Another post on teaching consent, you ask? Yes! Because there are never enough resources or discussions on teaching consent, and because these conversations need to happen over and over again, and because we all need refreshers and best-practices on bringing the essential and foundational concept of consent to younger and younger audiences. And especially because…
“Getting help for mental health is not enough. We live in a world where people don’t want to live in it anymore. We need to change the world.” – @nikkimwalls ~~~ I think about suicide a lot. That is a loaded sentence. I mean it in two specific ways: 1. I often think about killing…
Comedy can be an incredible tool for furthering social justice by challenging seats of power and shining light on uncomfortable truths. Alternatively, comedy is often wielded by those with power—straight white men—to perpetuate oppression and discrimination by picking on people marginalized by society; by punching down. In Hannah Gadsby’s Netflix special, “Nanette,” the Tasmanian comic squares her…
The language we use can shape the way we see and interact with the world. In fact, I wrote an editorial about how intentional language choice and usage can help us to be more inclusive, anti-oppressive, and empathetic. Intersex is often overlooked in discussions of sex and biology, which results in intersex individuals being erased. Just as…
Masculine identities can be presented in as many ways as there are people who identify as masculine. The beauty of gender identity and presentation is that in a world free from the gender binary, in which toxic masculinity does not dictate how someone has to look or behave, individuals who identify as men or masculine, can…
Accountability, apologies, and recognition of harm caused is at the center of the #metoo movement, and the heart of building healthy relationships and smashing rape culture and patriarchy. Unfortunately we often struggle to know what true accountability looks like (because many of us have never really experienced it, or seen it modeled), nor do we know how to offer a sincere…
I recently met a very sweet and compassionate 83-year old woman who took a great interest in my work. Despite our age and generational differences, her social and political outlook was not that different than mine. In a few instances where our thoughts were not aligned, we were able to have respectful dialogue, and I…
Popular culture presents no shortage of great examples of men who embody a toxic and unhealthy masculinities. Equally problematic is that too often these bad examples aren’t presented as such; in fact, they are often presented as the ideal. Instead of valorizing violent and emotionally-disconnected ways of being a man, we need to promote and encourage tender men: Men who…
