What Makes a Woman

In the various social contexts in which I hang out, there's been a lot of yammering lately about gender and sexism.  There was a minor uproar recently about gender testing in the olympics, which has, as these things do, sprawled into a vast battle about sexism and gender bias and heteronormative privilege and so on.

South African runner Caster Semanya, one of the first women to be subjected to gender investigation.

PSA

Um.  So.

Hi!

Ahem.

Just a quick PSA that I actually do plan to start writing in this thing again.  Soon-ish.  I have an excessive build-up of opinions that need opining, rants that need screeching, writing muscles that need flexing, etc.

The thing is, I exist in a lot of spheres, and they don't always overlap.  For instance, I can write about secular politics in a way that makes my atheist friends clap and smile, but they probably won't appreciate the essays on animal rights enjoyed by my vegan friends, who in turn very likely won't appreciate my skeptical sciencey posts.  And no one at all wants to hear my thoughts on love and relationships and sex and kink, but I don't care and will write about it all anyway.

So!  You might like some of what's coming up, but you won't like all of it.  Unless you're me, but probably not even then.  And while I think it's good for people to step outside their comfort zones regularly, I do generally respect your desire to not accidentally read something that's going to piss you off if you're not in the mood for it.

I'll try to use labels/tags/whatever in a sensible manner, so you can find/skip particular kinds of content.  Assume I will curse like a sailor, even when writing about kittens.  I will post VERY LARGE WARNINGS if I'm going to talk about anything particularly personal or TMI-ish, so that friends & family can avoid accidentally learning things they don't want to know about my sex life (which doesn't exist, hi mom!).

That said, it's not like anyone else reads this anyway, amirite?  Let's do this, self!

Speak Up or Shut Up

Members of the infamous Westboro Baptist Church.
You're not all like that.

We're all familiar with NALTs - you know, those religious folk who are hasty to assure us "But we're not all like that!" any time someone criticizes religious assholery.  Those of us who frequent in these sorts of critiques are well conditioned to expect responses full of sputtering indignation; it's almost second nature now to add the notthatallChristians/Muslims/Jewsarelikethat disclaimer to any censure of a religious figure, for fear of offending the nice religious people by de-facto grouping them with their not-so-nice fellows.

Kathy Freston Weighs In On Faux

Kathy Freston lends her effervescent voice (I kind of have a crush on her, can you tell?) to the faux or no-faux debate in a piece on HuffPo today.  Referring toMark Bittman‘s TED talk on “what’s wrong with what we eat,” she lauds Mark on his indictment of the practices of the meat industry and their effects on the environment, human health, and animal cruelty.  But she comes to the defense of one of the newer targets of Mark’s criticism: faux meats.

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Read the rest at the Plants & Animals Blog.

Friend or Faux?

How do you feel about fake?

The debate about whether imitation animal products help or hurt the vegan cause is not new. It’s also no closer to being resolved. Whether we’re talking about “fake meat” or faux fur, there’s much disagreement both within and outside of the vegan community about how those products reflect on our cause.

Does it make us hypocrites to eschew animal products but embrace man-made products intended to mimic them? Are they facilitators or barriers to convincing others to consider a vegan lifestyle?

Read more at Plants & Animals.

Blueberry Oatmeal Muffins

So, I'm of the opinion that a muffin should actually be a relatively healthy thing. After all, the name "muffin" implies that you can eat it for breakfast, so it should be able to get you through the morning. These are full of hearty whole grains, juicy blueberries, and don't have very much sugar. They fill you up and keep you satisfied, without triggering a day's worth of sugar cravings.

You have your choice of making these with wheat germ or wheat bran. Both are part of the wheat kernel (the parts that get removed from white flour) and both are nutrient-dense. Wheat germ is higher in calories and is full of protein and fat-soluble vitamins. Wheat bran is lower in calories, high in insoluble fiber, and has a lot of healthy minerals. They have about the same texture, so pick the one that's right for you.

Cheezy Bean & Avocado Dip

If I cared enough about football to watch the Super Bowl, this would be what I'd eat during it!  It's a spicy, creamy bean dip with chunks of cool avocado throughout that combines to a perfect bite on a crispy tortilla chip.