I don’t have an issue with trash-talking. I have an issue with sexist trash-talking.

Sorry, no. That’s a commonly stated but false etymology. It actually derives from the old Norse puss, meaning “pocket, pouch.” Pussy was being used as slang for female genitalia or as a general reference to an amiable woman as early as the 15th century, while pusillanimous was an invention of late-stage Church Latin…

That’s honestly your response? Golly, rape and sexism are inevitable, so we should simply ignore them? 10 percent of female players reported being assaulted by a member of the Smash community, but like... nothing we can do about that? Best to throw up our hands and simply accept the reality that female gamers…

Except... gaming culture is part of that cesspool, meaning the toxic sexual ethics that plague our society are still present within the gaming community. They don’t disappear simply because you’d find it more convenient to ignore them. If a given community has a history of sexual assaults and a tendency to ignore or…

It doesn’t have to be a part of it, but it *is* part of it. When male (and even female) players shit-talk one another, the language is remarkably gendered: competitors are called pussies, winning is often referred to as raping another player, and any number of comments are made about the sexual behavior of…

Oh, no question. It’ll be a shitstorm of contempt and derision. I just meant, mockery and scorn have a hallowed place in the halls of the UN.

Growing obesity rates (and with them, increased cases of hypertension) play a large role in maternal mortality, but it’s also definitely the result of limiting access to family planning services. This is most clear in the case of Texas.

To be fair, international figures have always mocked our presidents, e.g.,

Huh. I didn’t see that coming.

So the urinary habits of private citizens are fair game for legal intercession, but it’s uncool to discuss or oversee the potentially deadly actions of on-duty public servants? Got it.  

Uh, there’s someone posting racial slurs. That’s not disagreement—that’s repugnant assholery.

Are you sure the report was about tonight’s protests and not the original shooting? Because the officer who shot Keith Lamont Scott on Tuesday was in plainclothes and wasn’t wearing a body camera.

Exactly. While I think the ex-wife makes a valid point (Rolling Stone’s art editors shouldn’t be making distinctions between trans women and non-trans women), it’s ultimately Laura’s body.

Wait, but what does Laura Jane Grace think? Isn’t her opinion the more important one?

If the 2016 election has taught us anything, it’s that red states are more attached to their racism than to their wallets, religious ideals, safety, or sanity.

It’s been studied quite a few times over the years, but here are two of the more prominent studies from NYU and Berkeley:

Grant is incredibly lucky that he was born British. His skeeviness would never be mistaken for charm without his accent or the bumbling, aw-shucks sheepishness. 

I like that Glenn Beck is just another of Ailes’s blondes.

Yes. And then I shivered in repulsion.

A similar study has shown that conservative politics is strongly correlated with a need for certainty and intolerance for ambiguity or nuance, which is why there’s a tendency among conservative to think in terms of “us versus them.” It’s incredibly easy to vilify cultural outsiders and dismiss the suffering of others…