On December 6th. pop star Lizzo accepted the “People’s Champion Award” at the People’s Choice Awards 2022. But she did something very unique and special with her time on camera for her acceptance speech. She immediately switched the focus of the night off of her and onto the accomplishments of 17 activists, who she brought with her on stage. One by one, she introduced and proclaimed why their work was important. You can watch the full speech …Read More
Tag: gender
Article on Medium: When the Heck are Women Going to Get a Shot at the Presidency
On Thursday, I received the news that Elizabeth Warren was ending her campaign for president. I had intended to write an article about why Warren had my vote, but I never got to write it and I never got to vote for her. I had a lot of grief and anger around the circumstances of her campaign ending. I expected that the news would be a blow to my spirits but what I didn’t expect …Read More
You Strike a Woman, You Strike a Rock: Gender-Based Violence and Xenophobia in South Africa
CN: in depth discussion of rape culture, sexual assault, gender-based violence, xenophobic violence, government sanctioned oppression in South Africa. Brief discussion of corrective sexual assault and apartheid. Many of the issues featured on this blog are discussed in terms of how they manifest in the United States, primarily because that is where most of my audience is located, and I have the most specific knowledge about the social patterns that occur here. However, very few …Read More
What Is Afforded to You
CN: chronic illness, police brutality, racism, mental illness, medical neglect, forced stay at mental institution. Note: This blog post heavily references a specific article that goes into far more detail of the above topics than this one does, in addition to a number of other heavy topics such as sexual assault, addiction, and domestic abuse. The article referenced does not include a content note. Three or four years ago, I somehow came across an article …Read More
A Men’s Guide to the Me Too Movement
I’ve noticed some men seem a little lost as news of the Me Too movement pours in. Why are so many celebrities getting outed as perpetrators of sexual assault and was what they did really that bad? What behavior is expected of men going forward? Why is what happened with Ansari such a big deal? Isn’t this all going a little too far? This article is for you.
What Is Socialization?
If you’ve been in the social justice world for very long, you’ve probably heard variations on the phrase, “You were socialized to be X.” But what does that mean? What is socialization?
Explaining Privilege Part 4: Privilege is an Invisibility Cloak
Privilege can bring you many benefits, and eliminate many obstacles for you. But privilege can also mask negative traits such as incompetence, unethical behavior, and dishonesty. Privilege can give you literal get-out-of-jail-free cards, to the detriment of people who lack that privilege. Privilege is an invisibility cloak.
Explaining Privilege Part 3: The Scrutiny of Oppressed Groups
We often talk about privilege in terms of the positives, the benefits you receive: Resources, freedom, trust, and benefit of the doubt are extremely common ones. But what about the flip side? The opposite of privileged groups receiving the benefit of the doubt is the scrutiny of oppressed groups.
Explaining Privilege Part 2: The Cycle of Reinforcement
In the second part of the Explaining Privilege series, I talk about how the socialization of marginalized and privileged groups reinforce the blindspots of privileged groups, which in turn causes a cycle that deprioritizes the needs of marginalized people.
Who Is Marginalized?
There are a number of traits for which people are oppressed, and these traits fall into a number of categories. To be involved in social justice work, you must first understand who is marginalized. This article breaks that down.