By s.e. smith on 28 July, 2010
A recent Miss Conduct column featured a letter from a person with a common problem: Unwanted touch. How do you convey that you’re not a touchy-feely person without coming across as rude or a prude? Ever since starting my freshman year of college, I’ve encountered a startlingly high number of males who think it’s appropriate [...]
Posted in autonomy, bad advice, bodies, Dear Imprudence | Tagged harassment, Miss Conduct, Robin Abrahams, sexism, unwanted touch
By s.e. smith on 15 July, 2010
I know we’ve had a number of Dear Imprudences in the last week or so, but, people, there has been a lot of really bad advice out there. This Sunday’s ‘The Ethicist’ column in the New York Times was a pretty glaring example, and I thank FWD reader Molly Bandit for bringing it to my [...]
Posted in bad advice, Dear Imprudence | Tagged outing, Randy Cohen, The Ethicist, transgender
By s.e. smith on 14 July, 2010
On to the other letter in last week’s Dear Prudence with a response that made me, to be blunt, extremely angry. A letter writer submitted this: Dear Prudence, I am a proud gay man and for the last several years have worked in a high-ranking position for a company where my homosexuality has never been [...]
Posted in bad advice, Dear Imprudence, i'm right here, social attitudes | Tagged ableism, bigotry, Dear Prudence, Emily Yoffe, in the workplace
By s.e. smith on 9 July, 2010
This week’s edition of Dear Prudence had several entries that got me extremely riled up, but the one I’m choosing to feature is one from a young intern who got, well, some pretty awful advice. The intern wrote: Dear Prudence, I landed a dream internship in the entertainment industry and on my first day on [...]
Posted in bad advice, Dear Imprudence, feminism | Tagged Dear Prudence, Emily Yoffe, sexism, sexual harassment
By s.e. smith on 29 June, 2010
Note: This post was written primarily with nondisabled readers in mind. Cure evangelism is a scourge which seems unlikely to vanish any time soon, so we may as well address it and have a little chat about what it is, why it is problematic, and what you, personally, can do about it. This is not [...]
Posted in 101, autonomy, bad advice, blaming, bodies | Tagged cure evangelism, this is not helpful
By Annaham on 25 June, 2010
[Warning for possibly triggering content regarding mental health, specifically depression.] I’ve been reading a fair number of how-to creativity books (yeah, I know, creativity is not something you can “learn” from a book) recently in preparation for a long-term project, and one thing I have noticed about some of these books–and a lot of the [...]
Posted in art, bad advice, creative work, mental health | Tagged art, creative work, creative writing, depression, inner critic, mental health, mental illness, social treatment
By lauredhel on 31 May, 2010
MSNBC is carrying a Reuters article, Insult to injury: More kids hurt by own crutches, about injuries to young people “related to the use of crutches, wheelchairs and walkers”. Apparently, these injuries are “on the rise”, with significant numbers of USAn emergency room attendances related to injuries sustained while using a mobility aid. Note, firstly, [...]
Posted in accessibility, bad advice, medical practice, social attitudes | Tagged accessibility, children, children with disabilities, crutches, design, disabled children, emergency, er, falls, inaccessibility, injuries, injury, kids, medicine, mobility aid, mobility aids, pediatrics, science, stairs, universal design, walker, walkers, wheelchair, wheelchairs
By s.e. smith on 11 May, 2010
I recently came across a Reuters story on a University of Essex study discussing the impact of spending time outside on mental health. ‘Five minutes in the green can boost self esteem,’ the title says. Now, this is actually a study supported by my own anecdata: When I go outside, I do indeed experience a [...]
Posted in accessibility, bad advice, blaming, bodies, mental health, social attitudes
By abby jean on 11 April, 2010
File this under “Who Even Knows, Anymore?” s.e. smith recently posted a photo of a “5 a day” tag that came on some asparagus she bought. She felt, and I agree, that those tags are a form of food policing – instructing people what they “should” eat. The corollary, of course, is that if people [...]
Posted in activism, bad advice, blaming, bodies, Uncategorized | Tagged eating, food, vegetables
By s.e. smith on 12 March, 2010
The Dear Prudence column for 4 March included the following letter from a reader: Dear Prudie, I’m almost ready to settle down and have kids, but I have a bit of a problem. I was born with an extra toe on each foot and part of an extra finger. Surgery when I was 1 year [...]
Posted in bad advice, bodies, Dear Imprudence, normality | Tagged Dear Prudence, genetic counseling, polydactyly, Robin Abrahams
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