Social Justice
Coming Out of Your Closet: Teyonah Parris, Adam Chandler, David Leavitt, and You
Yesterday’s piece on Betty Ming Liu’s quest for self-liberation got me thinking about authenticity. Today, I ran across stories about two people, each on their own quest for it: For Teyonah Parris (who plays Don Draper’s secretary Dawn on Mad Men) the quest was to accept her beautiful natural hair: “I was walking down the…
Read MoreStudy: College Students Motivated by Intrinsic Rewards do Better Than Those Motivated by Money
The trouble is that many lower-income students don’t have the luxury of studying an unremunerative field just because they’re interested in it. According to this University of Rochester study, many choose a major more on the basis of whether they feel they can earn a living doing it than any intrinsic liking for it. This…
Read MoreCompelling Links: Racial Profiling, Rhino Sanctuary, Hillary Clinton’s Image Inspires Women to Speak Publicly
A really eloquent essay on how it feels to be racially profiled your whole life. Inspiring obituary of Anna Merz, who founded a rhino sanctuary. A new study finds women give longer and more confident political speeches when they are exposed to images of female role models. “Female role models eliminated the gender gap, though.…
Read MoreTo John Cole: In Defense of the Brontes
Woke up with a burning desire to respond to John Cole’s assault on the Bronte sisters: Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre was a thorough attack on the British class system, not to mention sexism. The bestselling book was decried by conservatives who considered it a major force promoting Chartism (universal male suffrage), among other evils. Emily…
Read MoreHow to Read The New York Times
Every time I check out a substantive New York Times article, I do this: 1) skim the article 2) go to the comments and sort them so that the ones most recommended *by readers* (not the paper’s editorial staff) come first. 3) read the most popular comments carefully, and learn from them how to interpret…
Read MoreWhere Veal Comes From
I hope none of my friends eats veal, but if you do, here’s where it’s from. A tiny, newborn calf separated from its mother and raised in terrible isolation. This should be (but alas isn’t) a scene from a horror movie. These are all unwanted male calves from dairy cows, so please try dairy alternatives.…
Read MoreNew Study Shows “Tiger Mom” Wrong
Last year, I wrote about Amy “Tiger Mom” Chua, who wrote a book celebrating her abusive parenting practices, which she said were both typically Chinese American, and yielded a better outcome than supposedly permissive mainstream American ones. (“Better outcome,” of course, defined narrowly as a compliant child who excels in school and work). After widespread…
Read MoreHarsh Parenting Linked to Depression, Unhappiness, and Other Problems in Kids and Adults
“A review of two decades worth of studies has shown that corporal punishment is associated with antisocial behavior and aggression in children, and later in life is linked to depression, unhappiness, anxiety, drug and alcohol use and psychological maladjustment. Beyond beating, parents can also hurt children by humiliating them, labeling them in harmful ways (“Why…
Read MoreHe Gets It!
“We must act knowing that our work will be imperfect.” Barack Obama, 2d inaugural address, January 21, 2013
Read MoreMore on Millennials
Got a great response to my last blog post defending millennials (who should need no defense). Colorado-based writer Teresa Funke, author of the Home Front Heroes series of kids’ books about World War II—which would make a great holiday present for any book-loving kid you know (hint, hint)—wrote a particularly stirring reply and gave me…
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