As we re-examine our cultural artifacts, another Christmas icon is coming under fire: The TV movie “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.” The brunt of the criticism is over the way in which Rudolph is consistently and cruelly bullied. As a child that was bullied for being different myself, I identified with Rudolph and Hermey, the elf…
Author: Clio
“Baby, It’s Cold Outside”: Rape or Empowerment?
It’s the Christmas season again, which means it’s time for the annual debate. Well, actually, it’s time for several annual debates: Is “Happy Holidays” a valid greeting, or is it the sign of a Liberal War on Christmas? Is Wham’s “Last Christmas” the GOAT of Christmas songs, or is it a cheesy artifact that should…
Thinksgiving
I feel awkward expressing gratitude on Thanksgiving. I haven’t been a fan for Thanksgiving for a long time. As a teacher, I appreciate the long weekend, but my family doesn’t tend to make a big deal of it. This year, for dinner, we had a modest meal. Something we might have had any other night….
Breaking Through Our Golems
I bet you know what I’m about to say. Not all of it, of course, not every detail. But by now, if you’ve read the headline, if you know what site this essay is on, and especially if you’ve looked at my bio or read any of my past articles, you have a pretty good…
Being a Man
I am a white man. This essay is about my gender, but first I’ll talk about my race. ◊♦◊ With my skin I inherit generations of abuse against people who are not white. This includes people whose skin looks like mine, but who were stripped of their whiteness because of their specific background: Irish. Polish….
The Privilege of Civility
My progressive and liberal friends are arguing again. The midterm elections are approaching. We’re reeling from several acts of violence including shootings that killed eleven at a temple and two at a grocery store, as well as over a dozen bombs mailed to prominent Democrats. Thousands of Hondurans are marching towards the US border despite…
How To Raise Boys in the #MeToo Era
Following the politically charged confirmation battle of Brett Kavanaugh, President Trump has a message: It’s a scary time for young men. In his universe, boys will now need to watch their actions around girls, apparently lest a moment of innocent privacy or a peck on the cheek gets remembered as a sexual assault decades from…
Law and Order: Special Criminals Unit
Our society is in crisis. We are looking into our abyss on gender, and on race, and many of us don’t like what we’re seeing. ◊♦◊ A month ago, Dallas Police Officer Amber Guyger illegally entered the apartment of Botham Shem Jean and shot him dead. Except for “Dallas Police Officer,” this should have been…
Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devolved!
In 1970, following the wake of the Kent State University shootings, three art students from the university formed a band around the concept of de-evolution, their theory that humanity was degrading. The resulting band, Devo, had its peak from 1978 to 1984. During this same time span, Hollywood released a series of movies that, taken…
Stand With Victims, Not With Perpetrators
Men, it’s well past time that we stop tolerating our culture’s attitude on rape. I believe Dr. Christine Blasey Ford. I believe her when she says, when she was 15, a then-17 Brett Kavanaugh tried to rape her. I do not excuse his behavior because he was “young”; at 17, he was old enough to…