Brute Reason

LATEST ARTICLES ( 570 )

• Against Role Models

  Whenever a famous person does something of which the general public disapproves, much is often made of that person’s status as a “role model” and how it... Read more

  Posted on 26 December 2013 SOCIETY, WOMEN'S ISSUES

• Occasional Link Roundup

  Here, have some super-old but still-good links because I waited way too long to do another link roundup!1. Greta posts a much-improved version of the creepy... Read more

  Posted on 23 December 2013 SOCIETY, WOMEN'S ISSUES

• On Not Holding Our Models Sacred: Some Feminist Theories And Their Flaws

  Social science relies on models. (No, not that kind.) If you’re familiar with social science, you might be used to referring to them as “theories. Read more

  Posted on 23 December 2013 SOCIETY, WOMEN'S ISSUES

• Some Evidence Against Shame and Stigma as Weight Loss Motivators

  

  [Content note: weight/size stigma and discrimination]It is considered self-evident by plenty of people that shaming fat people for being fat gets them to stop... Read more

  Posted on 17 December 2013 SOCIETY, WOMEN'S ISSUES

• What This Depression Survivor Hears When You Call Religion A Mental Illness

  [Content note: mental illness, suicide, abuse]Some atheists love to compare religion to mental illness, or directly call it one. I won’t link to examples; it’s... Read more

  Posted on 08 December 2013 SOCIETY, WOMEN'S ISSUES

• In Defense of Conferences #sk6

  This morning as I was sitting in my horrifically delayed plane to Missouri for Skepticon, I had this exchange on Twitter.I don’t mean to pick on Ali at all; he... Read more

  Posted on 16 November 2013 SOCIETY, WOMEN'S ISSUES

• Miri’s Survival Guide to Moving Across the Country Alone in a State of Terror an...

  I have known I was going to write this post ever since I first stood in my stifling Chicago apartment looking at a bunch of empty boxes and thinking, “Wow,... Read more

  Posted on 13 November 2013 SOCIETY, WOMEN'S ISSUES

• [guest Post] Japan’s Not Doing Sex! An Intersection of Racism and Sexism

  Here’s a guest post from my friend Mike about the recent news stories on Japanese sexuality.I remember as a kid laughing at the clownish stereotypes of... Read more

  Posted on 04 November 2013 SOCIETY, WOMEN'S ISSUES

• (How) Should We Call Out Online Bigotry? On “Somebody Said Something Stupid...

  

  Over at The Chronicle of Higher Education, Ben Yagoda has a post called, “Must Attention Be Paid?” In it, he describes what he called “Somebody Said Something... Read more

  Posted on 01 November 2013 SOCIETY, WOMEN'S ISSUES

• Occasional Link Roundup

  Guys, living here is like living in a social justice paradise. I saw Julia Serano give a reading last week, and next week I’m going to a poetry slam about socia... Read more

  Posted on 31 October 2013 SOCIETY, WOMEN'S ISSUES

• How Sex Education Can Combat Sexual Violence

  [Content note: sexual assault]I have a post up at Secular Woman for their sex ed series! Here’s a preview.Comprehensive, evidence-based sex education is... Read more

  Posted on 31 October 2013 SOCIETY, WOMEN'S ISSUES

• In Defense of Having Big/Serious/Difficult Conversations in Writing

  This post grew out of a conversation I had with Chana Messinger and was also influenced by this great old Wired piece that has resurfaced on my social networks... Read more

  Posted on 30 October 2013 SOCIETY, WOMEN'S ISSUES

• Sexual Assault Is Not A Force Of Nature

  

  [Content note: sexual assault, victim blaming]Remember my intent piece? This week we saw a great example of what I was talking about. Read more

  Posted on 21 October 2013 SOCIETY, WOMEN'S ISSUES

• Intent: Just How Magic Is It?

  There’s a saying in the progressive community that intent isn’t fucking magic. It comes from this fabulously snarky post about how not intending to hurt... Read more

  Posted on 16 October 2013 SOCIETY, WOMEN'S ISSUES

• Occasional Link Roundup

  Hello! Sorry for the intermittent posting. I would tell you all the things I’m doing that are causing the intermittent posting, but I wouldn’t want you to get... Read more

  Posted on 10 October 2013 SOCIETY, WOMEN'S ISSUES

• Stop Telling Harassment and Assault Survivors To Go To the Police

  Note: Yes, this is prompted by something that happened to me this weekend. But I’ve been thinking about it for a while and it applies to many events and... Read more

  Posted on 06 October 2013 SOCIETY, WOMEN'S ISSUES

• “What Do You Have to Be Depressed About?”

  If you have experienced depression while living what appears to be a fairly nice life, you’ve probably had someone ask you, “What do you have to be depressed... Read more

  Posted on 01 October 2013 SOCIETY, WOMEN'S ISSUES

• Of Pranks and Playboy: The Pros and Cons of Online Hoaxes

  

  If you were online at all last week, you probably came across a Playboy article called “Top Ten Party Commandments.” The article was in Playboy’s usual style,... Read more

  Posted on 29 September 2013 SOCIETY, WOMEN'S ISSUES

• Capital-W Writers and Lowercase-w Writers

  A conversation with a friend has me thinking about how I still, despite everything, don’t consider myself a capital-W Writer, just a lowercase-W writer.I... Read more

  Posted on 29 September 2013 SOCIETY, WOMEN'S ISSUES

• Why You Shouldn’t Use Mental Illness As A Metaphor

  And speaking of the dilution of language, I’m going to talk a little about how the language of mental illness gets co-opted regularly.Sometimes this is done... Read more

  Posted on 18 September 2013 SOCIETY, WOMEN'S ISSUES