“This young woman [“Caroline”] has cerebral palsy, is wheelchair bound, totally dependant on carers for her personal and daily living activities, and non-verbal. Cognitively very aware, she depends on assisted communication to enable her to communicate … Caroline was sexually… Read More ›
language
Linguistics question: Pluralising proper-noun exemplars?
I have a linguistics question for y’all. Plucked from the WA election commentary last night: “… electorates such as the Forrestfields, the Wanneroos, the Albanys…” (These three are some of the closest contests.) The obviously-singular proper nouns are turned into… Read More ›
Raped by elves
We’ve identified before that passive voice agent-deletion is a particular problem in reports of sexual violence. The victim is centred, just as she is in most narratives of sexual violence (and its prevention), and the perpetrator is disappeared altogether or… Read More ›
Why I Don’t Read Jezebel Any More: The R Word, and Invented Diseases
I used to rather like Jezebel, back in the day. It was a fairly feminist space right in the midst of mainstream online media, with a hoydenish style that appealed. Now it’s just a sewer. The latest? “…there are still… Read More ›
What kind of space is Hoyden About Town? (And our new guidelines summary)
‘When I use a word,’ Humpty Dumpty said, in a rather scornful tone,’ it means just what I choose it to mean, neither more nor less.’ ‘The question is,’ said Alice, ‘whether you can make words mean so many different… Read More ›
Carnivalia, transgenderism and the gender binary
Two feminist blogging carnivals were published this week: Carnival Against Sexual Violence 53 The 17th Carnival of Radical Feminists Both carnivals contain plenty of excellent posts to ponder, provoke and especially to disturb. Which brings me to the posts that… Read More ›
Amandaw is kicking arse and taking names when it comes to able-bodied privilege
Amandaw has been writing an absolutely white-hot series of guest posts at Feministe about invisible disability and her illness experience. I intensely, wholeheartedly urge you to make an effort to set the time aside to read them all. Start at the bottom, read the comments, and work your way up.
If you had to pick just four, though, try
Lesson learnt this weekend
“Big Swinging Dick” is much more obscure slang than I thought it was.
Luckily the new acquaintances who thought I was just being whimsically rude about their friend also thought it was hilarious
Thread of the week: playful pedants alert
From John Scalzi: Another Entry in the Annals of “People Who Haven’t the Slightest Idea What They’re Saying” Awww, look. Someone’s trying to lecture me on speech and the Internet! A fabulous exploration into what does and what does not… Read More ›
Friday Hoyden: Joy Nash
Ok, so this was *everywhere* last year. But some of the readers who’ve come aboard since then may not have seen it. The discussion today about oppressive beauty ideals and the resultant social insecurities that lead to immense profits for… Read More ›
Hoyden About Town 