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By allegra • 13 years ago

What’s Wrong with Articles Like “Why You’re Not Married”

Hi everyone,

Most of us have read Tracy McMillan’s  “Why You’re Not Married,” the newest nightmare of an article about why unmarried women are terrible. Because I’ve heard way too many people defend the article (and similar articles), I wrote a blog post titled What’s Wrong with Articles Like “Why You’re Not Married”.  The post is intended for the very uninitiated, and (I hope) explains in basic terms what’s wrong with McMillan’s arguments.

I tried to keep it as basic as possible, even hyperlinking to definitions of “fallacy,” “hasty generalization,” etc.  It’s elementary stuff that I’m sure everyone here already knows, because I intended it for people who sincerely do not know what’s wrong with articles like McMillan’s. I want it to be a straightforward explanation that us feminist-types can show people who defend McMillan’s article. Basically, my post goes over a lot of critical thinking basics so that you don’t have to. At least, that’s what I hope!

I hope you find it useful! Thanks for reading it!

-Allegra
By allegra • 14 years ago

“Experiencing an ailment of any kind? You’re probably pregnant.”

I’ve noticed that too often, I will complain to someone of some sort of ailment, and their first thought is that I am probably pregnant. Seriously, anything– "my stomach feels a little off," "I’m tired," "my head hurts." While of course being pregnant is technically a possibility, I find it sexist that people’s immediate thought is that whatever I’m experiencing must be based in something female-specific. Like, "well, you’re female and you have a headache, therefore the headache must be related to being female." It’s especially stupid because while it’s true that my listed ailments could potentially be symptoms of pregnancy (this is really lazy thinking, by the way– pregnancy symptoms are so varied from woman to woman that you ...

I’ve noticed that too often, I will complain to someone of some sort of ailment, and their first thought is that I am probably pregnant. Seriously, anything– "my stomach feels a little off," "I’m tired," "my head ...
By allegra • 14 years ago

How gendered is the way we think of tattoos?

I am a woman, and I’ve been considering getting a tattoo for some time. But there’s something that keeps me from it, and it’s been really hard for me to put my finger on it. Tonight I did some Googling, and I feel like I may have realized what it is that bothers me about being female and getting a tattoo.

I think I get the feeling that tattoos are thought of as inherently sexy on women, and not necessarily so on men.  Maybe more so in the sort of indie/alternative/ etc. scene (which I would say I am part of). If they’re not necessarily thought of as inherently sexy, we at least do have something of an archetype of “the ...

I am a woman, and I’ve been considering getting a tattoo for some time. But there’s something that keeps me from it, and it’s been really hard for me to put my finger on it. Tonight I ...