Items of interest found recently in my RSS feed. What did I miss? Please share what you've been reading (and writing!) in the comments.

• Self esteem is revolutionary

– “When I find myself in these moments where I compare myself to others and despair at the ways I am lacking, I try to remember this. Some people are surprised that I can fight for size diversity, human rights and self-love so fiercely yet still be afflicted with bouts of crippling low confidence – but I’ve got to tell you right now, this is proof of our self-hating culture.”

• Louis Nowra Needs a Good Vajazzling

– Gloriously cathartic rant from Helen Razer

• Autism Blog – Another hoax from Age of Autism « Left Brain/Right Brain

– “First, this document is, substantially, a forgery. Second, it is not a single work, but a pastiche of what I believe to be at least three originally independent documents.”

• Songs of Girls Who Don’t Want to Get Married (Right Now) + Thanks

– “Disclaimer: I have nothing against marriage. I am married myself. Happily even. Nor do I have anything against women wanting to be married. It’s just that they already have a tonne of songs. I want representation for all the girls who don’t dream of a big wedding and marriage when they grow up.”

• Policy and Attitude: This Is Not an "Or" Question

– “One of the consistent arguments against progressive legislation, from both some conservatives and some radicals is that you can’t legislate changes in attitude, and that changes in attitude will drive better, more equitable practices and policies. Policy alone fails to address inequity, and can create a backlash when it seems to require accommodations or changes that some people perceive to be unnecessary or that threaten people’s status or ideas.

I don’t get why attitude/policy is an “or” question. I believe that you can both create (and enforce) policies, such as equitable hiring policies, that address injustice and educate and communicate to change attitudes. Furthermore, if you really want anything to change, you need to do both, at the same time.”

• Dinosaurs Ten Million Years Older Than Thought

– “dinosaur ancestors are divided into two main branches: a line that includes silesaurs and shares skeletal features with modern birds, and a line that has more in common with crocodilians.

Since a crocodilian dinosaur-ancestor from the middle Triassic had already been found, unearthing an animal like Asilisaurus was just a matter of time.”

• Reality rejection syndrome

– “the recent South Dakota resolution.

“Carbon dioxide is not a pollutant,” the resolution said, “but rather a highly beneficial ingredient for all plant life.”

Change the wording a little bit, and substitute “shit” for “carbon dioxide”, and it’s still just as true.”

• 1 out of 4 British Chiropractors is Under Investigation

– “The other cool thing that bloggers did was: google every member of the British Chiropractic Association, look up their website, and find any dubious claims the were making and then reporting them to the Advertising Standards Authority. And now one out of four chiropractors is under investigation for making false or misleading statements on their website. One out of four, that’s 25%. Chiropractors are now spending hundreds of thousands of pounds just to defend themselves, which is pretty friggin amazing!”

• Hogamus, Higamus, Men Are Polygamous

– “Yet Kanazawa simply tells us that “among our ancestors, men – though not women – were polygynous, having more than one sexual partner”. How does he know?

He doesn’t, of course. But his arguments get popularized just like that.”

• “Defiant Birth”: Impolite Women Who Didn’t Make History

– “In short, I recommend this book highly. The stories of disabled women, in particular, I found absolutely riveting. Their stories are vivid, immediate, at times horrifying, but more often joyful. The joy can be transcendent, yet entirely ordinary: the joy of a wanted baby, the magnificence of a disobedient woman.”

• Feminism Objectifies Women

– “Here’s the thing. Everything I just said above about “women”? Isn’t true for women. Rather, it is true for white women. Or cisgendered women. Or nondisabled women. It is not true for women as a class.

Yet we continually operate on the assumption that it is!”

• If only atheists would just shut up

– “What atheists (well most of us anyway) want is a right to be heard and for the privilege religion has in society to be critically examined and questioned. This is confronting to some as they prefer atheists to be quiet and confine their discussions behind closed doors.”

Categories: linkfest

Tags: blogging, Read-ems