Olivia's Posts

Science Sunday: Alcohol and the Adolescent Brain

Science Sunday: Alcohol and the Adolescent Brain

Why hello there readers, and a happy St. Patty’s Day to you! I hope you all are celebrating with something green and Irish, but we here at Teen Skepchick decided that St. Patty’s day was an appropriate time to talk about a different kind of celebration, one that perhaps will not leave you feeling celebratory for too long. Yes, you may have noticed that here in the United States, some p... »

Angry Feminism

Angry Feminism

Ellie Mae O’Hagan wrote an article recently at the Guardian suggesting that feminism should not lose sight of its anger in an attempt to look and sound pleasing. In response, she’s gotten a lot of people telling her that she’s policing, that she’s lost in an image of feminism as angry, or that she’s trying to tell people the right way to do feminism. The problem with ... »

Sexuality: Do We All Have It?

Sexuality: Do We All Have It?

I’ve just started working for a nonprofit that provides mental health services to kids, particularly kids with autism and developmental disabilities. One of the perks of my job is that sometimes I get to sit in on the lectures and continuing education classes that the therapists and other clinicians go to, which are pretty damn interesting. The most recent one was about sexuality and disabil... »

They’re Comin’ for My Guns

They’re Comin’ for My Guns

Gun control is a hot topic right now. All sorts of opinions have gotten thrown around about it, all sorts of issues have been connected to it, and there’s a lot of emotion around it. But one thing that doesn’t seem to get addressed too often is the efficacy of the 2nd Amendment. Many gun control advocates say that they are afraid of the day when the government tries to impose some sort... »

My Boobs Do Not Define My Worth

My Boobs Do Not Define My Worth

Warning: some adult content. Someone on my facebook page recently posted this link to a counterpoint over all the flurry about how sexist and racist and generally horrible the Oscars were. The gist of the article is that the opening song “We Saw Your Boobs” is essentially right, because no matter how serious or good a film is that features a nude actress, all that men will see is that ... »

National Eating Disorder Awareness Week

National Eating Disorder Awareness Week

This week is National Eating Disorder Awareness Week. The goal of NEDAwareness Week is to educate and increase understanding of eating disorders, as well as decrease stigma against them. I challenge each of you to educate yourselves about some new aspect of eating disorders this week, and if there’s something you’re curious about, then please ask in the comments. As you may remember we... »

Protecting the Young Protects No One

Protecting the Young Protects No One

If you in fact are our targeted audience of young, skeptical adults, then I’m sure all of you have had the experience of a parent or other adult loved one hiding something from you in order to “protect you”. Young people who are curious, perceptive, and intelligent often have the experience of ageism in the form of a parent trying to keep them safe. This was brought home to me ve... »

In Defense of Religious Studies: A Response to PZ Myers

In Defense of Religious Studies: A Response to PZ Myers

Over at Pharyngula, PZ Myers recently wrote an article in which he suggested that we remove all religious studies classes from education, because it’s “useless, distracting, and narrow”. Now as a religious studies major and someone thinking of going on in a religious studies program, I got a little pissy about this. Now why, you may ask, would a staunch atheist such as myself be ... »

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