Verbal violence

"Violence" can have many modifiers, like physical; "physical violence" is not a tautology. Can words be violent? I'd argue yes. Here's a bit of why

Offended by swearing? Get better priorities

Swearing, cursing, profanity, whatever you want to call it. [Post contains swearing, obviously] Understatement: there's a lot of bad stuff here on planet Earth. Enough for a lifetime of sadness, worry, anger, fear and all the negative feelings. So many inhumane things that people do to each other and this bit of shared space. So …

You need to stop being angry at women who don’t reply to your internet dating site messages

This comes up a lot. Other people have written insightful things about it, so I linked them in a Storify, which now lives here because that platform died. As background, my profile became quite long and specific over the years I hopped on and off OKCupid. It contained web links. Someone took issue with one …

QEDcon 2015

As ever, the opening video didn't disappoint - congratulations to all whose hard work made this tweaked Left Behind trailer funny and so technically impressive: QED is my Christmas; or, what I imagine Christmas to be like for people who actually enjoy it. My family now is smaller than it was, and we do things our own way, …

Confessions Of A Former Misogynist

NB/ there're descriptions of violence in this, obviously - don't read on if that's not something you want to deal with today. Another guest post for you, readers. This time, my friend Ben recounts his transition from misogynist to feminist. Yes I am happy to call him a feminist; I don't think one needs to …