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ICYMI: Frances Allen, Rooster Talkin’, Marriage Traditions, Rape Media, and “Intellectual Snobbery”

Teen Skepchick

Fair Lady of Computer Science Who Kicks Ass
For Women’s History Month, Elisheba gushes about Frances Allen.

The Sexualization of YA Fiction
Olivia argues that young adult fiction, especially with a female protagonist, focuses too much on a narrow array of relationships and a limited view of sexuality.

Poetry and Gender
What is gender’s place in feminism?

Mad Art Lab

Carolynn L Smith and the Astounding Richness of Animal Communication
Dale tells the story of the woman who discovered a vast array of methods of animal communication.

The Things We Do with Our Eggs; Reproductive Health and Genetic Engineering
Elizabeth explains the science behind IVF and why all the moral hand-wringing is inappropriate.

From Sailor Mercury to Twilight Sparkle: The Top Nine Cartoon Girl Scientists
Here are some of the best girl scientists in cartoons.

Escéptica

Introduction to Pseudoscience: Homeopathy (en español)
Elara finds that there area still tons of people who don’t know homeopathy doesn’t work.

Traditions and Marriage: Sell the Ripest Fruit First (en español)
Lulú tells the story of Hungarian sisters who never married because tradition didn’t let the youngest sister marry before the older one.

Queereka

Why I don’t Watch Rape Media
Wolsey explains why he steers clear of media that depicts rape.

School of Doubt

Pop Quiz: Woo Hoo!! Spring Break!!
JoDee is skeptical of the necessity of Spring Break.

I’ve Got Your “Intellectual Snobbery” Right Here
DrShell is tired of articles that call atheism elitist without any regard for truth values.

Pop Quiz: Infamy, Hagiography, and Resistance
Dan discusses the reception of artists and other creative people who worked within totalitarian political systems.

Featured image credit: Jim Bahn via Flickr

Mindy

Mindy is an attorney and Managing Editor of Teen Skepchick. She hates the law and loves stars. You can follow her on Twitter and on Google+.

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2 Comments

  1. I just want to throw it out there that “intellectual snobbery” is a thing. It’s kind of a complex phenomenon. I believe it’s very closely related to class snobbery, given that people who attend/graduate from college are either already in a higher social class or actively attempting to join it. There also seems to be an element of urban/rural divide, and some intra-class competition, in which people in the upper class competing with one another to see who can be the biggest snob.

    I’ve seen no evidence that it’s primarily about atheism, although atheism gets caught up in it for the reasons DrShell gives. From my perspective, it’s mainly about people who are highly educated (more likely to be atheists) being jerks to/about people who are less educated (more likely to be theists).

    I don’t think it does atheists and/or highly educated people any favors to pretend this is not a thing.

  2. On intellectual snobbery, the really bad part is, IRL it’s the people who are uniquely unqualified who think they know everything. The more you know, the more you realize you don’t know.

    On homeopathy, it helps that most people think of homeopathy as ‘herbal medications’, where the appropriate chemical can be isolated, measured out, and studied. They don’t think of it as ‘like cures like’ or dilution to the point of delusion. Actually, most alt meds appeal more to people who have no idea what they are. It’s like how $cientology tries to clamp down on anyone who mentions Xenu.

    On cartoon scientists, I just love that Johnny’s sisters are named Mary and Susan, but Gil is ambiguously gay for Johnny. Is this some sort of way of letting us know they know fanfiction exists?

    On rape in fiction, I haven’t seen SVU in years, mostly because it’s difficult to imagine the same cops working sex crimes and crimes against children for so many years.

    I will say that End of Evangelion has Shinji masturbating over a comatose Asuka. (Eva has made many a straight male anime fan into a…what do you call a male fujoshi anyway? All the straight ships involve either incest, one partner being way too old for the other, or this.)

    Spoilers from A Song of Ice and Fire beyond this point.

    The Game of Thrones fandom is worse than the franchise itself. There are people on Tumblr who ship various permutations of Ramsay/Theon/Jeyne. Think about that. This in spite of Ramsay being a serial killer who makes us feel sympathy for the child murderer. One of these days I’ll count all the rapes in the books (It’s not one every chapter in A Feast for Crows, just because only two couples have sex in the Sam chapters.), but it’s important to remember, Biter and Septon Utt are the more sympathetic Bloody Mummers, and they’re a cannibal and a pedophile priest. (Well, septon…) That’s not because they’re nice people; it’s because their fellow Brave Companions are far worse.

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