This blog is about a topic that I only recently discovered, though an important voice in the dialogue about transgender activism and women’s rights mentioned it earlier this year.
I do not recall how I first stumbled upon this small – but growing – corner of scientific literature. When I first discovered it, it stirred me up so much that I knew I had to write something in response.
I initially thought I’d write a letter to the editor of the journal, but of course academic publishing has myriad constraints and rules. Here in my own corner of the web, I can freely oscillate between emotional reactions, scientific facts, and gut wisdom in my response.
The topic is uterine transplants in males.
Let’s back up.
Read MoreThere is a popular idea out there that the clitoris is the only organ of the human body whose sole function is pleasure:
“orgasm has persisted as a pleasurable evolutionary legacy, without the reproductive association.”
“the clitoris… has the unique distinction of being the only organ in the human body dedicated solely to pleasure.”
It’s a sexy idea, isn’t it?
That women’s bodies are special, containing a little button that exists purely to enhance our pleasure…
This idea is widely shared in sexology, feminism, science, and popular media.
But it is wrong.
Read MoreWhy do I care about sex and gender?
I have asked myself this more than a few times, when my brain is tired and I’m wasting my precious time scrolling social media getting irritated at the stupid and even dangerous content that arises in the general area of the ‘sex & gender’ culture wars.
Who cares if people don’t understand the difference between ‘sex’ and ‘gender’?
Read MoreWe are in an age of information; this is of course not a novel claim. An astrological cycle involving the planets Jupiter and Saturn indicates that we are shifting from a 200-year ‘age of earth’ (focused on resource extraction and hierarchy) into a 200-year ‘age of air’ (focused on information and networking) (1). Broadly speaking, astrologers of the past (and present!) use Jupiter-Saturn cycles for tracking shifts in social, cultural, and political matters.
Read MoreI thought I was a creature of air, of fire.
Read MoreI have so many partially finished pieces of writing. Little glimpses of projects yet to come. I clutch them close as I grind through the tasks of the day. I have double-booked myself, missed messages, and hunched over my computer screen tired-eyed.
Read More