In times of social contraction, people of resort to exclusionary organising tactics. Uniting for the sake of the cause is the wrong approach.
Get your gender essentialism out of my movement
Tag: gender essentialism
On gender essentialism and magic in western canon
In western canon, magic falls out along very familiar lines, and they are deeply gender essentialist in nature. Who does magic, why, and how is often dictated by perceived gender.
On rereading Marion Zimmer Bradley
While rereading classic fantasy texts to explore the subject of gender essentialism in fantasy, I had to take on the Marion Zimmer Bradley problem.
What Is Gender Essentialism? Why Does It Matter?
A reader recently asked me to expand on the concept of ‘gender essentialism’ after seeing me reference it in a piece, because she was somewhat unclear on the subject. While there are lots of terrific internet resources discussing this important theoretical concept and its applications to the real world, I realised that I hadn’t discussed […]
I Am Tired of Hearing Programmers Defend Gender Essentialism
One of my ongoing and endless frustrations with web forms is the constant insistence on knowing my gender, particularly on social media. When I discuss this issue with socially progressive programmers, they grind their teeth in solidarity with me and express similar frustrations with the ubiquity of mandatory gender markers on web forms. But when […]
Moving Toward An Inclusive Menstruation Dialogue
Historically, menstruation has been a deeply inappropriate topic except in closed circles. It’s dirty and gross. It’s frightening. Some people bleed for several days every 28 days or so and it inspires vicious and nasty emotions that are often culturally reinforced; people who are menstruating should be isolated so they don’t contaminate the spaces they’re […]
In Which Gender Essentialism Ruins A Perfectly Good Book Series
I recently read The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, by Alan Bradley, and I rather liked it. Set in 1950s England, the book featured an 11 (or ten, the book was a bit inconsistent) year old heroine, Flavia de Luce. Flavia is in love with chemistry and she’s got keen observational skills, so […]
Look At Those Silly Girls and Their ‘Haul Videos’!
The newest Internet phenomenon, according to the mainstream media[1. Which means that it’s probably old news at this point.], is the haul video. Haul videos, for the uninitiated, are videos people upload on the Internet to show off the fruits of their latest shopping trips. Sort of how like back in Ancient Times, people excitedly […]