To Kill a Mockingbird is actually an interesting case, because it generates tension in the intersection between feminism and anti-racism. Ask most people and they will say it's a powerful argument against racism. But it's also literally a book about a young girl realizing how a false rape accusation can lead to a…

Why not go meta and put the Pinterest logo up AT the wedding? Pinterest earings? In the bouquet? Okay maybe I'm the only one who thinks its funny. :)

Congratulations.

I still the think the most hilarious story about the airline seats comes from an Amazon review of 50 Shades of Grey. A man was seated in the middle seat between two women, each of whom had a copy of the book, which he knew nothing about. After finishing each chapter, one of the women would close her eyes, tilt her…

I think you're close, but I think in that mindset that a men acting like these guys do is viewed as lower than a feminine acting woman. In my experience with that ideology, the ranking would loosely go: Masculine Man > Feminine Woman > Masculine Woman > Feminine Man. Women are at least desirable to Masculine Men,…

The joke isn't that the person can't spell, it's that "LaSonia" could be an African American female's name. Placing "La" in front of a name is a common marker in that community. Latanya, Latoya, Lakeisha, Lawanda, LaShawn, etc. These are not "ghetto names" as one commenter put it. It's just a naming pattern for that…

Believe it or not I played in a gender inclusive softball team in 7th and 8th grade. Coached by a lesbian. In Louisiana. In 1989. (Also, I was the worst player. The worst. I have never hated a sport as much as softball.)

I don't mean to say that is typical of Louisiana, (certainly you wouldn't if you read the shit…

Feel free to steal it. :)

Hugs to all these kids.

I was just having a conversation about this event with a friend. He told me that during his high school days, 20 years ago, his Catholic school had a motivational speaker, a gay guy there to talk about HIV. They booed him off the stage and he left in tears. Change is possible, we see it in our…

OMFG that scene with the circle of women admiring the ring.

I have never seen the uncut tapes but having seen when I think of what you can do in a serious interview, I don't doubt that is lot of what is going on here. Just omitting a qualifying sentence or the context of a statement can easily make a person sound crazy, or make it sound like a portion of their conversation is…

If they hadn't strip searched her and she had stabbed someone in prison or smuggled in a cell phone or drugs, they'd be sued for not supplying a safe environment. I bet she's glad those "common criminals and drug addicts" she was upset to be locked up with were also strip searched, for her own safety. /nextstory

Twilight is a poorly written series with the depth of a 1940s comic strip. But if girls are reading and enjoying it I don't feel it's my place to tell them to stop. Yes, technically, Edward is 100 years old, but since vampires are not real its plausible he is in some "delayed teenagerhood" and Meyer is just not a good…

I am an atheist too. This is not "test your faith" doctrine. It's mainly a comment about statistics. Although I do think it's true—and I think most hard atheists in general think it is true—that religious rosters are largely made up of people who took up religion precisely for the reasons I cited (in particular, fear…

I am very sorry for your loss. However I really wasn't trying to talk about anecdotes. Clearly, some atheists will remain so. Clearly, some people will fall further from religion to a death. But in general people tend to get more religious as they get older. I'm now on at least the 20th post from someone saying they…

Although I am sorry for your loss there seems to be confusion about why I wrote the original post. Some individual atheists and unaffiliated folks will remain so. Some will gravitate into religion or spirituality when they get older. I didn't write the original post as a challenge. I was quoting demographic…

That song you're playing at 11? Turn it down to around a 3 and then we'll talk.

Are you being sarcastic? No such thing as transmisogyny? Maybe on Mars... because there are no people there.

Very well said. I have actually noted that some hardcore Feminists would actually be more accurately called Chivalrists. They believe in what could be called a philosophy of "women and children first"... and that women are basically children. (This perspective leaks over to other groups too, which is why I'm skeptical…

I have the same tendency. I was raised Catholic, am now a staunch atheist. But I have seen a lot of atheists become apostates (if that's the right word for it) during moments of crisis. People tend to drift toward spirituality as they approach their own deaths and as the question of what has happened to those who went…