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By Tori Rodriguez • 12 years ago

Hardwire This: Let’s Turn Evo Psych Upside Down, Shall We?

Evolutionary psychologists specialize in coming up with primal, survival-related explanations for The Way Men and Women Are, carelessly tossing around – not to mention way overusing – words like “hardwired.” (Translation: “That’s just the way it is – don’t dare dream of this changing any time soon! Abandon hope!”) Take this recent gem from psychologytoday.com: “Apparently, men’s bodies are hard-wired to compete with rival semen.” Alrighty, then. While some of their scenarios are thought-provoking, upon a closer peek, some of their interpretations make them little more than Professional Guessers. And most of them saddle men with the majority of the blame along with the glory (no fair for anyone) for most of humanity’s traits around mating and reproduction, and just about everything else besides “nurturing,” “empathy,” and “relationship-building.”

So it’s time we flip the speculation on its head and ask why other explanations couldn’t be at least as plausible as their male-centric ones, or even just considered as other possible explanations. I don’t claim to know either way; I personally prefer to evaluate each individual I meet based on their unique personhood and not through a pair of gender-filter glasses. My Female Intuition (couldn’t resist) tells me that men and women share both the blame and the glory, so as long as we’re offering guesses a la pop evo psych, here are some alternatives to chew on:

The topic of procreation itself is rife with maybe/maybe-nots in the world of evo psych. Naturally, women’s reproductive capacity is more ...
By Tori Rodriguez • 12 years ago

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Thinner (my new essay in Shape Magazine)

05/23/2011

Check out my new essay in Shape Magazine! As editing and space limitations go, this is the simplified CliffsNotes of my story, but I think it’s a positive message and I’m thrilled to share it. It’s posted on my blog. Enjoy!

05/23/2011

Check out my new essay in Shape Magazine! As editing and space limitations go, this is the simplified CliffsNotes of my story, but I think it’s a positive message and I’m thrilled to share it. It’s posted ...
By Tori Rodriguez • 12 years ago

Mothering on Your Own Terms

For Mother’s Day, check out the first article I ever had published. It’s still one of my very faves, written soon after my feminist consciousness began emerging – and how! – and spurred to action by the book The Mommy Myth, by Susan J. Douglas and Meredith W. Michaels. (What a fantastic read, btw!) Here’s the link to part 1 and part 2.

For Mother’s Day, check out the first article I ever had published. It’s still one of my very faves, written soon after my feminist consciousness began emerging – and how! – and spurred to action by the book The Mommy Myth, by Susan ...
By Tori Rodriguez • 13 years ago

Studies Show… Feminism Is Good for You! (Part 1 of Series)

One of the many thorns in the collective feminist side is the way research is used as a weapon in promoting gender division and inferiority of one gender in particular (just venture a guess as to which one). Even when the research itself is unbiased, findings are often spun to neatly align with interpretations by certain “evolutionary psychologists” (a title that often seems to be an alias for Professional Guesser). They’ll take a study involving gender as a variable and hold it up as proof that men and women really are “hardwired” differently, with no regard to the countless other variables present in both research and life. This spin then gets funneled to the masses, where it’s used even further ...

One of the many thorns in the collective feminist side is the way research is used as a weapon in promoting gender division and inferiority of one gender in particular (just venture a guess as to which ...
By Tori Rodriguez • 13 years ago

New Moon Girls and My Brilliant Daughter!

I want to announce some happy news to the Feministing community. I turned my 10-year-old daughter, Gracie, on to New Moon Girls magazine a couple of years ago. I think it’s truly a radical magazine, giving girls ages 8 – 12 a safe place to learn about themselves and the world. They illuminate a lot of inspiring, positive topics, but they don’t shy away from the tough stuff – I’ve seen body image issues, sexual identity, and abuse covered, among many other issues. And their editorial board is comprised of their demographic, which I think is too cool. Anyway….

Gracie got notice last week that she’s been accepted to serve on the 2011 New Moon Girls editorial board! I’m so proud and excited for her! (I’m a psychotherapist and also a writer ...

I want to announce some happy news to the Feministing community. I turned my 10-year-old daughter, Gracie, on to New Moon Girls magazine a couple of years ago. I think it’s truly a radical magazine, giving girls ages 8 – ...