At Least Philosophy Isn't Like This

From Feministing.

Not that it's a lot to cheer about.

Restore Your Faith in Humanity: Football Player's Team Comes Out To Him

Watch it on YouTube (via Good Men Project).

The Threats Against Anita Sarkeesian Expose The Darkest Aspects Of Online Misogyny

That's the title of an interesting reflection on the latest threats against Anita Sarkeesian, by Maureen Ryan over at HuffPo. (Via Feminist Philosophes.)

Also:

• "Gamergate Trolls Aren't Ethics Crusaders: They're a Hate Group" (Jennifer Allaway, Jezebel) 
• "This Is Mysoginist Terrorism" (Melissa McEwan, Shakesville)
• "The 'Good Name' of Gamergate" (Carolyn Vanseltine, Sibyl Moon Games)
• "We Must Dissent" (Katherine Cross, Feministing) 
• "We Will Force Gaming To Be Free" (Katherine Cross, First Person Scholar)
• "Gamergate's vicious right-wing swell means there can be no neutral stance" (Jon Stone, The Guardian)
• "The threats that shut down Anita Sarkeesian’s talk come from someone who seems to be deeply steeped in the misogynstic Men’s Rights subculture" (David Futrelle, We Hunted the Mammoth)
• "The Top Four Men's Rightsiest things said about the recent threats against Anita Sarkeesian" (David Futrelle, We Hunted the Mammoth)

"Because", as McEwan put it, "threats of violence against uppity women [are] just to be expected". And that last one because it's good to remind ourselves just how ridiculous these people are.

But what's most terrifying about this is that it looks like a glimpse of the future:

• "The Future Of The Culture Wars Is Here, And It's Gamergate" (Kyle Wagner, Deadspin) 

If you read nothing else, read that.

"In Defense of Formal Relationism" Published

I am pleased to report that my paper "In Defense of Formal Relationism" has been published in the latest issue of Thought. Here's the abstract:

In his paper “Flaws of Formal Relationism”, Mahrad Almotahari argues against the sort of response to Frege's Puzzle I have defended elsewhere, which he dubs ‘Formal Relationism’. Almotahari argues that, because of its specifically formal character, this view is vulnerable to objections that cannot be raised against the otherwise similar Semantic Relationism due to Kit Fine. I argue in response that Formal Relationism has neither of the flaws Almotahari claims to identify.

Links: PhilPapers, Thought, Pre-publication PDF.

Some Truth About Abortion

A new book by Katha Pollitt, Pro: Reclaiming Abortion Rights, is getting a lot of attention in the left-wing press. What Pollitt most wants, it seems, is for us "to talk about ending a pregnancy as a common, even normal, event in the reproductive lives of women". These articles are a start:

• "Abortion: Not Easy, Not Sorry" (Laurie Abraham, Elle, from Feministe)
• "Abortion is Great" (Hanna Rosin, Slate Double X) 
• "Abortion Without Apology: A Prescription for Getting the Pro-Choice Groove Back" (Lindsay Beyerstein, American Prospect)

You might also check out:

• Not Alone, a website where women tell their own stories about their experience with abortion
• Emily's Abortion Video (yes, it's old, but if you haven't seen it, it's new to you)

Support Brittany Maynard

Brittany did an interview with People, and there's a beautiful video of her and her family discussing her illness and her decision.

There's a nice story about her on the Daily Beast as well.

Women on the Internet

The harassment of women online reached truly a staggering level yesterday when a lecture that Anita Sarkeesian was to give at Utah State University had to be cancelled due to a threat to commit "the deadliest school shooting in American history" if it was not. As Amy Roth said at Skepchik, this is "organized, dedicated, on-going, online harassment is terrorism directed at women in an attempt to silence them".

If you haven't followed this, there are a lot of articles out there. I'll just mention one:

• "No skin thick enough: The daily harassment of women in the game industry" (Brianna Wu, Polygon)
• UPDATE: "IT HAPPENED TO ME: I've Been Forced Out Of My Home And Am Living In Constant Fear Because Of Relentless Death Threats From Gamergate" (Brianna Wu, XOJane)

Wu is a developer herself, and she was forced to leave her house (as Sarkeesian had been earlier) due to threats made against her.

What's happening with gaming is particularly awful, but it's no treat being an outspoken woman on the internet anyway, as these articles show:

• "Why Women Aren’t Welcome on the Internet" (Amanda Hess, Pacific Standard)
• "For Women on the Internet, It Doesn't Get Better" (Samantha Allen, Daily Dot)
• "But WHAT CAN BE DONE: Dos and Don'ts To Combat Online Sexism" (Leigh Alexander) 
• "'Unspeakable Things': The Predictable Sexist Troll Backlash" (Laurie Penny)
• "Why I Don't Just Go To the Cops" (Rebecca Watson, Skepchick)

All of this speaks in interesting ways to some of the issues with which we've been dealing around here lately. Pay special attention to the way these women are told to "get over it", that it's "not so bad", that it happens to everyone, etc, etc, etc.