There was an article… by Lauren Rowello – a they, she’s a pronoun pointer, “they/them” – and her article was saying, “Kink belongs at Pride, and I want my children to see it.” The whole thing is… talking about how, if children are exposed to kink, then it will show them that not everyone is into the same stuff, blah blah blah. We used to have a word for that. And that word used to be grooming.

Given recent posts – and lest we assume that all people with gender dysphoria are insufferably woke - this video by Sinead Watson may be of interest. It’s not the most jolly viewing, but it is frank and eloquent, and, I think, informative. Issues touched on include the practicalities of transitioning and de-transitioning; the eye-widening failures of supposed experts; social contagion; and attempts by activists and their cheerleaders to erase the customary boundaries of women and children, and those between childhood and the adult world. Regarding which, Laurie Penny gets a brief mention. The word arsehole is used.

A second, longer video, in which Ms Watson talks with Benjamin Boyce, can be found here.

Lifted from the comments. Which you’re reading, of course.

Or, Gratitude, Baby.

Like, you have to come out to me as cis and straight.

It turns out that if you, a straight person – or worse, a straight couple – attend a Pride event, your presence may only be tolerated if you meet certain terms and conditions. Please update your files and lifestyles accordingly.

Also, open thread. Have at it, me hearties.

Bean glove. You heard me. || It’s a car, it’s a helicopter. (h/t, Things) || How to open a drawer. || How to peel potatoes. || The portable kitchen you’ve always wanted. || Pride. || “Alternatives to policing.” || More progressive motherhood. || The thrill of midwifery. || Monster detected. || Accelerated herding. || Maybe help will come. || Inside the Statue of Liberty. || Narrow city. || Vice of note. || Causality questioned. || Coffee Bar, 1959: “A square in the wrong hole is just not dug, even by the jukebox.” || Yes, there will be a test. || Not entirely unrelated. || Always ensure the tank is big enough. || And the robots will dance to K-pop. || The thrill of pencils. || Puzzling. || And finally, then they’ll pay. Then they’ll all pay.

And over at the University of Alberta:  

As an academic drag queen, Tommy is uniquely embodied in their scholarship and praxis of teaching and learning and has authored numerous peer-reviewed publications, including their forthcoming co-edited collection of essays on RuPaul’s Drag Race as it relates to teaching and learning. 

Tommy, we’re told, has a “decolonial, anti-racist, and equity-driven intersectional vision,” which is just the ticket, apparently. For an Executive Director of a Centre for Teaching and Learning. At a university with serious budget problems and supposedly gripped by austerity. Our cross-dressing educator will nonetheless bring to bear “strategies and resources for positive engagement with gender pronouns,” while prompting the less enlightened to “reflect on whiteness, marginalisation, trauma, and continued struggle.” Against reality, one assumes.

Also, open thread. Share ye links and bicker.

Meanwhile, at Princeton, more “equity” in action: 

The Ivy League institution announced in April that it admitted 1,498 students for the class of 2025. A full 22 percent of admitted students are first-generation college students and 68 percent self-identify as “people of colour.” The record number of racial minority admittees comes after the school removed its standardised testing requirement.

Thereby giving the best possible impression.

The university now boasts that there are no longer “minimum test scores for admission,” as “the entirety of a student’s background” will be “considered in context.” Though based on efforts elsewhere, it seems reasonable to suppose that one particular – and academically irrelevant – aspect may weigh more heavily than most.

Having signalled a retreat from conventional metrics and expectations of ability, more ground may soon be ceded. Minority faculty are also demanding the removal of questions, for student applicants and potential employees, regarding “felony convictions,” as this is somehow unfair and an affront to “racial justice.” Other demands include an “additional semester of sabbatical” exclusively for “faculty of colour,” to ease the burden of their “invisible labour” and for being “emblems and spokespersons of diversity at Princeton.” In other words, a brown-person-only holiday to compensate for all of the work time they spend invoking “white supremacy,” claiming to be oppressed, and demanding special favours in enormous lists.

