I’ve been thinking a lot about tattoos lately. I’m pondering getting a new one (my current one is pictured), and I know I’d get bad reactions from my parents and other adult-type figures in my life. But I know that I’ll get more. Why do I not care about the sage advice of those who are older and wiser than myself? What are the pros and cons of tattooing? What could possibly go wrong with jamming i... »
Last week I started reading a book suggested by my therapist called Eating In the Light of the Moon. She told me that it “might get past your rational side and speak to you from an emotional place”. Well it certainly didn’t speak to me from any rational place, but it also was a book that perpetuated some horrible gendered stereotypes, offended logic and reason, and ignored some basic facts. I’d li... »
In African News… Zimbabwe has decided to fight the scourge of HIV AIDS by ensuring that their cabinet ministers are all circumcised. In fact they have quite the drive on circumcising men at the moment and according to this article are hoping to reach at least 5MIL people through their campaign. Now I understand that there have been some studies on this since 2005 and the hypothesis was even featur... »
As hinted in our Reality Checks today, the EU has launched a campaign to convince girls to get into science. I’ve visited their website, and it’s not completely off-base. The profiles of women in science are a good idea. But the video teaser they’ve released is horrendous and offensive. »
For those of you who do not compulsively follow internet news (ahem, not that I do–I work 8 hours a day), you may not be aware of the Feminist Frequency videos and the violent reaction they have caused in the gaming and comic book communities. Anita Sarkeesian has made several wonderful, educational youtube videos that take a critical look at portrayals of women in the media, especially in t... »
Last Thursday I arrived in China for my summer stay. I’m doing a language course until June 21st and then research for the rest of the summer. The trip so far, while short, has been full of ups and downs and a lot of “wtf!?” moments… especially when I was chatting with my Fudan University exchange partners. »
Those of you who live in the UK/keep up with its politics, will probably be aware of what a shoddy job the current Prime Minister is doing of representing the citizens of the arguably half-decent country he runs. This isn’t surprising considering that the man has spent his life in riches and has most likely never had to deal with any of the problems that he’s attempting to tackle from ... »
Cast your mind back to the distant year of 1999. It was the year that featured the introduction of the Euro, the launch of Napster.com, and most importantly, the release of Sonic Adventure for the Sega Dreamcast, a move which ushered in a new renaissance for videogaming, and ensured Sega’s dominance over the coming decade. Sort of. It was also the year in which doctors in England wrote 158,0... »
