You may have some sexist baggage if…

So, one of the complaints I often get when I inform people they’re being sexist is that they can’t tell why. (Which betrays male privilege, because it implies that you haven’t bothered trying to learn)
Please note that these items may make you sexist. Some of these will not always be sexist. Some of these will [...]

In which I reconstruct sexuality

So, one of the really interesting works on sexuality (and more notably bisexuality) is the Kinsey Scale. While being an excellent example of forward-thinking classification that came about from excellent research into homo- and bisexuality in both men and women. However, it’s old- it was first published in 1948, and it doesn’t really delve deep [...]

Weekenders 4 & Open Thread

Here’s another batch to keep you sorted:

A very different type of emissions trading scheme is proposed.
The five geek social fallacies are interesting reading. Shorter geek social fallacies: It’s okay to be mean to people who act like jerks, and not everyone has to like each other.
Shakesville has a wonderful guest post on what domestic violence [...]

Excuses aren’t apologies, and no men are monsters

I briefly covered Veitch’s apology in my criticism of the Herald, but I wanted to come back in more detail here and mention what really bothered me about the way he issued it. Veitch as a presenter ought to know about the power of words, and his apology was not the words of a man [...]

Disempowering the victim

Rosemary McLeod has a largely wonderful article about chequebook justice. It’s nice to see her say within this article that she is willing to accept that a woman would not want to go up against international rugby players during a rape trial, and is the closest thing I’ve seen to reason on this whole debate [...]

Defending Marriage Equality: “It’s About Children”

While civil unions are an almost marriage-like compromise, they are not marriage, and one of the key ways in which Destiny Church has been somewhat placated is that civil unions do not give gay couples the same adoption rights as straight couples. (there are a few legal loopholes and runarounds that can be tried, however, [...]

Third Trimester (aka. really controversial) Abortions

Bitch Ph.D.’s (another excellent Shakesville contributor) blog has some statistics about Third Trimester Abortions in the USA- basically that they’re extremely rare.
Interestingly, the Abortion debate in the USA has taken a turn to mimic our own scuffle recently, with Barack Obama claiming he doesn’t think mental distress is a valid reason to allow abortions in [...]

Kittens and Open Threads

Post whatever you like, plug stuff you’ve done, or join me in posting pictures of any cats in your life.
Mine likes to hide:
wp_caption id=”attachment_103″ align=”alignnone” width=”200″ caption=”He also likes to hide in shelves.”][/wp_captionwp_caption id="attachment_105" align="alignnone" width="250" caption="He likes to hide in bed."][/wp_caption

Weekenders 3

What’s in the link bag this weekend?

The Public Service Association has started advertising to promote a strong public service as something voters should be interested in when they go to the polls. Take a look- they’ve got excellent statistics, studies, and good interviews with all the major Parties. (except Act, which is not exactly shocking [...]

On “innocence”

There’s a very interesting view in New Zealand that seems to permeate through certain sections of the population.
Namely, it’s the view that children are born innocent and that society corrupts them as they go along. The view that we should all aspire to be like children.
While I agree that there is much to be liked [...]