Why do we spend so much time speculating about who would win in a fight? Mostly it’s a cherished pastime of super hero fandom, but I’ve seen “Who would win?” arguments pitching Samurai vs. Knights, Caesar Vs. Napoleon, Mr. Darcy Vs. Heathcliff (okay I never saw that one but c’mon! Read more…
So this one time, I took the RTA out to a friend’s house in Euclid Heights. This was before cell phones and I found myself at my friend’s house, the lights off, the door locked. I and my boyfriend waited and waited. We decided to give up and wait for Read more…
In the Left Hand of Darkness, Ursula K. Le Guin inserts a passage, a fictional essay about gender among the Gethens. When I read The Left Hand of Darkness the first time, in a Junior High summer, I was deep in love with it, and when reading this passage in Read more…
I’ve written before about the bizarre snobbery in genre fiction, where some genres (science fiction) think they are better than others (fantasy). In the SF community this snobbery usually takes the form of, “That trope isn’t plausible. This isn’t SF, it’s fantasy!” (As though a fantasy magazine would buy your Read more…
Ronald Reagan figured out a way to develop support for the right among the working class. It was brilliant in its simplicity: Lie. Pretend you already did. He spoke in his speeches about a silent majority of conservative Americans who wanted fewer social services, lower taxes, and a dogwhistle in Read more…
At a recent panel, the moderator asked me, “Has Cancel Culture gotten out of hand?” or some such question like that. I don’t remember clearly because my mind was already whirling with dismay at what was really being asked and how to answer it because every time I’ve seen this Read more…
I’m starting to wonder if my culture has turned a vice into a virtue. We are inundated constantly by the industries that profit off of vanity. Imaginary new “problems” are invented for perfect people – do you have thigh gap? Are your teeth white enough? Are your eyebrows the right Read more…