All over the country, we see monuments to those who, under any other conceivable context would be defined as traitors, criminals or, in our modern parlance, terrorists.
Read More What Was the Deadliest Terrorist Group the U.S. Ever Faced?HOW TO EMBRACE PERSONAL BEAUTY AND REJECT COMMODIFICATION When I teach my class on body image and the media I break up the lecture by asking, “what is beauty?” At first, this question seems to be a common sense notion. After all, everyone knows what beauty is. It’s… Well, it’s…you know… Sociologists are forever at […]
Read More What is Beauty?This post is about women’s bodies.
Read More Our Socially Schizophrenic Relationship with Women’s BodiesWHAT IS BEING REVEALED BY THE DEBATE ON TRANSGENDER RIGHTS It’s easy to get distracted by the Great Transgender Bathroom debate. However, it’s important to understand that the legislation in question goes far beyond public restroom and locker room policy. The North Carolina state law, HB2 not only nullifies Charlotte’s ordinance protecting transgender people using […]
Read More Gender Does not Equal SexAND I’M TAKING A STAND! One of the most sociologically interesting characters created by the Saturday Night Live team is the androgynous Pat. This character is totally bereft fo gendered characteristics, either physically or socially. It is, therefore, impossible to categorize Pat as being a man, or a woman. This causes a great deal of tension for […]
Read More This is MY BathroomA FATHER’S ADVICE TO HIS GAY SON IN THE 1950’S Storycorps.org has some interesting and enlightening animated shorts covering the real issues of real people. When I saw this video I was blown away by the historical context. I had to post it as a featured voice.
Read More Patrick Haggerty on Being Gay and not SneakingWHY IS EXTREMISM SO ATTRACTIVE TO SOME? I recently viewed some videos published by the New York Times addressing the motivations of young people, living otherwise normal lives by western standards, who nevertheless opt to join ISIL in their jihad against infidels and their mission to establish a new caliphate. The videos were very revealing, perhaps […]
Read More On ISIS and AnomieRachel Dolezal, Caitlyn Jenner and the Process of Identity The Rachel Dolezal case is interesting in its consequences with regard to identity. One of the presumed defining features of our times is the seemingly flexible concept of personal identity. There was a time when identity was a fairly stable construct, but in what is referred […]
Read More The Two Way Street of Identity
