Shopping at Penney’s has not made me a lesbian

Sure, this is anecdotal evidence, but take it for what it’s worth. I like to buy jeans at J.C. Penney. They have a decent variety of Levis, usually at a good price. Now, granted, I was never persuaded to shop for jeans there by a spokesperson of any kind. But I also have not seen … Read more

Tempest in a cookie box

Because a seven year old transgender child tried to be involved in a Girl Scout troop in Colorado, a national campaign has been created to urge us to not to buy any cookies this year, and Girl Scouts themselves to not sell them. Yes, really: Three Girl Scout troops in Louisiana won’t be hawking Thin … Read more

On bumper stickers and “bumper stickers”

From The Washington Post: Looking to Avoid Aggressive Drivers? Check Those Bumpers: Watch out for cars with bumper stickers.That’s the surprising conclusion of a recent study by Colorado State University social psychologist William Szlemko. Drivers of cars with bumper stickers, window decals, personalized license plates and other “territorial markers” not only get mad when someone … Read more

I’m fine with this rubber spine o’ mine

Really? Because it looks like that…hurts. As a follow-up to this post, I feel compelled to share these:   Cracked’s 5 Most Ridiculously Sexist Superhero Costumes, and R.K. Milholland’s Super Stupor! comic mocking such costumes and poses Comics are almost certainly the most sexist medium in geekdom. By that I do not mean that a) … Read more

Benevolent sexism

A lot of people seem to have a hard time identifying bigotry when it appears to flatter. After all, isn’t bigotry supposed to be about hating members of a certain group?  Not really. It’s more about forming expectations about individual members of a group, based on a general assumption about the group as a whole. … Read more

Tony Perkins fears the crossing of light sabers

“Give yourself to the Dark Side…yes,your thoughts betray you.” From Opposing Views: On his daily radio broadcast, Family Research Council president Tony Perkins attacked the video game ‘Star Wars: The Old Republic’ for allowing same-sex relationships: “In a new Star Wars game, the biggest threat to the empire may be homosexual activists!” Stephen Reid of Bioware, … Read more

Jay Leno vs. some angry Sikhs

From BBC News: A Leno skit showed the temple as the summer home of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney. Mr Romney has faced taxation questions over his huge wealth and many Sikhs are angry the temple has been depicted as a place for the rich. The Sikh community has launched an online petition and an Indian minister … Read more

Not rape

A trigger warning is a notice posted at the top of an article that indicates that the subject matter may be disturbing, especially because it may describe abuse, molestation, and/or rape and people who have been victims of such may not want to read or to read with caution, in a place where they won’t … Read more