QOTD: Pinkification
Any explanation of pink preference that is handed to children by the society they live in and only looks at the last hundred years, and calls itself “evolutionary psychology”, is blatantly misunderstanding both words in its title.
“Most of our choices, as women, are looked upon with scorn”
Society sets us up to judge the choices of others, creating “wars” and “catfights” rather than encouraging us to press for change.
Nugget of Awesome: self-identified feminists holding deeply toxic ideas about women
Being a feminist is not a merit badge you pin to your sash one time or an achievement you unlock; it’s a journey outside the borders of ingrained belief and a process of self-correction.
Quicklink: Tansy Rayner Roberts unpacks Historically Authentic Sexism in Fantasy
history – the process of writing down and preserving of the facts, not the facts/events themselves – was looking the other way
Horseshit of the day: War on Men, Things Girls Do That Guys Hate
I wonder if either of these twerps found a pony after all that shoveling?
Is Australia more feminist?
The Australian prime minister Julia Gillard’s labelling of the leader of the opposition, Tony Abbott, a “misogynist” has become the focus of intense debate both in Australia and here in the UK. What has been most striking for me is the recent news that Gillard received a huge boost in her Australian approval ratings immediately [...]
What a transperson in science academia might tell you about sexism
You have to read this over at The Wall Street Journal: Ben Barres had just finished giving a seminar at the prestigious Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research 10 years ago, describing to scientists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard and other top institutions his discoveries about nerve cells called glia. As the applause died [...]
Why I will go easy on the ‘save yourself’ rhetoric with my daughter
Reading Clementine Ford’s piece in Daily Life on teenage sexuality something struck me about the young girls she was describing. The arrival of One Direction certainly took Australia by storm – mostly because nobody outside of the 12-17 year old teen girl bracket and a handful of their mothers had ever heard of them. But [...]
Tell me again how women are their own worst enemy
Here at BBC News is that typical ‘women are their own worst enemy’ article. It is conveniently titled, “Are women their own worst enemy when it comes to the top job?” Research compiled by BBC News shows women are under-represented in many of Britain’s top jobs – from the boardroom and the courtroom, to politics [...]
Today in Essentialist Claptrap
The footage showed the Duchess making happy faces at a baby and stroking ou’s head while ou was being held by the father, while the Duke was shown holding a baby and chatting with onlookers, yet the commentary was about how “Kate” was showing her natural motherly side. Which one of them was actually shown as being relaxed and comfortable holding a baby again?
There is a difference between sexualising and sexuality
In short: sexualization is performance; it’s all about being desirable to others. Sexuality is understanding and connecting to your own desire. At the reading, Orenstein shared this passage from Cinderella Ate My Daughter: Let me be clear here: I object– strenuously– to the sexualization of girls but not necessarily to girls having sex. I expect [...]
Thought of the day: when does bigotry occur?
If we use the intentions and feelings of privileged people to determine when bigotry occurs, you will find that no one is bigoted by that definition.



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