Person 1: You’re the one that has a problem w/ a safety tool available to women. Or are you one of the “teach men not to rape” girls?! Person 2: god forbid anyone teach men not to rape! 😐 Person 1: You truly believe #rape is taught/untaught?! It isn’t! That suggests EVERY man is a potential rapist!

I saw the conversation to the left on Twitter tonight and it made me angry. It made me angry because its ridiculous. If this is the reason why so many people are opposed to rape prevention efforts that prioritize educating men, then all me to say out loud for everyone to hear:

This weekend is a special weekend for me. On Saturday, I will celebrate 11 years of marriage with my brilliant, amazing, strong and determined wife, Elyse. And on Sunday, we will celebrate Elyse’s birthday, and Father’s Day.

This weekend, in many ways, is a celebration of my life. The beauty of this weekend is I can share it with those I love most. And while the commercial world says I need to go out and buy something made of steel for our anniversary, and buy some trinket or some other gift for Elyse’s birthday. The expectation for Elyse is to give me some gift on behalf of our 2 children. The truth is, this weekend is a celebration of the gifts we have already received.

What do the following 6 movies have in common?

Group 1

• Kick-Ass 2
• Man of Steel
• Sharknado
• We’re the Millers
• The Wolverine
• World War Z

What do the following 6 movies have in common?

Group 2

• 21 Jump Street
• The Amazing Spider-Man 2
• The Avengers
• Rush
• Star Trek Into the Darkness
• This is the End

Both groups have been judged using a system called The Bechdel Test. For those of you unfamiliar with this system, the premise is simple:

Being between jobs, I spend a lot of time trying to keep myself busy during the day. I tend to do a lot of chores and small projects that have gone neglected. Over the last 2 months, the small projects have led several afternoon shopping runs. During my shopping runs, I tend to swing through the toy section and see about something small for the kids.

When I was a kid, Barbie dominated the toy section. In a normal department store, Barbie controlled about an aisle and half. And in a toy store, whether it was Toys R Us, Circus World, Child’s World, or Kay-Bee, Barbie owned the girls’ section.

** UPDATED 03/18/2014 8:18AM PDT **

I thought that I had written all that needed to be said about the decietful, misogynist, forced-birth advocating, so called “secular pro life” movement two years ago . I didn’t realize then that the current mostly-male “leadership” of the secular movement was composed almost entirely of misogynists, abusers, liars, and morally-bankrupt cowards. Those who are not anti-woman seem to be so obsessed with courting “allies” that they have no problems throwing women under the bus to advance their petty agendas.

I have supported and also criticized American Atheists over the years. Today I’m frustrated and am offering some criticism. Criticism that I hope is listened too. I’m an atheist and I want atheist organizations to prosper, but I also want them to reflect my values.

Today AA issues a new press release & announcing six new billboards.

American Atheists launched six billboards on Monday in central New Jersey attacking the non-helpful responses by some religions to recent natural disasters. These responses have included praying for the victims and sending bibles and rosaries instead of requested relief supplies that can save lives.

There is an event happening in Ohio on November 2nd that might shock and surprise you for many reasons. It’s an event to celebrate& & Día de Muertos, the Mexican holiday to commemorate and celebrate reflect upon your dead ancestors and loved ones, with a BDSM play party. We’re grown ups and we know people have sex and even have kinky sex in groups. The part that may be a shock for some is that the organizer of the event is a self-described “diversity” educator. That’s right: this crass event of cultural appropriation, where a holiday for remembering your dead friends and family is being used as exotic set dressing for an orgy is being organized by someone who thinks they are helping fight racism. But if you’re surprised, it probably because you’re white. Why do I feel comfortable making an assumption like that? Because of how privilege works.

Dear Mr Zuckerberg,

It must be pretty awesome to be a white dude with billions of dollars. It must be nice to be able to afford peace of mind . You do realize that not everyone is a billionaire right? Because when Facebook makes decisions to allow any timeline to be found by name alone that’s seriously messed up. Your suggestions to make things more secure are laughable:

1. Share each post with the people you want to be able to see it. You control this every time you post.

[MISSING IMAGE]

From one cis hetero white man to another: Shut the fuck up.

I realize none of this is likely to make much of a difference to you, because you’re not about accountability or criticism. No, not you Hugo. But you’re hurting people. You are being an abuser. You are verbally abusing women of color, and then you apologize and cry about your mental illness and “go away”…but you come back. I think you will always come back so long as you feel like you can get away with it. Because I think you like to feel important. It seems that negative attention is almost as good as positive for you, and maybe there’s that inner abuser that’s really the core of who you are Hugo. Maybe the “real’” Hugo isn’t the man who writes about consent, but is instead the man who tried to kill his girlfriend. I think maybe that is the real you. I think maybe you used your mainstream white handsomeness and your abuser’s facility at bullshit to talk your way into spaces where you could victimize on a grand scale.

Cassidy Lynn Campbell, the first openly transgender woman to be crowned prom queen, can’t have one day in her life to treasure. If she has to suffer this way, then you do too. Watch it and weep. AND THEN GET THE FUCK UP OFF YOUR ASS AND DO SOMETHING TO MAKE THE WORLD SAFE FOR TRANSGENDER PEOPLE.

“Do you remember what I did to you last night?”

That’s what he asked when I woke, as if asking me to go to breakfast.

I kind of remembered. Then I turned over and felt the pain. He got me drunk, he drugged me, and he fucked me up the ass. I went home with him willingly; I had the hots for him and hoped to play around. But I did-not-would-not-would-never consent to a virtual stranger fucking me. I couldn’t even remember if he wore a condom.

Everyone is piling on Miley Cyrus for her performance at the Mtv VMAs last night. I’ve seen her called “skank”, “attention whore”, her body being criticized as unwomanly and undesireable, and even someone saying she “covered herself in STDs and crack”. Others have talked about Robin Thicke and criticized the appropriateness of a married 36 year old dancing in a sexually suggestive way with a 20 year old women. All of those are stupid things to talk about. They are sex negative, misogynist, slut shaming, body policing nonsense. In the “STDs and crack” line you get bonus racist dog whistles, and as for the whole age-difference and suggestions of infidelity in the Cyrus/Thicke pairing, it’s really not any of our place to speculate on what two adults and their partners see, do, or tolerate. Shut all the way up about any of that for now.