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Activism
Why I Love Franz Boas (And You Should, Too!)
One of the great heroes of the skeptical/atheist/humanist communities is Charles Darwin, who is often cited as one of the most influential scientists in history. Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection forms the foundation of the discipline of biology, but his theory has also impacted most academic disciplines in some form or fashion. In anthropology, one of the ways…
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Activism
Kinksters, Time for a Change
This post was written by Benny and is cross-posted from Queereka. It discusses kink, harassment, abuse, and sexual assault in generalities (not specifics). It may be triggering for some, and may not be appropriate for those who do not want to read about the kink community. Feel free to skip it if those things make you uncomfortable. There has always been…
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Science
A Cult of Quantity
One of the themes that I’ve seen within the skeptical community over time (and, more specifically, in recent discussions about race (here and here) and gender (here and here and here and here and here)) is the hyper-skepticism about social issues and a hyper-rationality when seeking to understand social issues. It often comes in the form of JAQing, typically from people…
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Anti-Science
ICYMI: July 1-July 7 on the Skepchick Network
Hey y’all! Since Mindy is now a physics expert, she’s been called away to CERN to consult on the Higgs Boson data, so I’m filling in for her on this week’s recap. Let’s get to it! Here’s what you might have missed last week on the Skepchick network. Teen Skepchick Therapy Woo Nenfea critiques a book recommended by her therapist.…
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Activism
Women in World of Warcraft: The Bigger Picture
Skepchick reader Sean sent in this link to a post on a World of Warcraft fansite that discusses the lack of strong, independent female characters in World of Warcraft’s lore. The author of the article refers to “barnacle characters,” which are characters that depend upon the storyline of other characters for their existence. While I like this idea, I think…
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Parenting
On the Abuse of Social Science
Cross-posted on Queereka. One of the reoccurring talking points of opponents of marriage equality is that social science research demonstrates that children do better with a heterosexual couple than any other type of parenting situation. For an example, see this exchange between CNN’s Brooke Baldwin and hate-group leader Tony Perkins. Note how she fails to challenge Perkins on his oft-repeated…
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Science
Alan Turing: computing pioneer, codebreaker, gay icon
This post was written by Courtney and is cross-posted from Queereka. Today, the 23rd of May, marks exactly one month until the centenary of Alan Turing’s birth. Events have been going on, and will continue to go on, through the whole of this year to celebrate the milestone. You may have seen that next month’s Skepchick Book Club book…
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Feminism
Dreaming of Post-Queer Times
Actor Josh Hutcherson recently won GLAAD’s Vanguard Award. This award is presented to entertainers who have made significant contributions to the promotion of LGBT equality. Hutcherson, who was in a little movie you may have heard about called The Hunger Games, won the award for his work with the Straight But Not Narrow campaign. During his acceptance speech at the…
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