Dunno, I had a pretty good year. I learned not to entangle myself in romantic relationships years ago because I’d discovered that they’re invariably more trouble and pain than they’re worth, so maybe that’s part of it?

I have a couple of perfectly serviceable basic sweaters from Gap. They are boring work clothes, but they’re fine for that.

POCs rightly resent her being given all the advantages of whitehood from birth, but then appropriating the pain and struggle of non-whitehood.

Ugh. If I ask a question and attempt to explore an issue I’m transphobic. Got it. You’re the only person in this thread to treat this conversation as an opportunity to label someone with a conversation killing pejorative for admitting they don’t have the answers. Well done.

Completely agree with you, I guess I also get wary of the fact that so much of the criticism of her seems sexist as opposed to being based on a rational, logical set of arguments. That she’s “manipulative” “untrustworthy” an “attention whore” etc.

I can totally see this as a reason to take issue with Dolezal herself, but there’s a broader question about whether a person (any person) can be transracial at all, isn’t there? Seemingly the orthodox view is that they can’t be, and it’s a view I instinctively share, but I’m not sure I ought to.

But then the question would be is the only legitimate transgender person one whose brain structure correlates to their chosen gender/sex? Would they somehow be illegitimate if it turns out they didn’t have the brain structure of the gender they identify with?

Hang on. Firstly, that’s disputed. But secondly, isn’t the whole cornerstone of feminism that gender is a social construct? What, after all, is the female gender? Lip gloss and stilettos? That’s how Jenner has defined it. Feminists, on the other hand, have been saying for decades that a woman’s identity is not…

See, this is where it gets complicated. Firstly, it is not accepted at all that there are female brains and male brains. In fact, saying there are is a taboo that has gotten male professors in very deep water. But moreover, even if there were, we’d then be talking about a person’s sex, and not their gender. And they…

Honestly, I think we should be very skeptical of ourselves when we think something just feels like it’s true, then attempt to back it up with arguments. We’re starting from a conclusion and then attempting to justify it, which is you know... what bigots and such do all the time.

Thank you for your answer. Respectfully, ‘just feels different’ doesn’t seem like much, and all the arguments you made about Dolezal can be and are deployed against trans-women by many feminists.

...some people...equate transgendered with transracial. No. Just nope.

“but the key here is that she can never, ever know what its like to be a black woman in this country”

Thank god. Of all the ridiculous nonsense she did, the hair was one of the most offensive in my opinion. It’s the ultimate symbol of white privilege to be able to afford a salon experience that not only gives you the “ideal” black woman’s natural hair, but the most ideal of said “ideal” hair style. Like a perfectly…

Really? She 100 percent earned never being able to teach again? You’re aware that most public institutions have fought hard (see: Stephen Salaita) for professors to have considerable latitude in their public demeanour and activities, right? She has not been charged with a crime, or done anything that would technically…

I ask this question in good faith: why nope?

A few months ago, there was a really strong and strange (to me) critique of the movie Hot Girls Wanted for shining a light on an aspect of the porn industry that is very woman un-friendly. The article read to me like it was accusing the documentary producers of taking a hardline, anti-porn stand, which I don’t think…

My mom is an incredible woman but suffers from alcoholism. Sometimes she is a very mean drunk and during those times she has said the most cruel things about my appearance- seizing on my insecurities I had shared with her and throwing them back in my face. But the worst was when she sarcastically said my rape was hard…

It’s a good, tough question. I prefer to look at depression as a cultural issue rather than an individual pathology. We’re not islands. We didn’t evolve for anomie. To take a bird’s eye view, I think it makes more sense to view the causes of depression as a failure of social cohesion and economic equality, not the…

Is it a cop out to ask if your hookup has sex toys she likes and to use them during the hookup?