Will Leitch, the founder of Deadspin, recently published an article for NY Mag entitled “It Might Be Impossible to Be an Ethical Sports Fan” in which he captures how confusing sports fandom has been in recent years. He describes the joy of watching Jason Collins become the first openly gay NBA player, the “mental gymnastics”…
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…
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…
Little one don’t be a fool, I’m a wreck when I look mighty. In Euphoria I’m bruised, In confusion next I’m lightning. In complacence I am small, through oblivion I’m charged. – “Follow My Way” by Chris Cornell, 1999 ~~~ Title 18 of the United States Code, Section 1464, prohibits the utterance of any obscene,…
Editor’s Note: I am excited to introduce New Voices on Masculinities, a series of original content written for The Bridges We Burn, in which author’s explore topics related to their identity. The first author in the series is musician and educator, Matt Bogdanow. ~~~ On February 1st, 2015, I watched the New England Patriots––my hometown heroes––defeat the Seattle…
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…
Moonlight is what shines on us during dark times. It illuminates the darkness. Moonlight is a film that is not afraid to show the darkness and the struggle to find a little bit of light. The film tells the story of Chiron through three vignettes of his identity and growth: young Little, teen Chiron, and…
Hidden Figures is a fantastic film telling an important story about three black women, a group of people whose contributions are shamefully ignored or preface or relegated to the sidelines in the story of men. Hidden Figures tells the story of three black women who are, first and foremost, STEM professionals in a field (mathematics), and at…
