2012-11-15T22:44:36-05:00

— 1 — I finally wrote the long promised reply to “Soup Nazi Approach to Sex” and “Sexual Responsibility and Culpability.”  So here’s hoping that the new post, “Worlds We’re Not Having Sex In” helps clear up why I want to make it hard for men to opt out of responsibilities to a child they fathered. One thing’s for sure, I’m pretty sure all the posts in this sexual ethics series earned the “I am a fuddy duddy” tag I assigned them.... Read more

2012-11-15T22:37:27-05:00

There was a lot of backlash to my Soup Nazi Approach to Sexuality post and the responsibility vs. culpability follow-up. So now it’s time to address the gender-related objections and questions. The gist of the comments was that I was unfairly/arbitrarily letting the woman have all the power in the choice of whether to have an orphan, an abortion, or raise a child (the three options for dealing with a pregnancy). I was accused both of being anti-feminist and perpetuating... Read more

2012-11-15T22:34:50-05:00

I warned commenters against turning the Soup Nazi Approach to Sex post into an abortion debate. Any free-ranging discussion of abortion tends to fail; I’ve only had productive conversations when I spend a lot of time narrowing the focus of a conversation and screening off anything else. I’m not surprised to see the discussion that broke out entering a tailspin, but I think there’s something to be gleaned from the wreckage. I’m certainly not recapping the whole thread, so I... Read more

2012-11-15T22:31:59-05:00

This marks the 400th post on this blog, so it’s time for a roundup of strange search terms that led people to this blog.  You can refer back to previous roundups to see how the perceived character of the blog has changed.  Now, take it away, Google! You know I like data, but my political science major doesn’t prepare me to help the person looking for statistics of why believing in santa claus is harmful.  I’m similarly at a loss for the person... Read more

2012-11-15T22:30:59-05:00

A few weeks ago, I finished reading Stephanie Coontz’s Marriage, a History: From Obedience to Intimacy, or How Love Conquered Marriage, but I’ve delayed writing about it as a Sunday’s Good Book post. The trouble was, although Coontz wrote an interesting book, it wasn’t the book I was looking for on the history of marriage. When Coontz charts marriage’s evolution, she does so primarily through the lens of economic and social pressures. She takes a long-distance, outsider view of these... Read more

2012-11-15T22:29:19-05:00

–1– Sorry to be late on my post on gender-disparity of choice in parenting (a follow-up to “A Soup Nazi Approach to Sex” and “Sexual Responsibility and Culpability“).  I’ve had a busier week at work and in the evening than I anticipated.  I promise you’ll have it by Saturday.  Can I make it up to you all by letting you know that licking skulls is a frequently used field test among physical anthropologists? No foolin’. –2– In another case of counter-intuitive methods... Read more

2012-11-14T16:18:03-05:00

Looking through the comments thread for “Soup Nazi Approach to Sex” it looks like there were two major subtypes of disagreement with my post. Many commenters wanted to know why men should bear responsibility for a pregnancy when women can make unilateral decisions about whether to bring a child to term. They accused me of enforcing a sexist double standard. I’ll try and get to that topic tomorrow.What I want to address today is the way we conceive of responsibility... Read more

2012-11-14T16:15:28-05:00

The Renaissance Faire this weekend was lovely.  I’m putting up two photos here, and I want to give credit where it’s due.  I made my dress last summer using Butterick pattern B4571,  which was easy to follow.  I adapted the pattern for my boyfriend’s surcoat from a tutorial on Corvus Tristis.  I got the insignia by googling “hufflepuff badger” until I found something I could trace.  Oh, and I only wish I could claim I had something to do with the... Read more

2012-11-14T16:12:56-05:00

In a half hour, I’m going to get on a train and lose access to the internet for most of the weekend.  So, even though there are a lot of good questions and comments piling up in the Sex Soup Nazi post, I won’t get to them before Monday, and I may not be as quick to rescue comments Blogger tags as spam. I promise I will get to engage with you guys, so keep the discussion going in my absense.... Read more

2012-11-14T16:12:34-05:00

An anonymous commenter asked: This is a little off topic but as a pro-choicer do you believe a man should have the right to opt out of parental responsibilities? It seems that if a woman has the right to choose whether or not she is to become a parent then a man should have that same right as well. Not trying to be a jerk just wondering if any pro-choicers have thought about this. Why should a man be held... Read more

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