As you have almost certainly surmised if you read Dan Savage’s apology, it isn’t an apology for much. It’s more of a clarification– an explanation of 1) how the distinction between how you act (pansy-assedly) and who you are (a pansy-ass) matters, but not as much as we sometimes like to pretend, and 2) the … Read more
From Skepchick, Guest Post: IGN Agrees, Women are Whores Money quote: There aren’t many words more denigrating to women than ‘whore’. It’s the one that summons mental images of domestic violence, of the worst sort of reduction to a sexual object. That Deadwood smack of ‘disposable, beatable hole’ makes me physically cringe. When I see ‘attention … Read more
I really enjoy reading everything Greta Christina has to say on her blog. Sometimes I forget to check it, which is an oversight on my part, but every time I go and read through a new entry I feel edified by the experience. The same, sadly, cannot be said of the comment section. Which is … Read more
When talking about laws impinging on freedom, laws that impinge on important freedoms matter. But laws that impinge on unimportant freedoms matter more. Why? Because a law that says you fundamentally may not say what you think or feel, own your own property, express a meaningful choice about your rulers and representatives, or conduct your … Read more
In discussion about Gloria Allred’s attempt to prosecute Rush Limbaugh at Dispatches, a commenter called Harold observed the following (the first line is a quote from another comment, to which he is responding): Is Allred trying to give Limbaugh the upper hand in the court of public opinion? I believe she would not care one … Read more
Technically this doesn’t count as me saying something, because it’s Jon Stewart saying something…right? A lot of things. A lot of very funny things, regarding Limbaugh but specifically regarding Republican presidential candidates’ and Fox News’ reactions to his shenanigans: The Daily Show with Jon StewartGet More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily … Read more
I write a lot about very particular things that have happened, and then try to extrapolate a larger significance. This is satisfying to me, but I try to be aware that there is definitely a ratchet in people’s brains that rises and lowers according to the specificity of what they encounter, and if the ratchet … 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
Cross-posted from State of Formation. University of Nebraska Assistant Coach Ron Brown prayed on behalf of his football team and that of Penn State prior to their game on November 12th, in the wake of the latter university’s scandal regarding former head coach Joe Paterno. Which you already know about if you haven’t been living under a … Read more
Cross-posted from State of Formation. That the band R.E.M.’s break-up and Troy Davis’ highly controversial state mandated execution would have taken place on the same day is probably an interesting coincidence to no one but me. You see, it was at an R.E.M. concert during their “Monster” tour back in 1994 that I, as a high school student, first … Read more