Reading Time: 6 minutes I remember way back in 1995 I took a nontraditional local college class on “the Internet,” then a curious new tech phenomenon emerging from the womb in barely post-fetal form. I had no idea then that this seemingly miraculous invention would become as exponentially huge—and potentially dangerous to the health of Americans and our republic—as […]
sexual assault
Posted inReligious News
Megachurch pastor Matt Chandler steps down in latest blow to the Southern Baptist Convention
Reading Time: 2 minutes The Village Church pastor and Acts 29 president Matt Chandler stepped down from preaching and teaching because of an inappropriate online relationship with a woman. In an online statement, the Village Church announced that Chandler’s conduct did not meet the church’s expectations: “While the messages were not romantic or sexual in nature, the frequency and […]
Posted inReligious News
Church embraces pastor who admits to ‘adultery’ despite victim saying she was 16
Reading Time: 7 minutes On Sunday, Pastor John B. Lowe of New Life Christian Church in Warsaw, Indiana confessed to sexually assaulting a child decades ago. Actually, he didn’t come out and say that. He only confessed to “adultery.” It was only when the victim took the stage moments later to correct the record—she was 16 and he assaulted […]
Posted inEducation
A Christian college punished a sexual assault victim for having premarital sex
Reading Time: 3 minutes Roughly five years ago, a teenager at a private Christian school became pregnant. Visibly pregnant. And that was the problem right there. The girl chose not to have an abortion because it violated her religious beliefs. Because she didn’t do that, though, the school punished her for having premarital sex: She wasn’t allowed to receive […]
Posted inCulture, General, Sex & Gender
If American Belly Dancers Protested Colonialism As Much As Our Dance’s Sexualization…
Reading Time: 5 minutes If you’ve ever chatted with a belly dancer from the U.S., you’ve probably heard some riff on the phrase, “It’s not sexual, it’s sensual.” Americans dancers have done a lot of activist work here…so what might the dance scene look like if we took on colonialism, too?
Posted inCulture, Education, General
You Cannot Teach Someone Who Feels Unsafe
Reading Time: 4 minutes I have a lot of thoughts on what happened yesterday, but I’m responding first in my capacity as an educator, to remind us that even when people’s positions are at best misinformed, we don’t stand much of a chance of correcting them when they feel unsafe.
Posted inEducation, General, Myth & Folklore, Sex & Gender
The #MeToo Take Two Panel at #AFSAM19 (Part 2 of 2)
Reading Time: 4 minutes Part of grappling with sexual assault from a folklorist’s perspective means taking into account how it impacts communities and their cultures, and wow are there some ethical considerations to be discussed.
Posted inEducation, General, Myth & Folklore, Sex & Gender
The #MeToo Take Two Panel at #AFSAM19 (Part 1 of 2)
Reading Time: 5 minutes One of the highlights of the recent American Folklore Society meeting was a panel discussing events in #MeToo, what folklorists can specifically contribute to the discussion, and continuing problems with abuse/assault in our field. In what follows, I’ll summarize some of the highlights of the panel on #MeToo (labeled “Take Two” because we had an […]
Posted inCulture, General
Trauma Stewardship
Reading Time: 6 minutes As we all know, I like to nerd out about trauma. But sometimes, it hits too close to home, and I need help in continuing to do the work that brings me into contact with trauma (in addition to continuing to, like, be a human in contact with other humans).
Posted inCulture, General, Sex & Gender
Legalizing Sex Work to Stop Male Violence Is As Bad As Jordan Peterson’s Enforced Monogamy
Reading Time: 5 minutes In the wake of yet another mass shooting, I’ve seen men on Twitter suggesting that we legalize sex work in order to give these poor sexless dudes an outlet so they don’t go on shooting sprees. But this is just as bad as the enforced monogamy nonsense from Jordan Peterson, and it relies on women’s bodies and emotional labor to build peace.