Posts Tagged Psychology

More gender equality = more sex

A new study shows that people have more sex in countries with higher gender equality, according to USA Today. In addition:

[C]ountries ranked higher in gender equality also generally had more casual sex, more sex partners per capita, younger ages for first sex and greater tolerance/approval of premarital sex. Rankings were by the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report, 2006; the USA ranked 16th.

I always take study findings with a big grain of salt when they’re reported in mainstream media, but I could potentially like this news. Of course, the study’s author Roy Baumeister manages to make the most tired possible argument about what the results mean. He says women use sex for power, and when they have more ...

A new study shows that people have more sex in countries with higher gender equality, according to USA Today. In addition:

[C]ountries ranked higher in gender equality also generally had more casual sex, more sex partners per ...

You go (shy) girl!

“I think it’s important for shy girls to be able to be seen as leaders too,” said the, no doubt, shy girl sitting among a circle of 20 or so middle schoolers at a girls’ leadership summer camp. We were brainstorming a list of leadership qualities that we–not the media, not parents, not teachers, not even friends–deemed critical.

I thought this point was not only brave, but very astute. As I make the rounds of girls’ leadership development programs and camps this summer (I’m thrilled to be headed to The Girls Leadership Institute next month, co founded by one of my favorite human beings, Rachel Simmons), I’ve been thinking a lot about the kind of leadership model we are ...

“I think it’s important for shy girls to be able to be seen as leaders too,” said the, no doubt, shy girl sitting among a circle of 20 or so middle schoolers at a girls’ leadership summer ...

Apology from Psychology Today is too little, too late

After all that hubbub surrounding Psychology Today’s “here’s why black women suck” article, their puny apology has been met with little fanfare or public response.

Late last week (I’m sure releasing the apology on the Friday before Memorial Day weekend was no coincidence) Kaja Perina, Editor in Chief of Psychology Today, issued this statement:

“Last week, a blog post about race and appearance by Satoshi Kanazawa was published–and promptly removed–from this site. We deeply apologize for the pain and offense that this post caused. Psychology Today’s mission is to inform the public, not to provide a platform for inflammatory and offensive material. Psychology Today does not tolerate racism or prejudice of any sort. The post was not approved by Psychology Today, ...

After all that hubbub surrounding Psychology Today’s “here’s why black women suck” article, their puny apology has been met with little fanfare or public response.

Late last week (I’m sure releasing the apology on the Friday before ...

Emotional midwifery

So, I tend to date or be friends with guys who are a) not as adept at identifying their emotions and b) not as adept at talking about their emotions as I am. I have plenty of examples of this becoming an “issue” in my relationships, but my favorite illustrative example comes from a friend of mine. She was once dating a dude who started crying during an intense discussion. He actually said, and I kid you not, “Sometimes when I’m sad, my eyes water.” My friend politely informed him there was actually a name for this, and it was called, crying. Holy. Shit. I’m serious.

Okay, so my taste in men is a bit higher on the emotional awareness scale, ...

So, I tend to date or be friends with guys who are a) not as adept at identifying their emotions and b) not as adept at talking about their emotions as I am. I have plenty of ...

sexual revolution

What came of the sexual revolution?

I was at a very cool party of sorts the other night with a range of feminists of various generations, and we started dishing about the sexual revolution. I don’t know about you, but to me, the sexual revolution always brings about a sort of foggy cloud of confusion and longing in my head. On the one hand, I understand that it emerged from a perfect storm of societal shifts—the legalization of the birth control pill, the de-shaming (at least in part) of sex outside of wedlock and not for procreation, the feminist, gay, anti-war, and civil rights movements all flaring up in big and beautiful ways. On the other hand, I remain confused about what, exactly, it felt like ...

I was at a very cool party of sorts the other night with a range of feminists of various generations, and we started dishing about the sexual revolution. I don’t know about you, but to me, the ...

Feminist free association

Interesting, right? (Love that Nona.)

I think free association is one of the most interesting ways to detect bias and get someone’s subconscious talking. So much of the unfinished work of feminism dwells in subtleties–the assumptions we make about people, our daily expectations of women vs. men, our own internalization of limitations put on us by a society that still isn’t truly liberated. This kind of exercise points towards a sort of unearthing of some of these deeply buried biases and insecurities. So often people are able to intellectualize gender issues in a way that ignores the emotional truths and lingering subconscious biases that they still operate on.

Thanks to Cassie for the heads up.

Interesting, right? (Love that Nona.)

I think free association is one of the most interesting ways to detect bias and get someone’s subconscious talking. So much of the unfinished work of feminism dwells in subtleties–the assumptions we make ...

Inception (again) of women as hysterical

As usual, I’m a little late to the party, but I saw Christopher Nolan’s massively successful new film, Inception, this weekend and wanted to put out my two, feminist cents.

The film was all things Hollywood blockbuster–ensemble cast, lots of action sequences, “deep” plot designed to make one reflect on psycho-philosophical concepts like memory, lucid dreaming, the contagion of ideas, relationships as worlds onto themselves, the power of perception etc. Though I have to admit that I tired of the more egregious shoot-em-up, indulgent action sequences, I was fairly engaged for the entire 148 minutes of the film–inspired to reflect on a lot of the themes and stunned by the visual originality of the film as a whole.

It was hard ...

As usual, I’m a little late to the party, but I saw Christopher Nolan’s massively successful new film, Inception, this weekend and wanted to put out my two, feminist cents.

The film was all things Hollywood blockbuster–ensemble ...

Not Oprah’s Book Club: Trauma Stewardship

I know a lot of our readers are folks in the helping professions, and even beyond that, a lot of us are exposed to trauma in our everyday lives. That’s why I wish I could buy and send a copy of Trauma Stewardship to every last one of you.
In short, it’s a brilliant description of what happens to our bodies, minds, and hearts when we are exposed to trauma on a fairly regular basis. Laura van Dernoot Lipsky, the lead author, does a masterful job of analyzing the sources of trauma–both personal, organizational, and societal. Unlike so many books about self-care or burn-out, this one doesn’t shy away from a systemic analysis because, as Lipsky writes, “Rooting our ...

I know a lot of our readers are folks in the helping professions, and even beyond that, a lot of us are exposed to trauma in our everyday lives. That’s why I wish I could buy and ...

Load More