Ethics questions

The ASWM Presentation! part 1

Posted onSunday 13 May 2012Monday 14 May 2012

Hastily typed out in stream of consciousness, while returning from the ASWM (Association for the Study of Women & Mythology) Conference — typing on BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) & I’ve still got a head churningly full of wonderful, fascinating, intriguing ideas! Still tremendously gleeful at how well my presentation went too. One of my…

Catching up to the end of the year… sort of

Posted onThursday 29 December 2011Thursday 29 December 2011

I’ve been effectively running at a frantic pace for the past three or four months, in order to keep up with all the things happening in my life. Several things went by the wayside as I tried to be sure I completed all the reading, thinking, and writing required for my doctoral program. Keeping up…

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SlutWalk thoughts

Posted onMonday 5 September 2011Monday 5 September 2011

I had an interesting bit of cognitive dissonance the other day, upon hearing about Slutwalks. For those who haven’t yet heard of them, earlier in 2011 a male cop in Toronto was apparently giving an anti-rape class to a bunch of women. During the class he mentioned one way to avoid being raped was to…

Ethics questions | Random

Medical cannabis dispensaries

Posted onSunday 28 August 2011

Due to California law, medical cannabis dispensaries (I think that’s the correct phrase) are springing up all over the place. There is, of course, quite a bit of argument still over these little storefront operations, with some people angrily declaring NIMN (Not In My Neighborhood), and others simply seeing it as another legitimate and tax-paying…

Reclaiming a Powerful Feminine Archetype

Posted onWednesday 20 July 2011Wednesday 20 July 2011

“A free race cannot be born of slave mothers.” –Margaret Sanger My thesis was written on the Central Asian nomads of the late Bronze and early Iron Age. Since these were mounted nomadic traders and raiders, the modern assumption has been that they were a strongly patriarchal society. One of the “startling” discoveries which I…

Doing the right thing

Posted onThursday 16 June 2011Saturday 25 June 2011

Update: Same-sex marriage was legalized in the U.S. state of New York on June 24, 2011 by the New York State Legislature and Governor Andrew Cuomo! The law will take effect on July 24, 2011. Huzzah! I don’t often post on political issues. Today, however, I found New York State Senator Roy McDonald startlingly inspiring….

Why study Women’s Spirituality?

Posted onSunday 17 April 2011Tuesday 26 April 2011

I was recently asked the following question: “Why is it important for feminists to study and comprehend women-centered cultures?” While I thought it a good question, I also think it can and should be fruitfully expanded, in that I do not think only feminists should study these fascinating matriarchies. Learning is good, and as the…

Is my reality actually real, or is it privileged?

Posted onWednesday 23 March 2011Wednesday 23 March 2011

I just finished listening to an utterly fascinating interview on a blogradio with a man named Allan Johnson. I’m very interested in hearing what others think of it as well. Rarely have I heard a man with such patience and empathy so clear in his very voice, let alone his words; he actually had me…

Following the follow-up

Posted onFriday 22 October 2010Wednesday 30 March 2011

Well, that was clumsy of me. Not only did I forget I had another posting scheduled, but of course, right after I get through chastising patronizing over-simplification of complex issues… I do it myself. How embarrassing. ;) A big thank-you to Velvetpage, whose critiques never fail to be both thought-provoking and courteous. With her permission,…

Follow-up thoughts, pt. 2

Posted onMonday 11 October 2010Sunday 10 October 2010

So in quick synopsis, as far as I can tell, people stick with harmful doctrines (such as religions which label you guilty simply on the basis of something completely out of your control, such as gender) because they truly believe the doctrine is correct, because they’re refusing to be pushed into something they’re not ready…