Jun 21It’s Not About Babies, It’s About SexThe sexual revolution is still being fought. With attacks on contraception looming, the battle has arrived at our bedrooms. Men, myself included, have long taken for granted the responsibility (not to mention the expense and physical imposition) for birth control. To be blunt, the most I’ve ever had to do…Sexuality5 min read
Jun 2Aren’t We ‘Hardened’ Enough?Mass shootings are the symptoms. The diseases are misogyny and extremism. The linguistic metaphor falls like a cruel joke. After the devastating, demoralizing, horrifying, enraging Uvalde school shooting, elected officials in Texas referenced a law they passed in 2019 allowing districts to “harden” their schools. Don’t these officials know any…Society6 min read
Jan 24On the Edge of our SeatsJews in America are facing antisemitism at levels unexperienced in our lifetimes, adding to a precarious sense of isolation. It had to be pointed out to the FBI that a gunman taking a rabbi and four other Jews praying during a Sabbath service at a synagogue constitutes an attack “related…Judaism13 min read
Sep 9, 2021Restricting Abortion Steals Freedom — And Perpetuates InequalityLaws imposing forced births strip away self-determination— creating a two-tiered society of who does and doesn’t have bodily autonomy. People who have had an abortion are yet again telling their stories in public. …Abortion6 min read
Aug 8, 2021Power TripFrom climate change to electrical grids to our jobs, our diets and our homes, it can be humbling to realize how little power we really have. I didn’t have the Texas winter storm that bad. In fact I was remarkably lucky. It could have been so much worse. In June…Society10 min read
Published in P.S. I Love You·May 4, 2021To Fall in Love With a MotherThe scope of a mother’s love is so much bigger than I ever knew — and it’s changed how I’ve loved. — At first come the logistics. Dates on weekday nights, or carved out of weekend mornings or afternoons, when the child is with his or her dad. In the case of a toddler, perhaps coming over after bedtime, but not spending the night. The chance of an earlier-than-expected wake-up, or perhaps…Love7 min read
Apr 23, 2021No More Turning Away: Why Austin Must Reject Proposition BThe results of Proposition B won’t solve Austin’s homelessness problem. But it will tell us how we’ll deal with it and who we are. On the turning away From the pale and downtrodden And the words they say Which we won’t understand Don’t accept that what’s happening Is just a case…Austin6 min read
Published in P.S. I Love You·Mar 30, 2021Give Back the NightMen must get in the fight to end sexual abuse and violence against women. — It’s time for men to give back the night. As if we could, as if the night is ours at all, much less ours to give. The night belongs to us all, equally, and should be shared and enjoyed by us all, equally, as we choose, safely. And along with…Equality8 min read
Published in Sexography·Feb 23, 2021Is Sex That Great? Thanks to the Pandemic, I Can’t RememberFantasizing about sex is one thing. Recalling what makes it magical is another. — Like burning through your queue and recommendations on Netflix, uninterested in watching something you’ve seen before, I’m getting bored with my memories of sex. Which is too bad, because minus a few I’d rather forget but can’t, I’m grateful for the video images on replay in my mind: picturing different…Sex7 min read
Published in The Shadow·Feb 3, 2021A Jewish Space Laser Is Absurd. But So Is Antisemitism.Since antisemitism is rooted in ignorance and bigotry, one specious claim is no more crazy than the one before it. An elected official in the United States, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, shared a Facebook book post a few years ago (now deleted) claiming Jews were responsible for a deadly California…Anti Semitism5 min read
