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Feminism
A Tale of Two Titties
Months ago, when I mentioned GaymerX at an atheist meetup, someone posited what I’m sure was thought to be a simple, well-meant question: “Why a separate gay con? Why not attend Comic-Con?” I didn’t — and don’t — plan on attending Comic-Con for reasons that have little to do with the existence of GaymerX (the fighting online for the privilege…
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Feminism
The Ethics of DickPix
Fair warning: Images will get more NSFW-looking, though never NSFW, as we go. The first time it happened, the man in question knew that I was very much underage (all of fourteen years old) and a devout Muslim uninterested in explicit imagery. It wasn’t anonymous, either; he knew me from my posts at Phatooine. “Your first dick” read the caption underneath…
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Feminism
After All, It Was Just a Question
The following is an exercise in assuming the best intentions of people who ask things. How did this all this end up happening? To quote the only dynamic (and possibly most problematic) adult character on South Park, there are no stupid questions, just stupid people. I’m pretty sure I’m not stupid. Therefore, I planned to ask a question that’s been…
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Parenting
Former Bullies, Take Note
A while ago, I posted a Facebook status regarding one of my childhood tormentors. She had, upon encountering some of my relatives, said that she remembered me and asked that they say hi to me from her. I had a little vent but didn’t say that I hated her, believed her to be a bad person, or anything like that.…
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Feminism
For Hire: Jerkface Detection Services
The first time I spoke up, it wasn’t because I had a political agenda. I was vaguely feminist, sure, but I wasn’t one of those over-sensitive types who whined about everything and said “privilege” a lot. It wasn’t because I wanted attention, either. As a matter of fact, it was because I didn’t want the attention in question. I wanted to define…
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Skepticism
Poverty & Disability: A Most Dangerous Combination
Poverty plus disability equals death sentence. They’re like bleach and ammonia: if the twain do meet and there are no windows for you to open, you’re history. This is about someone who found a window or two but could have just as easily asphyxiated. He was born into the middle class but a custody battle (and, later, his mother’s drug problems)…
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Religion
Confessions of a Former Holocaust Denier
Note: More than once, I’ve actually heard anti-Jewish Arabs argue that there’s no way they could be “anti-Semitic” since they don’t hate themselves; I grew up with the understanding that “Semite” is not a synonym for “Jew.” For the sake of my own clarity in writing this and to avoid that sort of semantic nit-picking, I will refer to hostility towards Jews as…
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Feminism
Baby Genitalia Inspires Assholes
[Update: After Jessica Wakeman of The Frisky covered my piece and tweeted her coverage tagging in STFU Parents, Blair Koenig aka STFU Parents clarified what was meant (and not meant) by the tweet. We conversed via Twitter (see the conversation). Basically, Koenig says that she considers herself pro-LGBT and pro-trans* and intended the RT to reflect on social media trends, not to…
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