Category Archives: psychology
Frat-Boy Rapists Are Okay?
University of Virginia protesters
Why do we blame victims of brutal violence and shield — or even reward — their attackers?
Maybe you’ve heard about 18-year-old Jackie who met “Drew” when they worked as lifeguards at a University of Virginia swimming pool. Drew invited Jackie to dinner and a “date function” at his upper tier fraternity, Phi Kappa Psi.
Jackie was excited, and spent hours getting ready for the date. At the frat party she sipped some spiked punch and discreetly poured the rest onto the sticky floor. And then Drew suggested they go upstairs, “Where it’s quieter.” Read the rest of this entry
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Ferguson: If Whites Became Black
Black lives don’t matter?
A lot of whites “don’t get” the uproar in Ferguson.
Why would anyone get upset over killing a thug who robbed and assaulted a convenience store clerk? A guy who struggled to get a cop’s gun? And who later charged at the officer?
Michael Brown is not an ideal martyr.
But the upset isn’t about Michael Brown so much as it’s about a world that says:
Black lives don’t matter!
Plenty of whites think we have overcome racism. They think blacks have the same experience with the police — and the world — as whites do.
Try putting yourself in their shoes. Read the rest of this entry
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Why Dating Resists Gender Equality
How to ask a girl out
Gender equality has grown by leaps and bounds. We now have women CEOs, heads of state, religious leaders, media pros, doctors, lawyers and accountants…
But dating — at least the early stages — has remained resistant.
In the early stages of relationship, most men take the lead and most women passively wait. Read the rest of this entry
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Variety Is The Spice Of Life
Variety is the spice of life
“Find fits for every body type,” the ad says.
Hmmm, I see tall and skinny in the first frame. Tall and skinny in the second frame. Tall and skinny in the third frame. And tall and skinny in the last frame. Read the rest of this entry
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Chimp Study: Assault Aids Procreation?
Mean chimps
Violence against women may aid procreation?
Some evolutionary psychologists actually think so.
After all, mean male chimps sire more offspring than their friendlier brothers, an Arizona State study finds. Read the rest of this entry
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Sometimes Long Hair Is For Boys
Anne Hathaway
Andre Agassi
Women may wear their hair short because it’s chic or easy to care for. And some guys favor long, sexy locks, a la Andrea Agassi — before he went bald.
But some women cut it short to express a more masculine sense of themselves. Just as some men — cross-dressers — don girlish wigs to bring out their feminine side.
So hair holds symbolic meaning: Long is feminine; it’s for girls. Short is masculine; it’s for boys.
Except when it’s not. Read the rest of this entry
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How to Deal with Repression
Repression is not what you might think it is. I recently wrote:
A lot of us think it’s about working to suppress sexual desire. And while the early stages can be at least partly conscious, after a while you’re not actively blocking anything. You’ve simply lost sexual feelings and energy. Plus, plenty of punishing messages targeted at women’s desire get internalized. And sex is too often used as a weapon. Read the rest of this entry
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Man as Object: Reversing the Gaze
Della Calfee. Ass Like That
Men act and women appear. Men look at women. Women watch themselves being looked at.
That’s what art critic John Berger famously observed.
But some feminist artists have turned the tables in the exhibit, Man as Object: Reversing the Gaze:
With a gallery filled with men stripped naked this body of work exposes women’s cheeky, provocative and sometimes shocking commentaries on the opposite sex (which) may make the viewer squirm a little. But that is precisely the point.
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Using Racism to Excuse Sexism
You’ve probably seen this anti-street harassment video:
It’s part of Hollaback’s ongoing work to empower women by boosting empathy, understanding and change.
But the video has been called racist for over representing men of color.
Here’s what Dr. Brittany Cooper, a Rutgers University professor of women, gender and Africana studies, had to say about that: Read the rest of this entry
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Guys Care About Their Looks, But It’s Complicated
Guys care about their looks.
Less so than girls — who are more strongly judged by their appearance. But they do care.
And no wonder, since looks are one way to gain sex, status and self-esteem. (So no surprise that Casanovas — who want A LOT of sex partners — are especially body-conscious.)
But it’s complicated. Read the rest of this entry
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