Recent events have me thinking again about self-censorship and bowdlerization. I've never read any of the Brontës, but I'll quote Charlotte Brontë in expressing my discomfort with defanging venomous words by replacing them with obvious stand-ins ( Read more... )

It's another of my popular, audience-grabbing walls of text! This time with a content warning for violence against women, transphobia, racism and racist lyrics, and cultural analysis. You won't be able to put it down! ('Cause it's not a physical object! HA ( Read more... )

I wonder what the experience of having an emotional connection to the solstice is like. I've never felt much of an emotional connection to any such cultural/religious ritual. I'm glad the days will get longer ( Read more... )

I ate a bug on my ride home yesterday. Yuck! Ick ick! I could feel it in my throat for eight miles or so until I got home and had some yogurt. My back is still aggravated; it's fine when riding (though it hurts a little when I stop and put my foot down to stand up) but is sore while working. Bodies could really be a bit better constructed, you know ( Read more... )

Responding to a meme about how to respond to various expressions of holiday wishes, an analogy occurred to me ( Read more... )

I upset the acquaintance whose child was wearing the baby onesie I mentioned in my previous post. That's reasonable and predictable, and I should have given more thought to how to broach the topic; I feel bad about it. But even now I'm not sure what the best thing to do is in such situations ( Read more... )

I'm horrified by the idea of a baby boy wearing a shirt that has one of those "Parental Advisory" warning boxes with the text "Lock up your daughters." For so many reasons ( Read more... )

It's the time of year for there to be a bunch of discussion (and probably even more of that pale imitation thereof, memes) about what is and isn't ok as an expression of positive holiday sentiment to someone whose religion and/or cultural background you don't know ( Read more... )

This article on how men and woman are socialized to engage in conversation in markedly gendered ways is yet another example of my problems with the arbitrary system of masculinity and femininity in my society ( Read more... )