Update, via [+] in the comments:

Pitzer College in California has adopted a “test-blind” admission policy, meaning that standardised tests including the SAT and ACT “will be eliminated from the admission review process entirely.” […] Yvonne Berumen, the vice president for admission and financial aid at Pitzer College, said in the press release that “The elimination of standardised test scores from our review process entirely has the potential to send a strong message about equity, access, inclusivity, and excellence.” 

Message received.

Someone not quite making the case she thinks she’s making. 

Open thread. Do chat among yourselves.

I’m not hungover. You’re hungover.

All about the ass. || Rich in zinc. || Seemingly routine. || Glasses are inherently racist. || Correction of note. || Complications. || Let’s talk about the tuck. || A song about the police and their privileged horses. || Parenting in action. || Nommy-nommy-oh. || In middle-class leftist bedlamite news, “A period of deep shame for being white.” Cultivated neuroticism is very in right now. || Niche browser extension. || Bolton is vibrant. || Bat nursery. || Underside. || Unhappy educator. (h/t, Jeff) || Today’s word is degenerate. (h/t, Darleen) || Motoring 2.0 || Progressive motherhood. || How to lose money selling cannabis. || And finally, how to smuggle cocaine. Pro tip: don’t do cocaine before attempting this.

Or, Prattle Beyond The Stars: 

Physicists at MIT and SUNY Stony Brook recently announced findings that the total surface area of two black holes was maintained after the two entities merged. While this research was a welcome confirmation of both Stephen Hawking’s work and the theory of general relativity, it failed to address a crucial matter: what were its racial implications?

Heather Mac Donald browses an astronomy course at Cornell University, titled Black Holes: Race and the Cosmos, and premised on the question, “Is there a connection between the cosmos and the idea of racial blackness?” It seems unlikely that said course will enable any great scientific revelations, despite marshalling the combined forces of “Black Studies theorists” and the late jazz musician Sun Ra, who claimed to have visited Saturn; though it promises to “conjure blackness through cosmological themes.” 

And so, while some observe the merging of bogglingly massive astronomical objects, others regard themselves as a more fascinating topic, and “conjure” their own “blackness.” Via farce, contrivance, and racial narcissism.

Consider this an open thread. Share ye links and bicker.

Robby Soave on achieving “equity”: 

The Vancouver School Board in British Columbia, Canada, is eliminating honours courses as part of a push to foster inclusivity and equity in the classroom. The board had previously eliminated the high school honours English programme, and maths and science will now get the axe as well. “By phasing out these courses, all students will have access to an inclusive model of education, and all students will be able to participate in the curriculum fulsomely,” said the school board in a statement.

By denying access, they are granting access, obviously. How terribly inclusive.

This is a spectacularly frank declaration: Education officials don’t like that some higher-achieving students are sorted into environments where they are more likely to succeed than their less-gifted peers, and would prefer to keep everyone officially at the same level to the greatest extent possible. The plan closely mirrors California’s recent efforts to discourage students who are proficient at math from taking calculus any earlier than their classmates; Canadian educators seem no less excited than their U.S. counterparts about naively pursuing equality of outcome at all costs.

Inevitably, the objections of students and parents were dismissed by educators, including Jennifer Katz, a professor of education at the University of British Columbia, as “nonsense” and perpetuating “systemic racism.” And so, the needs and prospects of gifted children will be sacrificed in the name of progressive piety. A piety that just happens to look like something else.

Comet Melanie Mae – that’s what it says here – is in no way high-maintenance:

My gender changes depending on the day, or week, or even depending on the hour. It also means the pronouns I’m comfortable with can change too.

To avoid a pronoun gaffe, and crushing underfoot the meek and marginalised, you must first check the colour-coded bracelets.

Pink means she/her; yellow means they/them; and blue means he/him.

And because this arrangement isn’t sufficiently complicated, or enough of an imposition on your time and sanity, said bracelets can be combined. It’s fully customisable. So do pay attention. 

See also Laurie Penny and her ongoing project of self-description. 

Somewhat related. 

Via here.