From the Huffington Post’s list of 2011’s Most Absurd Quotes About Women– And Who Said Them: An anonymous Egyptian general spoke to CNN about why female protestors arrested during anti-Mubarak demonstrations were strip-searched and forced to submit to virginity tests. “The girls who were detained were not like your daughter or mine. These were girls … Read more
Greta Christina preaches it: It’s depressingly predictable. When an instance of misogyny gets pointed out on the Internet, in a forum big enough to garner more than a couple dozen comments, you’re almost guaranteed to see some or all of these types of comments. It’s happening now. In case you haven’t heard, there was a recent … Read more
Reddit thread here, if you’re interested These discussions, while useful, take a toll. Sometimes they just seem…tiring. I admire people who are willing to run the “sexism on the internet/in skepticism/atheism” treadmill, but can’t help but wonder how they manage to remain sane. Especially while being attacked endlessly for their efforts, as Rebecca Watson has … Read more
When it comes to women and political issues, conservatives will generally be the ones to attack women’s actions by attacking their appearance. Liberals, however, can be counted upon to respond by defending the woman’s appearance rather than her actions. The corollary is, of course, that when desiring to promote a woman politically conservatives will trumpet … Read more
Cross-posted from State of Formation. I think Gene Marks has now been thoroughly excoriated for his column “If I Were a Poor Black Kid” on the Forbes web site last week. In his effort to explain how it’s still possible for underprivileged kids to succeed, he succeeded only in displaying a shocking lack of empathy. By that I don’t mean that he … Read more
I think Gene Marks has now been thoroughly excoriated for his column “If I Were a Poor Black Kid” on the Forbes web site last week. In his effort to explain how it’s still possible for underprivileged kids to succeed, he succeeded only in displaying a shocking lack of empathy. By that I don’t mean that he demonstrated a … Read more
If you’re just too impatient to see Jesus or the Virgin Mary’s face appearing in bird poo, a cliff face, or a testicular tumor, for just $32 you can see one of them appearing reliably in an easily accessible location– your toast. Jesus and Virgin Mary toasters are apparently a hot commodity this holiday season, … Read more
AKA The post about Rick Perry’s jacket. If you somehow have missed seeing Rick Perry’s recent campaign ad, now one of the least liked videos on Youtube, here it is: Yes, that is a real ad produced by a real candidate for president of the United States and long-time governor of the state where I … Read more
A few months ago I wrote about Freakonomics author Steven Levitt’s “daughter test” for legality. Levitt didn’t invent the test; he just articulated it: “If I wouldn’t want my daughter to do it, I wouldn’t mind the government passing a law against it.” The inanity and offensiveness of this standard should be plain on its face, but … Read more
There’s an interesting discussion going on at Dispatches about Michele Bachmann’s recent statement to some Iowa high school students about gay marriage: JANE SCHMIDT: Then, why can’t same-sex couples get married?BACHMANN: They can get married, but they abide by the same law as everyone else. They can marry a man if they’re a woman. Or … Read more