A little while back, I argued in a debate at Campus Progress that pro-choicers should hold the line against conceding there’s anything seriously wrong with abortion. Several commenters suggested that the malign influence of testosterone had rendered me insufficiently sympathetic to women facing the difficult decision of whether to terminate a pregnancy. So perhaps I’ll […]

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Three quick questions about this Kay Hymowitz piece: Is “Why men have become more discreet than women, assuming they have” really “one of those cultural mysteries that is yet to be solved”? Two words; Asymmetric incentives. I’m just going out on a limb here, but I’m guessing that (to pick one crude metric) the amount […]

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New Jersey legislators have voted to create civil unions for gay couples, though also left open the possibility of extending full marriage rights in the future. I find myself less inclined than I used to be to reject this as an unacceptable “separate but equal” solution for a couple reasons. The legal semantic difference matters […]

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Kathryn Jean Lopez has the smart, decent take on Mary Cheney.

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MoJo Blog highlights an odd passage in a Wall Street Journal op-ed by Brendan Miniter (perennial Luigi of the Brothers Miniter): Although advocates of same-sex marriage will deny there is any connection to extending the institution to gay couples, a recent report released by the National Center for Health Statistics reveals why this debate is […]

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Oh, Heritage, Heritage, Heritage, whatever shall we do with you? In the latest effort to portray abstinence education as the best thing for teens next to a radioactive spider bite, Robert Rector and Kirk Johnson argue that teen abstinence is linked to higher academic achievement. I find this plausible enough on face, although note that […]

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There’s a lively discussion going in the comments over a Yglesias’ over a recent paper purporting to find that “women are less likely to take tenure track positions in science, but the gender gap is entirely explained by fertility decisions.” Replies Matt: You say the gap is explained by “fertility decisions” I say it’s explained […]

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Via Pandagon, this is incredibly creepy: Not that this requires any further comment, but: “MEMORIES: Key to Captivating Beauty”? What the fuck does that even mean? Obviously the subtext of all this stuff is that women are property, but I’m always a little amazed when they’re willing to go right ahead and make it text—as, […]

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Some of the commentaries on the Ted Haggard scandal from the disgraced preacher’s co-religionists is illuminating. For instance: One of the most influential Christians on the planet has been accused of a lot and has admitted to some. If the purchase of drugs was all that happened then that’s bad enough. If drugs were taken […]

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The blogs have already been having plenty of fun with new guidelines recommending that federal grant money be used to target unmarried 19-to-29 year olds with a message of sexual abstinence. (Which should be a hard sell, since 90 percent of folks in that age range do have sex.) This is offensive enough on its […]

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