Well, that’s not exactly what I learned about how the bright spring blooms take hold. Then again, this isn’t exactly a view of sex and God’s plan that I was taught either: Where to even begin? There’s so much wrong with this image, and that only begins with casting as evil some of the very things that are demonstrably beneficial for women’s health and lives like the pill, condoms, and sometimes divorce . As the folks over at Feministing pointed... Read more
Of course, by the time I got around to watching Macklemore’s Same Love video at the urging of my students, I was informed by others that they were already “over” Macklemore (especially because this thing called Thrift Shop …). That generation gap just gets bigger every year. As described in a Huffington Post article, the song was released by the Seattle-based rapper last year to support efforts toward legalizing same-sex marriage: The stylish new clip depicts a gay man’s life from... Read more
In an interview this week with National Public Radio, Mohamed Elibiary described the kind of young disillusioned Muslims that he encounters in his security consulting work: “I have never seen a female example here in the homegrown sphere here in the United States. There might’ve been a case but I haven’t read any literature or interacted with one. The men tend to be young males, late teenage to late 20s, and their personal life is kind of chaotic.” Of the... Read more
Today is the National Day of Silence, “a day of action in which students across the country vow to take a form of silence to call attention to the silencing effect of anti-LGBT bullying and harassment in schools.” It is organized and promoted by the Gay, Lesbian, & Straight Education Network (GLSEN) a “leading national education organization focused on ensuring safe schools for all students.” A bit about its history: Founded in 1996, the Day of Silence has become the... Read more
The Council that convenes the Parliament of the World’s Religions issued an interfaith call for action on Tuesday, the day after the Boston Marathon bombings, highlighting their Faiths Against Hate initiative: We honor the runners whose beautiful journeys, many in tribute to the slain of Sandy Hook Elementary, were robbed of their triumphant finish. Their strength and determination exemplified heroism yesterday when running through that harrowing scene to aid the wounded. We must not let the hope they give us... Read more
I’m teaching The Color Purple this month in Introduction to Gender and Women’s Studies. Alice Walker’s 1982 Pulitzer Prize winning novel reflects and encapsulates so many of the issues we have been learning about and discussing throughout the semester, from the intersection of race, class, and gender, to the pervasiveness of violence against women, to the complicated role that institutions like religion play in reinforcing inequality as well as becoming sources of empowerment. I always tell students that I think... Read more
The case of Kermit Gosnell became the Friday faux-news-frenzy of the day. Irin Carmon over at Salon.com describes in detail how “There is no Gosnell cover-up.” First, it received plenty of media attention when the story broke: If you’ve never heard of the Gosnell story, it’s not because of a coverup by the liberal mainstream media. It’s probably because you failed to pay attention to the copious coverage among pro-choice and feminist journalists, as well as the big news organizations, when the news first broke... Read more
April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month, and the National Sexual Violence Resource Center describes this as a time “to raise public awareness about sexual violence and to educate communities and individuals on how to prevent sexual violence.” There are so many ways to do this. Here are a few things from my small-town world: 1) One unit of my Introduction to Gender and Women’s Studies class this month focused on violence against women. We read about everything from rape as... Read more
I’ve written here before about what it might mean to be a person of faith and an atheist ally. It’s something that not enough Christians talk about. Growing out of this work, I’ll be part of a panel at the American Academy of Religion meeting in Baltimore this coming November talking about negotiating Christian privilege, focused on “Teaching the College Nones.” I plan to talk about what the growing presence of secular, agnostic, and atheist students on our college and... Read more
Congrats, ladies! We did it! As of today, we’ve worked long enough into the new year to earn what our male counterparts earned during the last calendar year. Calendar check: April 9, 2013. That’s right. The guys have been done since December 31, 2012. Or more precisely, they’ve been getting a head start on this year while women are still catching up from last year. See why catching up seems (is?) impossible? Today is Equal Pay Day: Equal Pay Day... Read more
Caryn Riswold
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