Posts Written by Matthew
By Matthew • 11 years ago

Why your religion has nothing to do with abortion: One outraged Virginian’s perspective

If you’ve been following the conservative assault on reproductive rights, then you might know that Virginia recently suffered a right-wing takeover that threatens to shut down almost every single abortion clinic in the state. It’s been summarized well by news outlets, so if you’d like to read up on it, I refer you to here for Friday’s ruling with some links to more history, and here for some excellent coverage from none other than Rachel Maddow.

I was there on Friday as part of the public demonstration that this issue is important to us, that we will not stand for such tactics being used to circumvent the law and limit access to safe, legal abortion. I was there on Friday, and I was outraged by all the admittedly predictable anti-abortion signs, many of which invoked religion, and a few of which implied that if you were pregnant, it was by choice, and why should your baby pay the price for that choice? It’s a narrative that is borne out of misinformation, privilege, puritanical ideas about sex and sexual relationships, and a complete (and at times undoubtedly willful) ignorance to the reality of sexual assault and rape or the complex economic and social reasons why someone might choose to have an abortion.

By Matthew • 11 years ago

Uninspired

There’s something that has been bothering me lately. Around the time that Tumblr announced they would be actively screening and banning accounts & posts which promoted self-harm and eating disorders, I noticed a new trend.

Fitness Inspiration. Or, ‘fitspo’ for short. A little background: the type of stuff Tumblr was taking aim at (although how effectively they’ve implemented this policy is arguable) was content that actively promotes or encourages eating disordered behavior. Images of emaciated people, usually women, emphasizing characteristics of being extremely underweight that are circulated by “support” communities for eating disorders, but all they support is the continuation and reinforcement of life-threatening disorders.

The average person sees this crap and they are appropriately upset by it. However, it was quickly replaced ...

There’s something that has been bothering me lately. Around the time that Tumblr announced they would be actively screening and banning accounts & posts which promoted self-harm and eating disorders, I noticed a new trend.

Fitness Inspiration. Or, ‘fitspo’ ...
By Matthew • 11 years ago

The Sun’s Always Rising: Tom Gabel’s Coming Out

This was originally posted here on my WordPress blog.

I recently talked about how punk rock and sobriety had a big effect on my life, and the appeal that punk had because of its foundational ideals of acceptance of all people. Black, white, gay, straight, fat, skinny – there wasn’t any room for to judge people over such superficial things.

That doesn’t mean people didn’t bring their own prejudices and insecurities into radical or punk communities. It’s easy to say, “We stand for this,” but being ‘not prejudiced’ against a given group or type of person isn’t as simple as saying you aren’t racist/homophobic/transphobic/sexist and then denying all responsibility when you end up doing or saying something which actually happens ...

This was originally posted here on my WordPress blog.

I recently talked about how punk rock and sobriety had a big effect on my life, and the appeal that punk had because of its foundational ideals ...