Interesting Links for 27-12-2015

[andrewducker]

• Polyamory: taboo for religious Americans but not for the rest
  • polyamory polls religion
• Obama Is Setting Free 95 Nonviolent Drug Offenders-Including 2 Pot Lifers
  • Obama drugs epicwin GoodNews
• Hormone that controls sugar cravings found (in mice)
  • sugar hormones mice
• Coldplay: how can something so banal be so powerful?
  • music
• The difference in how men

Comments

[bart_calendar]

Here's the thing, I do agree that Paglia is mostly right that campus based new feminism is mostly about wanting to be protected rather than wanting to be assertive. I've been saying that for years.

But, fuck her. She's the one who back in the 90s started that trend. Sucks that she didn't realize how it would play out.

[andrewducker]

I am embarassingly lacking in my feminist history. I should really do some research.

[bart_calendar]

Summary:

Dworkin (who was a serious asshat but right on some things) said "We need to get violent and kick the shit out of men."

Paglia responded "Hey, we aren't all as physically strong as men, that could be dangerous, so better to educate men about what hurts us and maybe that will stop them from hurting us."

That "educating men" thing is what started discussions of rape culture. And the concept of trigger warnings comes out of her theory that women are not as strong in many ways.

Now, I'm sure she didn't intend to start disucssions of "rape culture" or have trigger warnings, but it is a direct result of what she said. Yes, it was feminists after her who actually created those things, but they did so in reaction to her seminal works.

[mummoth]

The 'trigger warning' thing annoys me. I understand that people are trying to protect one anothers' emotional wellbeing, it's well-intentioned, which is nice I guess. I've used them because it seems like some people appreciate that. But as a person who has experienced similar events to what is often behind a 'trigger warning' cut, the words 'trigger warning' are enough to make me instantly think of those times. Maybe I'm wrong in assuming that it's the same for everyone, but how can you expect to make a person not think about a thing, by mentioning a code-word for the thing. They are going to think of the thing! It's sort of like "No offence, but... (totally offensive comment)"

[kalimac]

At Flint Auditorium hereabouts (famous as the setting of some Apple product announcements), complaints for many years about the two tiny restrooms - lines worse for the women's, of course, but bad for the men's too - were finally heard. A new and very large women's restroom was built in the back near the entrance, and the old women's room was relabeled as a second men's.

And everyone was happy.

[andrewducker]

More toilets for everyone is clearly a good thing.

(One office I was in simply made all of the toilets, which were all individual rooms anyway, unisex.)

[kalimac]

Having seen some comically absurd waiting situations (sometimes even disadvantaging men) in restaurants which had two one-person rooms, labeled men's and women's, I applaud those establishments which have figured out that one-person rooms can be unisex without offending traditional notions of privacy.