The Many Reasons We Are Now Sex-Negative

At Quillette, Jacob Falkovich has written "The Sex Negative Society" in which he lists the many reasons we are now sex "negative." Here is an excerpt:

Capitalism knows that sex sells, but it’s not selling you on sex. You’re sold sex appeal—the trappings that make your peers (and you) see yourself as worthy of sex. Sex worthiness is sold in many ways: luxury watches, luxury dresses, luxury degrees, luxury beliefs. People can fall into narcissistic obsession with acquiring sex worthiness that entirely precludes actual intimacy. Even if that fate is avoided, the effort spent on acquiring sex worthiness isn’t spent on connecting with intimate partners. Good sex doesn’t contribute to any brand’s sales metrics or any nation’s GDP.

Perhaps it makes no sense to expect sex-positivity of any culture at all. If culture is simply the set of stories people tell themselves to get along collectively and establish order and hierarchy, it has no room for the private and disorderly affair of sex. Camille Paglia takes this further, imagining most of Western art and philosophy as a defense against the chaotic, filthy, and daemonic nature of intercourse. Civilization was always a way to control sex, not to promote it.

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The Most Bigoted Book . . .

From Titania McGrath, dedicated to keeping us all on track: And if you have any friends who are teetering from this vile poison spewed by dictionaries, by all means keep them away from Colin Wright:

Wright is a bad person because Wright lives in a fact-based world and reports on articles like this, which contain facts:

From the Daily Mail:

A student who said women were born with female genitals and the difference in physical strength between men and women 'was a fact' is facing disciplinary action by her university.

Lisa Keogh, 29, who studies law at Abertay University in Dundee was reported to university chiefs by her classmates after she said that women were not as physically strong as men.

The mature student, who is in her final year, is now facing a formal investigation by the university for the alleged 'offensive' and 'discriminatory' comments.

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Money Talks When Apple Starts Swinging the Hatchet

Apple fired Advertising Platform Specialist Antonio Garcia Martinez two days ago, convicting him of insensitivity to women after cherry picking a few sentences from his universally acclaimed 5-year old book, Chaos Monkeys, and giving those sentences the least-charitable readings possible. Apple announced:

At Apple, we have always strived to create an inclusive, welcoming workplace where everyone is respected and accepted. Behavior that demeans or discriminates against people for who they are has no place here.

In the meantime (as Matt Taibbi points out), Dr. Dre remains on Apple's board despite authoring "such classics as “Bitches Ain’t Shit” and “Lyrical Gangbang,” who is also the subject of such articles as “Here’s What’s Missing from Straight Outta Compton: Me and the Other Women Dr. Dre Beat Up.” It sure helps to be a billionaire when you are hoping that your employer will stand up to the Woke mobs.

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Mathematics as the Central Principle of Modern Origami

At min 2:00 of his TED talk, Robert Lang asks what has allowed the recent explosion of innovation in the ancient art of origami:

And it raises a question: what changed? And what changed is something you might not have expected in an art, which is math. That is, people applied mathematical principles to the art, to discover the underlying laws. And that leads to a very powerful tool. The secret to productivity in so many fields -- and in origami -- is letting dead people do your work for you. (Laughter) Because what you can do is take your problem, and turn it into a problem that someone else has solved, and use their solutions. And I want to tell you how we did that in origami.

In his excellent talk, Lang refers to modern examples of origami, including a cuckoo clock made from one sheet of paper and no cuts. Lang proceeds to discuss the mathematics of origami. Beautiful, mathematical and mind-blowing. It's an excellent talk with more than a few laughs along the way.

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Mount Allison University Suspends Tenured Professor for Disagreeing With Woke Narrative on her Personal Blog

What are the horrible things that tenured Professor Rima Azar stated on her personal blog?

When a local activist named Husoni Raymond opined that New Brunswick is “systemically racist,” Azar applied her comparative understanding of Lebanon and Canada to argue that, in relative terms, her adopted home isn’t racist at all, but is rather “a young country” that “wants to save the world.” (As evidence, she pointed to the fact that Raymond himself had been lavishly honoured for his anti-racism work, which is hardly consistent with white supremacism.) In a similar vein, she has argued down activists who claim Canada is a “patriarchy” afflicted by rape culture. If you want to see “real rape culture,” she’s noted archly, take a look at “ISIS practices in Syria.” Azar also has called Black Lives Matter a “radical” movement, which is an unfashionable thing to say, but isn’t remotely inaccurate given BLM’s stated goals of creating a “global liberation movement” that will “dismantle capitalism,” abolish prisons, and erase national borders.

Who is Professor Azar?  Jonathan Kay describes her in a March 2, 2021 post at National Post:

When Azar eventually immigrated to Canada, she developed expertise in helping parents who face complex child-care needs, and has gone on to found or supervise numerous acclaimed support programs in New Brunswick. In her personal life, Azar is a foster parent, a polyglot (Arabic is her mother tongue), and a blogger who writes passionately about classical liberal values and Lebanon’s ongoing challenges. She’s also a proud Canadian — writing that the Maple Leaf “means the world to me,” even while still being “moved” by the sight of a Lebanese flag. If you know of a more intersectional Canadian, I’d like to meet them.

Professor Azar has now been suspended by her University. Because she dares to express her own thoughts, she will also be required to take equity, diversity and inclusion training. On her blog she mentions that she has set up a GoFundMe account to pay for her legal defense. She states:

 I now have been suspended from my job without pay, based on false allegations. We are in a pandemic and times are tough on all. This is why your support means the world to me. I am so grateful for my union’s continuous support in dealing with Mount Allison University. However, the reputational damage already done (defamation, attack to my character) has implications beyond my employer and workplace. I will use the funds raised to cover my personal legal defence fund. I love my students, job, colleagues, university, province, and beautiful country beyond words. My story is beyond academic freedom. I precisely chose to move to Canada for democracy/freedom of expression.  Why are we doing this to ourselves?

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