Category: Race, Class, Gender, Sexuality

I met someone today who asked me after finding out only my first name (which is Anglo-sounding, by the way), “Are you from China?” I’m sure the guy meant well, but come on! I never meet a white dude with a perfect American accent and ask, “Are you from Sweden?” or meet a Black woman… Continue reading Am I From China? No, I’m not.

Many children—gay or straight—seem to know early on what their “sexual orientation” is even before they have any sexual contact. They do not yet know what “feels good.” And, in fact, a lot of people do not even try both major genders of sexual partners before settling on which one they “prefer.” Unlike ice cream… Continue reading “Sexual orientation” is a funny thing

Like Senator Barack Obama, I’m also perplexed by the question of whether he is “black enough” or not. First of all, does the white community ask if Hillary Clinton or John Edwards is “white enough”? And if Barack isn’t deemed to be “black enough,” does that mean Black democrats will vote for a white person… Continue reading Who else would be “black enough”?

Warning: This entry deals with talk about mature subject matter (as if you couldn’t tell by the subject title). Two TV shows I watched this past week got me thinking about the word porn. One is the British show Coupling (currently in reruns on BBC America), one episode of which features Steve explaining to a… Continue reading Examining the Porn Stigma

On numerous occasions (usually on the Ubuntu Forums, but sometimes in person as well), I’ve been accused of being “PC” (politically correct), as if that’s a bad thing. As if the mere fact of being PC is something to be ashamed of. Why? What’s so bad about it? Seriously. PC has gotten a bad name… Continue reading I’m PC. So what?

There were two defining moments for me in terms of thinking about economic class. One was in elementary school (I think it was in third grade) when my teacher asked us, “What economic class do you think you belong to?” I don’t remember what prompted her to ask this question, but most of my classmates… Continue reading Class and dough

Even though I don’t agree fully with biological determinism or most generalizations about gender, I recognize why people think that way or make those generalizations. Still, I get irked when people don’t recognize that generalizations—no matter how true they may be for a large percentage of aggregate groups—do not apply to every member of a… Continue reading “Hey, you’re a guy…”