This entry is part 2 of 3 in the series Realizing RacismQuite without my conscious permission it turns out that I am racist towards black people. This is really bothersome for me to learn. Now that I’ve learned it, though, I want to give it a lot of thought. I want to do some backtracking [...]
This entry is part 1 of 3 in the series Realizing RacismI have heard the term white privilege over and over throughout my life, but I never gave it much attention. I believed that I probably had things a little easier since I’m white, but that what mostly mattered was my choices as an individual. [...]
Over at The Daily Harold, I commented on his abortion post, and you could tell from my comments that I’m female. Harold emailed me for clarification, since from reading my About page, he had assumed that I was a gay male. When I asked why he would think that, he replied that it’s because I [...]
I use the word “lame” as my catch-all, throwaway, casual insult whenever something seems silly or distasteful to me. The primary definition of lame is related to physical disability. I’ve recently begun to worry that my constant use of the word reflects a mentality I don’t want to perpetuate.
In the same vien as sexism, racism, [...]
This post recently got me thinking about gender neutral language. I’ve made several shifts in gender neutral labels, but I’m willing to look for more.
I call those helpful people in restaurants “servers” and rarely ever say either waitress or waiter.
I’ve gotten used to calling all the people in the movies “actors”, instead of pulling out [...]
Awhile back, I wrote about honesty and Nonviolent Communication (NVC). I recently read an article about our tolerance for racism that reminded me of an important NVC concept that’s a bit hard to grasp.
First, the NVC idea: It is not in anyone’s best interest for me to modify my actions/desires in order to cause or [...]
What we say matters. Say what you mean and mean what you say!
On the schedule for today - “Have To”
How often do you say that you “have to” do something? You have to go to work. You have to pay the bills. You have to call your mother. You have to clean the house. We [...]
I recently ran across an article from the Washington Post on female circumcision amongst Kurds in Iraq. Female circumcision is also called female genital mutilation (FGM) and female genital cutting (FGC) and is categorized by the details of different practices into Type I, II, III, and IV.
I know what I’m “supposed” to feel when I [...]
