romance
-
On bias in (and against!) romance novels.
Romance novels espouse a radical philosophy, that our joy matters as much as power, progress, or fame.
aesthetics of care, AI, AI algorithm, AI algorithms, algorithm, ancestry, artificial neural networks, beach reads, bias, book review, books, Christina Lauren, Ciara Smyth, data training, dating algorithms, dating apps, dating service, DNA, genetic ancestry, genetics, guilty pleasure, happiness, Maggie Nelson, matchmaking, On Freedom, online dating, pleasure, predictive algorithm, prejudice, prejudice against romance novels, reading, romance, romance novel, romance novels, romantic compatability, silent mutations, soulmate, The Falling in Love Montage, the pursuit of happiness, The Soulmate Equation, The True Love Experiment, writing
-
On learning about polyamory from Elephant & Piggie.
Despite the recent surge of art & literature about polyamory, the best depiction is still in a book for elementary schoolers …
Alex Dimitrov, American Poly, babysitting cooperative, Bill de Blasio, Bonnie Garmus, Brian Watson, capitalism, capitalist critique, Charlotte Cowles, childcare, Chirlane McCray, Choosing the Right Pond, Christopher Gleason, consensual nonmonogamy, consumerism, cooperation, cooperative childcare, Cunning Minx, Elephant & Piggie, Elephant and Piggie, Elizabeth Doerr, free love, Geraldo Rivera, group marriage, human sexuality, I’ll Be Lovin’ You, Jennifer Wilson, joy, Kamauu, Lessons in Chemistry, love, Maitland Ward, Mango, Miranda Lambert, Mo Willems, multiple marriage, My New Friend Is So Fun, nontraditional marriage, Notes for My Funeral, Olivia Goldhill, open marriage, open relationship, parenting, partible paternity, poly, poly music, poly songs, polyamorists, polyamorous, polyamorous music, polyamorous parenting, Polyamorous Sex as Political Weapon, polyamorous songs, polyamory, polygamy, raising children, Rated X, relationships, Robert Frank, romance, Ryam Nearing, Sarah Stein Lubrano, sex-positive, social justice, Storming then Performing, wealth inequality, work spouse, work wife
-
On love and history.
Of all my children’s toys, I imagine that the rainbow unicorn appears most unlovable. Its fur is tattered, some patches nearly bare and others clumped or crusty with goo. Its horn is a broken nub flaking bits of plastic. The eyes are scratched. The wings are pocked. The once-bright colors have faded. This unicorn is…
-
On kink, advertising, and climate change.
To save our planet, we need to buy fewer things; how might we still be happy?
ad culture, adventure, advertising, advertising culture, affirmative consent, anti-capitalism, Aronowitz, Bad Sex, Bartolomeo Manfredi, BDSM, buy fewer things, buy less, capitalism, Catherine M Roach, Catherine Roach, Clayton Cubitt, climate change, climate crisis, climate destabilization, climate justice, commercial advertising, connection, consent, consumerism, culture, Cupid Chastised, environmentalism, erotic, erotic art, erotic massage, erotica, Escape Into Meaning, ethical nonmonogamy, ethical polyamory, ethics, Evan Puschak, exploration, fulfillment, global warming, Good Sex, happiness, hedonism, human connection, human sexuality, Hysterical Literature, I'll Read What She's Reading, If Nietzsche Were a Narwhal, Jerry Seinfeld, joy, Justin Gregg, kink, kinky, materialism, morality, Nona Willis Aronowitz, nonmonogamy, normal, normalize, pleasure, Pleasure Activism, polyamory, purchasing, reduce consumerism, reduce consumption, relationships, responsible hedonism, romance, sex, sexual desire, sexual exploration, sexual fulfillment, sexual relationships, sexuality, subverted sexual desire, Toni Bentley
-
On autism and parenting.
My kids are lucky to have such dissimilar parents. Which is happier than thinking I’m the defective parent.
