I agree that there can be benefit to public discussion of casual racism and microagressions. I disagree that public callouts of specific individuals leads to good discussion—particularly over incidences this long ago—and I emphatically disagree with your belief that no one changes over 10 years without being…

But she made it public, so if he really truly remembers a very different set of actions, I think a public response also makes sense.

Like I think about the Margaret Cho/Tilda Swinton exchange—what Margaret Cho described Swinton as doing in the email exchange was IMHO a very inaccurate portrayal of what Swinton…

But if he genuinely doesn’t remember, what is he supposed to do? I 100% agree that it is an artifact of privilege that he could forget whereas Yi would remember, but saying that acknowledges that he may be sincere in forgetting. I have anti-Semitic and sexist things people have said to me burned into my memory that I…

Everything about this is just sad, but especially that institutions are set up so one lonely, dying, possibly delusional* man can wreak so much havoc on people’s lives.

It also seems like the easiest way to deal with Rusty would be simply to give him some social opportunities and keep him busy!

* After the ISIS is…

Yes, it is true that the left hand is reserved for unclean tasks and thus it is considered rude to shake, handle money, take food, etc. with the left hand. I had to be very mindful of this when I lived in Morocco because I’m left handed.

No one will melt or recoil with fear when offered a left hand, however! It’s not…

Charlie Sheen not getting labeled difficult to work with after taping a note to harass his co-worker is the double standard right there. Everything men do is normal. If women do anything in response other than smile and say it’s all fine, they’re crazy divas.

There have definitely been cases of male actors harassing makeup artists. I can’t remember if anyone got fired.

But if you look at the media that was released without wide criticism, it is jaw dropping in terms of the overt racism and sexism. Maybe some of the difference is that people affected couldn’t be heard, but I know in terms of sexism, a lot of the difference really is in what has been denormalized.

No one owns Marsha P. Johnson’s story. She’s an important historical figure. This is something that people need to start understanding. You can’t legally claim stories, and it’s difficult to even morally claim stories because all of our stories intertwine with each other.

What you can claim is your labor. However, it…

The name Judith Herman rang a bell. I believe the quote was from Trauma and Recovery: The Aftermath of Violence—from domestic abuse to political terror. I don’t have a copy so I can’t confirm, though.

I didn’t know that part. :(

The question is whether it has to be this way or is simply this way because “this way” was developed at a time when people didn’t consider the possibility that aspiring doctors would also want to be involved in their family life.

We lose people when we don’t accommodate human realities. If you assume that aptitude for…

Ooo... as someone with phone phobia, I am very excited to see the postcards site. I’ve been feeling guilty every time I get an appeal to phone bank.

You have to be familiar with some of the specific anti-trans arguments on the right for this to make sense. A lot of anti-trans people believe that non-gender-role conforming children are being indoctrinated into trans identities when (in this belief) many of them would outgrow their discomfort with their assigned…

I don’t remember the title, but I’ll see if I can dig it up. I saw it in an article by a survivor around the time of the Sandusky trial, and it was one of those insights that hits like lightning.

Right. But she’s correct to point out that the widely circulated screenshots are extremely misleading about what the ad actually was and thus what she signed on to do. I think she’s also correct to call out how the media reported the Dove ad.

Oh this whole “they need love and support” is the WORST. That’s always the justification. But people who do this kind of abuse don’t need love and support; they need quality therapy.

It is also so, so common that people who are activists can’t apply their principles to their own friends and lives. I’ve seen that a LOT…

It really is amazing how social dynamics protect predators. I was in a tight-knit community several years ago that had a sexual assault. It was completely believable. The perpetrator was someone who was such a known creeper that he had been banned from one of the community party sites for his unsafe behavior. The…

I read the linked article. Apparently the logic was that the judge didn’t want to send him to prison (as opposed to the county jail) because it hardens people and makes them worse. That was the actual logic.

Of course, that doesn’t explain why he only got 4 years for his second offense with a previous conviction on…

Everything about this is horrible, including that the 12 year old girl “dropped out of school, went to live with relatives out of state and worked jobs to try and support herself.” (Her family had encouraged abortion or adoption, so at least she wasn’t getting family pressure)