It’s a stretch to assume every gymnast’s a dancer, but Laurie Hernandez has a reputation as a gymnast who takes the dance-inspired components of gymnastics seriously and who executes them well.

Nope - I’m actually curious why we need to distinguish between trolls who appropriate racist and anti-semitic symbols and self-avowed racists and anti-semites. What’s the difference?

The ability to differentiate between genuine hate and just trolling assholes is going to be key in the upcoming years.

Right, I could have been clearer about that. The study is very upfront about the fact that it’s using rapes reported to police as the baseline, so rapes that went unreported aren’t part of the statistic (and shouldn’t be). The reason I wanted to point it out—clumsily, as it turns out—is that I fear people will glance…

Short version: it’s a methodological challenge, but somewhat doable.

The fact that Republicans so frequently have to reach all the way back to the mid-19th century to find an example of a racial progressive within their party probably means something...

Not all “safe spaces” are about protecting people from being offended. You can agree or disagree with the type of space Click was trying to create, and her methods of doing it, but let’s not misrepresent the issues at stake. The protests at Mizzou were about students of color trying to call attention to a racist…

And also, they’re medal winning Olympians with SWIMMERS BODIES. I doubt they paid for sex. But, I dunno, I dunno.

It feels like only yesterday that he was giving a convention speech where he claimed to be the “law and order” candidate. Maybe what he meant by that is that he’s the candidate most likely to have a character based on him featured as a perp on Law and Order.

The NY Times did a feature on Ryan Lochte, who’s also dominant in part because of how long he stays under. According to that article, staying under helps swimmers avoid surface waves/turbulence created by other swimmers.

Indeed - I see that now! Anyway, thanks for your excellent comments here :)

I really like your labeling of this culture as heterosexual “outdoor sexual politics”—this thing where straight sexual & romantic culture(s) come to dominate most public spaces. It’s a concept I’ve tried to talk about, but I feel like this term really captures something important. Out of curiosity, is this a…

The ideas are generic, but the specific wording, order, and cadence are cribbed pretty obviously from Michelle Obama’s speech. That’s plagiarism.

Yeah - that’s my basic read on it as well, and it reflects some *deeply* screwed up attitudes toward sex. In popular hetero discourse, men are supposed to seek out and want sex with women; but rather than appreciating or being grateful to the women who have sex with them, some men (#notallmen) view those women as…

Also, I find it seriously weird that men use “cocksucker” as an insult. Don’t most men enjoy receiving oral sex? And for that to happen, don’t they need to find a cocksucker (of whichever gender/s they prefer)?

I spent 2 semesters confusing two of my students for one another (both of them took my class in back-to-back semesters). I couldn’t figure out why I had such a hard time distinguishing them from one another, and in that case they were not white and I was getting really anxious that it meant I was unconsciously racist…

Correction: all of these white people look alike.

I’ve had similar problems telling apart the young white women who make up the bulk of the college classes I teach (and I’m a youngish white woman). Plus, they’re all named Taylor, Madison/Madisyn/Maddie, Caitlin/Kailyn/Katelyn, or Alexandra/Alex/Allie.

Ugh, that’s so disappointing to hear! When I lived in the Bay Area I loved visiting the stores and being able to get recommendations from the staff (or even just browsing when I couldn’t afford the good stuff!). What’s going on with this harassment?

Not a union, per se, but I believe that Good Vibrations is/has been in the past an employee-owned co-op. Browsing their website now, I suspect that’s no longer the case; however, when we’re talking about feminist sex shops with good labor practices Good Vibes always comes to mind.