It’s a common thing to say: We cannot tolerate intolerance. But, in reality, we not only can, but a healthy society must tolerate intolerant beliefs. In our quest to be pithy, we are missing an important distinction: We cannot tolerate intolerant actions. I am queer. There are people who, because of their personal beliefs, think…
Author: Clio
convince me to breathe
i didn’t used to need you to convince me to breatheit used to come naturally:inhale, exhaleinhale, exhalebut then the weight of moments stacked upone on top of anotherand my lungs became afraidafraid they would seize up at just the wrong momentafraid they would disrupt the natural orderthe natural flowthe way things are supposed to bethe…
in the shopping mall
The man with the greasy hairwondersas he tries on the shoeif this is the way life issupposed to be. The woman with the overloaded bagsthinksas she looks at the Star(at Woolworth’s)that there were a few too manyUFOsto be so few. And the lights turn onand the gates are raisedand the gates are droppedand the lights…
Libraries
libraries sound like bookswhispering to each otherbeneath the rolling murmurof the air conditioning libraries are too brightfor the books to sleepand so they chatterrestlesslyof memories and futuresand worlds unseen dim the lights,turn off the fans,and let those poor booksrest 08.27.24
Update Your Language: Transgender Issues
The language concerning transgender issues has evolved in recent years, and you may well be using outdated language. Confusing this issue is that even some transgender people are using outdated or imprecise language, either out of habit or out of a desire to be understood. Language change is rarely instantaneous: Instead, it spreads around over…
Cedar Point
I’ll start at the end. The day after I chaperoned my school’s graduating seniors to Cedar Point, a junior asked me how it was. I shrugged. “It was fine,” I deadpanned. “Don’t you ever have any fun?” the student asked. And here’s the thing: I had had fun. It was fun. I just…. Okay, so….
Dude, Where’s My Referent?
It’s common these days for people to insist that “dude” (and “buddy” and “guy”) is gender neutral. “I call everyone and everything ‘dude’. It doesn’t matter.” Then comes the reply: “‘Dude’ is a male-coded word. Its use for non-men is part of the masculine default nature of language. It’s still a male-coded word.” Both claims…
A Literal Metaphor
I teach mathematics. In mathematics, we have a thing called “literal equations”. When I first met this term, and indeed for a long time afterward, it confused me. Isn’t every equation literally an equation? What makes some equations more equation-y than other equations? The issue here is that “literal” means something different in mathematical argot…
Diary: I May Be Wrong
An incident that happened last weekend stirred up childhood memories that help me understand why a particular behavior evokes a shutdown/meltdown reaction. When I was a child, my being right about even fairly arcane things was the norm, and so when I was wrong or ignorant about something, that was a source of mockery. I…
… la sensibilisation à l’autisme
Imagine you speak French as your first language. In your case, this is strange because nobody you knew growing up spoke French. You are surrounded by people who speak English. Your family speaks English and only English. You’ve never been exposed to any language other than English. Certainly not French. So you don’t know how…