We are taught from early on how to be women. And then, at some point, for some earlier, others later, sometimes having read a significant book, sometimes having had an epiphany, we realize that we have been training ourselves not to be ourselves. If being a woman is so natural, so universal, so absolute, why must we be taught these many subterfuges, hiding away the natural beneath the artifice? There is in the art of presenting “a woman” a… Read more

“He was a creature of his time.” Thus we excuse past slave-owners, war criminals, and wife beaters – so long as they are notable for having contributed significantly to art, politics, civilization, or religion. Thomas Jefferson owned slaves, but we are encouraged by polite history to gloss over this, or to emphasize instead his interest in gradual emancipation. Jefferson may even be presented as a hero precisely for holding less extreme supremacist views than his contemporaries. Reluctance to tarnish national… Read more

One common criticism of public assistance or government welfare programs, that they are poorly managed, should be taken not as a rationale for scrapping all such programs, but rather as incentive to reform them. Also, the same criticism could be made of various charitable organizations, many of which are run by scandalously wealthy executives, while only a fraction of what they take in goes to the supposed recipients. See Charity Navigator for information on which organizations actually give most of their proceeds… Read more

“It takes a village.” Why do people frown on this idea, as though it were some liberal invention? It is actually a very old understanding, rooted in the understanding of Christian community. Perhaps our contemporary western idea of “family” is too rigid, too isolated. Read more