If you were to ask my friends name three of my favorite topics, they would likely answer, “cats, cookies, and feminism.” So you can understand my delighted surprise when the first episode of Steven Universe begins with young Steven going to his favorite bodega to buy his favorite dessert, Cookie Cats which is ice cream sandwiched between…
The expectations of toxic masculinity–and normative masculine gender socialization–takes a toll on men and boys in a variety of ways. This is by no means an argument for minimizing or re-centering the discourse on rape culture away from women, girls, queer folks, people who are gender-non-conforming, and other marginalized communities and individuals. But in order to…
Toxic masculinity–the way of being a man that requires aggression, sexual domination, earning big money, being athletic, and most definitely, being heterosexual–not only feeds rape culture, but is co-dependent upon it. In fact, rape culture and toxic masculinity feed each other while destroying everything they touch. The video below from MTV News provides a quick and…
Because we need as many resources as possible, and because everyone loves cartoons, Blue Seat Studios–the folks who brought us the “Consent is as Simple as Tea” video–presents “Consent for Kids.” The video is a resource both for parents to teach the basics of consent to their children, as well as for kids to help them…
When the Catholic Youth Organization in New Jersey mandated that coed teams were only allowable through 4th grade, 5th-graders on the coed St. John’s Chargers basketball team unanimously voted to forfeit the remainder of their season including the playoffs. The boys on the team refused to play without their two girl teammates. After referees refused…
When someone we care about is in pain, we want to take that pain away, we want them to feel better. To do this, we often try to offer silver linings, or get them to look on the bright side. This is offering sympathy. The advocacy model for supporting someone experiencing trauma is rooted in…
Empathy–the ability to understand the emotional experience of another person–is, not hyperbolically, the beginning step to answering most of the problems we face as a society. We are currently experiencing an era of increased “Othering” in which we are encouraged to see the differences in other people, and not the similarities. And because of those differences we are…
Silence is perhaps the greatest threat to the safety and well-being of children. It is often thought that trying to “protect” children from adult themes or topics means pretending they do not exist, ignoring them, or talking about them in coded ways. But by sheltering children from the realities of sex and of violence, we…
