20, 2014

Posted on June 20, 2014 by wellsdc

It’s Time For People to Stop Using the Social Construct of “Biological Sex” to Defend Their Transmisogyny, Mey, Autostraddle, June 5, 2014

Time and time again, transmisogynists and transphobes go back to that old excuse that they are just standing up for the reality of “biological sex” when they spew their ignorance and hate. They say that no matter what a trans woman does, no matter what she believes, she’s still actually a man. Others cede the fact that trans women are women, but stop there and say “gender is what’s between your ears, sex is what’s between your legs” and therefore trans women are still males. Although this is a popular idea, it is based on a misunderstanding of biology, social constructs and anatomy, and it needs to stop.

The Lack of Gentle Platonic Touch in Men’s Lives is a Killer, Mark Greene, The Good Men Project, November 4, 2013 Continue reading →

What I’m Reading, June 17, 2014

Posted on June 17, 2014 by wellsdc

Law Enforcement Agencies Continue To Obtain Military Equipment, Claiming The United States Is A ‘War Zone’, Tim Cushing, TechDirt, June 12, 2014

That law enforcement agencies across the US are swiftly converting themselves into military outfits is hardly a surprise at this point. The problem is that nothing seems to be slowing them down, not even the dismayed reactions of citizens supposedly under their care.

The government’s desire to offload its unused military hardware at deeply discounted rates has turned a few outliers into the new normal. Towns as with populations well under the 10,000 mark have secured Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles, supposedly in order to keep up with a non-existent arms race between the good guys and the bad guys.

***

The problems with this sort of ad hoc “mobilization” are numerous. The dangers of outfitting police with military gear can best be signaled with a combination of “if all you have is a hammer…” and Chekhov’s Gun. If you give police military gear, they’re going to want to use it. The very occasional shootout with heavily-armed criminals simply won’t satisfy the urge to deploy the new acquisitions. The slightly-more-occasional no-knock warrant served in the dead of night to known drug offenders won’t sufficiently scratch the itch.

*** Continue reading →

What I’m Reading, June 16, 2014

Posted on June 16, 2014 by wellsdc

Women Are Hard To Animate. Thoughts on Representation of Women in Movies, Television and Games, Echidne, Echidne of the Snakes, June 12, 2014

My point is that these stories are picked from a certain angle, an angle of traditionally male heroism, and even when that is not the case most of us are lulled into believing that a handful of women in a large list of participants is a mixed gender setting in a movie or television series. Just think of the Noah’s Ark (which also consisted of all white characters). Probably a fifty-fifty distribution of men and women in some movie reads as a chick flick to many viewers.

One reason for all this is that we tend to see women portray womanhood in their roles, not play roles of individuals who have different temperaments, characters and so on. That’s why having a handful of women in a movie looks like inclusion, even if they all play the role “women,” because that role might be subconsciously compared to the number of dentists or gamblers or whatever in the same movie, never mind that most of the rest of that list are played by men.

Who Owns Your Womb? Women Can Get Murder Charge for Refusing C-Sections, Michelle Goodwin, AlterNet, June 13, 2014

Continue reading →

The New “I’m Not Racist, But…”

Posted on June 16, 2014 by wellsdc

Via equal-writes.org

“This isn’t meant to be slut-shaming…”

This is invariably followed by some epic-level slut-shaming. In this case, the slut-shaming started before the statement was even made.

With each passing day, we see the institution of marriage becoming a distant memory. Men and women alike are so caught up in the party lifestyle that they’re forgetting their future spouses might not went to settle down with people who have such sordid histories.

Or, you know, maybe they shouldn’t feel like they have to marry people who expect some sort of ritual purity from others. Just a thought.

What I’m Reading, June 11, 2014

Posted on June 11, 2014 by wellsdc

Texas Republicans setting a bad example, PZ Myers, Pharyngula, June 6, 2013

You really must read the temporary Texas Republican Party platform for 2014. They have a clear vision for the future of America, and it is a hellhole. I skimmed through it this morning and there was much to fill me with dismay and amusement, all at the same time.

Socialism breeds mediocrity. America is exceptional. Therefore, the Republican Party of Texas opposes socialism, in all of its forms.

We are special. Don’t you forget it.

***

You have to read the next two together:

We revere the sanctity of human life and therefore oppose genocide, euthanasia, and assisted suicide.

Properly applied capital punishment is legitimate, is an effective deterrent, and should be swift and unencumbered.

Only some life has sanctity, I guess. Continue reading →

Cryptic Philosopher

Now Available in Interesting!

Category Archives: Gender