The killing of Renisha McBride keeps me up. So does her killer’s non-arrest. What most keeps me up though is the way her death fails to shock so many of us. I don’t mean those of us who “aren’t shocked” (but are dismayed and outraged) because we know McBride’s death (like Jonathan Ferrell’s before it) […]
I read Seth Adam Smith’s post, “Marriage isn’t for you,” and thought it had some good advice, but does it really speak to women today? I rarely write in response to a blog post, but this one kept gnawing at me for days, so I needed to reflect on it to articulate why his understanding […]
Today, Nicholas D Kristof wrote a very irritating op-ed in the New York Times. It has bugged me all morning. I am kind of surprised to hear him make his politically reactionary argument in support of increasing women’s numbers on company boards. After all, he has done some very important journalistic work on the trafficking […]
Being a mom is one of the busiest, fullest, and the happiest adventures in life. At the same time, it is the most challenging, craziest, and disappointing role one can take on. Some women we see in the news make motherhood seem trivial and easy, such as Marissa Mayer, CEO of Yahoo, who returned […]
Talking about sexuality AND religion for a living can be a daunting task. These topics come with a host of stereotypes, not to mention a presumption of privacy. Another way to describe what I do is to say that I “talk taboos.” Now, that’s not new news for most feminists. Speaking and writing about the […]
I read Sheryl Sandberg’s Lean In on an airplane headed to Salt Lake City. I was on my honeymoon, five days after my wedding, still grappling with my exceedingly heteronormative existence and embarrassed to even say the word “honeymoon.” I like to think of myself as a political queer, hyper aware of the damaging norms […]
I’m feeling grateful once again for Marcia Rigg’s mediating ethic. The debate over Syria and U.S. intervention there (or not) has left me befuddled for days. So many thinkers and activists I respect are strongly articulating a “no more war” message as a way to stand against a military strike. I understand this. I am […]
The Women and Religion section of the American Academy has been around for over 40 years. As a member of the steering committee, I have been contemplating what the next 40 years will bring. When asked to be on this particular section of AAR, I was honored. Its history and the efforts of those who […]
Geeta Iyengar does not only need a vacation. She needs to retire. At least this is my view after studying at the Ramamani Iyengar Memorial Yoga Institute (RIMYI) in Pune, India, this July. I grant that things may have taken a turn for the worse. It is also possible that July was an exception to […]
More than forty years after the advent of Black Liberation Theology, Trayvon Martin’s predator and murderer walked. More than twenty years after critical studies of whiteness began to gain traction in the academy Trayvon Martin’s predator and murderer walked. Free. Went home. I feel frozen. Caught tight between the demand for an endless flow of […]