Feminist masculinity

From the women of WiT: 

"So I end up having to defend the legitimacy of feminist concerns and method to somebody who has never taken the time to learn these fundamentals and who perhaps asks questions from the baseless presupposition that feminist concerns are invalid and perhaps even dangerous.... This kind of exchange can be infuriating, as it feels like an exploitation of my labor: men who proudly proclaim their ignorance or at least lack of familiarity with feminism and feminist theology (or, even worse: they don’t know that they don’t know) then insist that I, in that one exchange, answer all their questions and concerns as they have seen fit to articulate them."


Read it all.

What is it like to be a woman in Philosophy?

No commentary from me.  Just read it all.

Joni + Diana

A little music for your Tuesday: 

Good news at the Béguinage!

E's got a one-year job, L's got funding.  Hallelujah!  Pass the cheap champagne.

Mother's Day

At my church several years ago, some well-meaning passed out carnations to all the mothers in the pews on Mother's Day.  Most Sundays, I am one of only two or three single people in church, and on that day, I was the only woman who didn't have a flower.  I was stopped as I was leaving, given a flower, and when I said, "oh!  I don't have children!" was told, "that's ok.  You will someday!" 

I haven't been back on Mother's Day since. 

And so, pastoral types, if you get a minute before next Sunday, do give this a look. 

Writers and women writers

Every so often, I have a conversation with someone, usually a well-meaning man of above-average intelligence, about whether or not sexism is A Real Thing in 2013.  Yes, yes, it is.  And for today's example, I bring you wikipedia.  Go ahead and read it all.

 When sex is an important identifier only for women, not for men, that's sexism, folks. When women are systematically moved from the category "writer" to the category "woman writer," while men get to keep being called "writer" instead of "man writer," that's sexism too.