Trigger warning: I’m fighting back against a rape apologist’s claim, and some of this material may be triggering. Inevitably, when you write about patriarchy, you get “schooled” by some asshat who informs you that society itself is founded on the threat of rape. That men are bigger and stronger and have always been able to [Read More…]
Sexism, Judgment Day and Forgetting as a Survival Skill
April 20, 2013 by
Sometimes, my mind goes through a litany of abuse that I can’t stop. From my father’s intimidation to the men in trucks who ran me off the road making obscene gestures to the men who followed me through city streets swearing at me for ignoring their sexual advances. From my pastor screaming about uppity women [Read More…]
You can’t stop the reign of guns and patriarchy without talking about religion
December 20, 2012 by
Americans have come to expect certain conversations after public shooting incidents. It’s a stain on our national discourse that we have such a thing as a “generic” response to mass murder, but we all know what it is. Gun control and mental health are both invoked and then made to duel it out in the [Read More…]
I Voted! (Suck it, Mr. Branham.)
November 6, 2012 by
Growing up fundamentalist, I was reminded on a near monthly basis that I shouldn’t be allowed to vote. It was inescapable. Central to the Message of the Hour theology was a set of seven prophecies by William Branham that were supposed to usher in the end of the world. My church vigilantly watched, alongside its [Read More…]
Sexuality Project: Sex Education and the Body, Q. 2
October 24, 2012 by
The following is an installment of the Religious Fundamentalism and Sexuality Project. Read the previous installment here. You are also invited to join the project. Sex Education and the Body Q. 2: How did your parents and/or church respond to your questions (if any)? How did they (and you) understand and react to puberty? Calulu My parents [Read More…]
Evangelical Christian Marriage: Hawking the Product
October 17, 2012 by
In evangelical Christian culture, marriage is a commodity. Marriage books are sold like gardening manuals or cheat sheets for the SATs. The sales pitch for marriage in Christian culture is more intense than any you’ll ever experience on a used car lot. Christians are made to believe that they’re God’s designated curators of Marriage, That [Read More…]
Checking Out of Privilege: Timothy Kurek’s “The Cross in the Closet” and What it Means to Change Your Identity
October 15, 2012 by
What do John Howard Griffin, Barbara Ehrenreich, Timothy Kurek and Rachel Held Evans have in common? What do they have in common with Natalie Reed and “Thomas,” an anonymous subject of Kristin Schilt’s research on gender inequality in the experiences of transgender men in the workplace? What about with ex-fundamentalists like Libby Anne and me? [Read More…]
Ann Romney’s Gendered Martyrdom: “Women and Children First”?
August 30, 2012 by
Credit isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. I’m not talking about your credit score or the plastic in your wallet. I’m talking about public accolades. I’m talking about the river of molten gold that comes out of the mouths of people like Ann Romney when describing (what used to be) “women’s work.” Before I [Read More…]
“I Don’t Hate Gay People, They Just Shouldn’t Get Married”: Chick-fil-A’s Supporters Need a Lesson on Structural Violence
August 1, 2012 by
Chick-fil-A sent ripples through my church in the early noughties; I still have no real idea why. Perhaps they had just opened more stores in our area. Perhaps it was a purposeful effort to acquire our support as the conservative Christian demographic. At the time, I innocently believed it was just happiness on the part [Read More…]
Doug Wilson Continues Attention-Seeking Rants Against Rachel Held Evans, Feminists
July 27, 2012 by
I blame Libby Anne for sharing this link and making me write despite my sore wrist! Doug Wilson just can’t shut up about Rachel Held Evans, which is curious for two reasons: she’s already stopped bothering about him, and there are scores of other bloggers who are pissed off about his misogyny, and several of them [Read More…]