ASD, autism parenting, autism spectrum, autistic parent, building relationships, child psychology, childhood, childhood development, data mining, data-driven dating, dating apps, dating sites, developmental psychology, family, father, fatherhood, growing together, human development, love, mate choice, parenting, parenting on the spectrum, parenting with autism, personal growth, psychology studies, raising a family, raising children, raising kids, relationships, romance
-
On Darwin and free love.
I suddenly saw a link between Erasmus Darwin’s belief in free love and Charles Darwin’s “Origin of the Species”! The only problem? The former was just slander.
affairs, Bargh, behavioral priming, behavioral psychology, brain soup, Charles Darwin, compulsary research studies, Darwin and free love, Darwin belief in free love, Darwin feminism, Darwin feminist, Darwin free love, Emmy Brockman, Erasmus Darwin, Erasmus Darwin evolution, Erasmus Darwin free love, everything from shells, evolution, evolution by natural selection, extramarital daliance with consent, extramarital daliances, Fara, free love, French Revolution, how many neurons in the human brain, I am a scientist, love, love life, many love, many loves, natural selection, neuron counts, Origin of the Species, Patricia Fara, plant neurobiology, plant poetry, Plants Neither Possess nor Require Consciousness, polyamorist, polyamory, priming, psychological priming, psychology research, publication bias, reproducibility crisis, risque plant poetry, romance, Science Is for Me, scientific bias, scientific misconceptions, scientific publishing, slander, supposedly pornographic poetry, survival of the fittest, Suzana Herculano-Houzel, teleological fallacy, teleological misconception, The Human Advantage, The Loves of Plants, theory of evolution, walking speed, was Darwin a polyamorist, was Erasmus Darwin a polyamorist
-
On reading poems from Donika Kelly’s ‘Bestiary’ in jail.
Will poems about lovelorn bowerbirds help men in jail for domestic violence? At least the words are beautiful.
abuse, abusive relationships, affirmative consent, AI, art, assault, Bestiary, Bower, bowerbird, Bruce Weigl, child abuse, Child Beater, consent, CPS, creation, DCS, desire, domestic, domestic violence, Donika Kelly, drinking, Heartbreak, incarceration, jail poetry, Kavanaugh, kindness, love, love poems, mass incarceration, mouse, objectification, poems, poetry, pornography, pre-emptive excuses, relationships, respect, romance, sex education, sexual assault, sexuality, teaching in jail, teaching poetry in jail, That Cat, The Impossible, trauma, violence, What Gay Porn Has Done for Me, writing, writing poetry
-
On smell (again!).
In our polluted world, animals can’t always find their own kind to mate with. Not that all species barriers are good.
assortive mating, CAFO, CAFOs, chimera, choosing mates, choosing romantic partners, continuing evolution, cultural barriers, evolution, fish, heredity, history of violence in the U.S., human evolution, inequality, Loving, Loving v. Virginia, mating, mating based on smell, melanin, miscegenation, parental education, perfume, persistence of inequality, pollution, poverty, racism, romance, scent, skin color, slavery, smell, speciation, species, stick insects, wealth, wealth inequality, Wedekind
-
On romantic failure.
If only those low-status seals –or our low-status president –- calmed their desires with some Auden.
A Naked Singularity, Andrew Bromfield, anemone, BBC Earth, dating, Donald Trump, erotic literature, fur seals, inter-species sex, king penguins, macaque, Matt Walker, monkey having sex with deer, orangutans, President Trump, rape culture, relationships, romance, science, seal sex with penguins, seals having sex with penguins, Sergio De La Pava, sexual assault, sika deer, The Clay Machine Gun, The Platonic Blow, Victor Pelevin, Virginia Morell, W. H. Auden
-
On the question of whom to blame for the paucity of women in science.
We castigate scientists for the number of women in STEM fields, but the behavior of non-scientists might be equally to blame.
Frank Brown Cloud 