It’s been real
My sincerest thanks to Jill, Cara, Holly, Jack, zuzu, and kactus for allowing me this opportunity to share your space. Also thanks to my fellow guest blogger Amanda—it’s been a pleasure writing alongside you these past two weeks. Finally, thanks to all of you who read my posts and participated in the discussions. I’m glad [...]
...read moreSome thoughts on gender and Judaism
Following up on my most recent post about some different Jewish theoretical approaches to the issue of homosexuality, I would like to offer one or two thoughts on how Judaism approaches gender. Can we devise a modern Jewish theoretical framework for understanding and resolving issues posed to traditional Jewish thought and law by people who [...]
...read moreSome thoughts on homosexuality and Judaism
Consider these two very basic facts: the Bible condemns homosexuality, yet lots of Jews are homosexuals. How is Judaism to understand these two things in light of each another, as well as in light of modernity? For this essay I will only deal directly with male homosexuality, since that is the kind of relationship that [...]
...read moreI Can’t Believe It’s Not The Taliban
I strongly urge you to read this piece by the terrific Shmarya Rosenberg of the blog FailedMessiah. Ultra-Orthodox Jews in Israel are doing terrible things to women—beating them for sitting in the “wrong section” of officially section-less buses, breaking into their homes and beating them for suspicion of seeing married men—and getting away scot-free because [...]
...read moreTranslation and the Virgin Birth
The doctrine of the virgin birth—that Mary conceived and bore Jesus without ever having had intercourse with a human male—is one of the oldest Christian doctrines. It dates all the way back to the early Church and has remained a part of many Christian orthodoxies even until modern times. It is also no revelation that [...]
...read moreTextual transmission and the silencing of voices
Words and texts change in transmission, but sometimes the result can be the silencing of a voice or an idea. This phenomenon is, of course, well-attested and recognized. Think of the game “Telephone” (or “Chinese Whispers” or “Russian Scandal”, depending on your upbringing and/or loyalties): one person says something to another, then it is repeated [...]
...read moreVancouver Pride Recap
So this weekend, as I previously mentioned, was Pride Weekend in Vancouver—a little bit late, compared to many other places, but carefully scheduled to coincide with B.C. Day so lots of people got a three-day weekend! The night before, the Celebration of Light, an annual international fireworks competition attracted huge crowds to the beaches to [...]
...read moreDiminished happiness on Pride Weekend
It’s Pride Weekend here in Vancouver. Assuming it stops raining, there will be a parade, a festival, fireworks from the finale of the Celebration of Light, and general merrymaking as is wont to occur during a Pride Weekend. Yet this weekend, the celebrations will be diminished—not just by the terrible murder on the bus a [...]
...read moreGrisly attack on bus in Canada
(Trigger warnings apply.) I’m very sorry to punctuate your day with something like this, for those of you who haven’t seen it yet, but this is a piece of news that I simply haven’t been able to get out of my mind for the last several hours. In short, a man of about twenty or [...]
...read moreOrson Scott Card is a hateful homophobe
Unlike Paul Constant, the author of this piece in the Slog, I have read Ender’s Game (summary judgment on the whole series: interesting in parts, mediocre at best as a whole—all right, Internets, flame me to a crisp). But this is really beside the point: I see no reason why Card’s books should have any [...]
...read moreGender testing for female Olympians
Well, that didn’t take very long. China’s state media is reporting that female athletes suspected of “really” being males will be made to undergo gender screening at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, set to open in a few short weeks: Suspected athletes will be evaluated from their external appearances by experts and undergo blood [...]
...read moreYet Another Guest Blogger Introduction
Good day, Feministe readers! My name is Sam, I blog at the Xyre, and I am absolutely tickled as punch to be guest blogging here for the next two weeks. The guest bloggers so far this summer have been terrific writers with some interesting things to say, and I hope I can live—or at least [...]
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