The West’s Third World Others (or, Hey, Thailand Has Prostitutes, What’s the Big Deal?)
The latest shitstorm in the SF/F community comes in response to acrackedmoon’s criticism of Pat’s (of Pat’s Fantasy Hotlist) controversial perspectives on Thailand and travel (acrackedmoon offers a counter here). The short version: Pat reinforces some stereotypes about Thailand and non-Western culture, some of them through sexist and/or racist lenses, gets called out on it […]
Crying “Censorship”: Why Getting Banned Isn’t Censorship
You’ll probably have noticed that a lot of crazy nonsense took place here and then migrated over here when Jen and I put our feet in piranha-infested waters. This isn’t the first time Jen and I have played emotional bees and frolicked in the convoluted mess of gender politics. But that’s not really the point […]
SOPA and Piracy: A Brief and Random Afterthought
Google, Wikipedia, and all manner of folks have taken up the protest gauntlet against SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act), a bill that, if passed, would hand over an extraordinary amount of power to the Federal government, restrict freedom of expression (the 1st Amendment), and make life for website creators and owners difficult at best. As […]
Ponce de Leon vs. Native Americans: Who is happier?
I recently came across this announcement of the University of Miami’s 500th Anniversary commemoration for Ponce de Leon’s voyages to Florida. Since I am currently teaching a course entitled “Writing About Postcolonialism and Genre Fiction” (which I’ll have to discuss in detail later), the event caught my attention. Why? Because the language used to describe […]
Gentle Reminder: Jesse Jackson Isn’t Running For President
Amusing as it may be to play the “the liberal media is going after Herman Cain” card when it comes to the allegations recently made against Jesse Jackson, it is also prudent to remember one incredibly important fact: Jesse Jackson isn’t running for President. Let’s also be honest about something else: if he were running […]
Dear Rick Scott: Your (Anti)Education Plan Stinks
(You’ll all have to excuse me while I rant about something political on this blog.) If you haven’t heard already, Rick Scott, the governor of Florida (where I live), announced his intention to change the Floridian university system by shifting funding away from the humanities towards “job creating” STEM majors.* Plenty of folks have poked […]