It used to be that men pressured women to have sexual intercourse with them. And despite the fact that it meant risking years of unhappiness for us (unwanted pregnancy, unwanted children), for ten seconds of bliss or relief for them, we’d do it. How stupid was that? Of course, without the weight of the patriarchy, …
Category: gender issues
Mar 01 2010
Let’s Talk About Sex
Disc jockeys generally come in two sexes: male and female. So what, you may think; sex doesn’t matter. Oh but it does, so sad to say. On any given night, one or two of several things might happen. And until recently, I never gave them much thought. But when all of these things happened during …
Feb 15 2010
Figure Skating: A Very Gendered Thing
Many call figure skating a sissy sport, a feminine thing. To the contrary, and to my unrelenting irritation, it is a very gender-inclusive sport, a sport of both sexes, a sport where men must be men and women must be, well, girls. Consider the costumes. The men usually wear ordinary long pants and a more …
Feb 10 2010
Canterbury’s Law, The Good Wife, etc, etc, etc…
When the pilot episode of Canterbury’s Law aired, I was really annoyed. The main character was an intelligent, powerful woman (a lawyer). Good. Who is shown obsessing over her appearance, albeit grudgingly, wondering whether the color of her suit brings out her eyes. Within the first hour, we also see her going to her husband …
Feb 09 2010
In Praise of AIDS
These days I’m kinda rootin’ for AIDS, you know? First, I mean, if we need a ‘die off’, if we need a major decrease in the human population, in order for the planet (the human species included) to survive, well then AIDS gets my vote. War would do it. But, whether biochemical or nuclear, it …
Jan 17 2010
Men’s Precision Teams
Have you ever wondered why there are no men’s precision teams? Sure, precision skating requires attention to detail and a highly developed spatial sense. But both are surely male capabilities; in fact, aren’t they male superiorities? Isn’t that why (so we’re told) men dominate science and engineering? And of course, the sport requires skating skill. …
Jan 10 2010
Arrogance, I think
Fresh from the office of my supervisor who persists in gently giving me unsolicited advice, despite being neither older nor wiser, I’m struck by Rousseau’s tone (in his “Marriage”): “Extreme in all things, they [women] devote themselves to their play with greater zeal than boys. This is the second defect. This zeal must be kept …
Jan 09 2010
Impoverished Scientists
To read the science journals, one would think animal life consists of nothing but predation and reproduction, both thoroughly competitive in nature. The absence of any capacity for pleasure, or at least for non-competitive pleasure, is frightening. Lining a nest with warm and soft material is not for comfort, but to “increase the survival rate …
Jan 07 2010
Suicide, Insurance, and Dead Sugar Daddies
I’ve been thinking that, with the exception of those who are paralyzed or severely physically debilitated, people who seek euthanasia are cowards. They are grossly inconsiderate and amazingly irresponsible. I mean, if you’re ready to die, then die. But do it yourself! Don’t ask someone else to kill you, and then live with it. What …
Jan 03 2010
Grade Ten History
Remember grade ten history? Okay, quick question: history of what? Of ideas? Of art? Of really stupid jokes? No! Of conflict! And mostly interpersonal conflict charading as intergroup conflict. That’s what grade ten history was all about. And grade eleven history and grade twelve history too. First, let’s call it what it is. And this …
fiction
