May 2013
9 posts
Queer in STEM: A national survey of sexual... →
greenchestnuts:
In the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), the social experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered, or queer (LGBTQ) professionals are often overlooked. Those of us who work in STEM research or teaching know that LGBTQ colleagues are out there, if we know where to look, but we know very little about the LGBTQ folks who work in STEM, as a...
Become a contributor to The Asexual Agenda →
It’s that time again! The Asexual Agenda is looking for new bloggers.
The Asexual Agenda is not a 101 blog, and is not a visibility effort. It is a blog written by ace-spectrum people, for ace-spectrum people, at a level that is higher than what you find in the news. We talk about experiences, identity politics, intersectionality, academic research, asexual activism, and anything else you...
Concept Awesome: Resources for asexual survivors... →
queenieofaces:
(Obvious trigger warnings apply to the whole post, although there’s no graphic discussion of anything. If you don’t want to see this on your dashboard, I will be tagging everything related to this project with ”resources for ace survivors,” so you can blacklist that. )
I’ve decided that…
This is a brilliant project and you should all go and check it out.
U.S. Lawmaker Proposes New Criteria for Choosing... →
greenchestnuts:
The new chair of the House of Representatives science committee has drafted a bill that, in effect, would replace peer review at the National Science Foundation (NSF) with a set of funding criteria chosen by Congress. For good measure, it would also set in motion a process to determine whether the same criteria should be adopted by every other federal science agency.
How about...
4 tags
It's Complicated, Let Me Draw You This Graph:... →
So I’ve been thinking about asexual culture and asexual perspectives lately. There were a few recent comments on an old post at Asexuality Unabashed on the topic, and then last week’s journal club got drawn out on a tangent about whether asexual people see the world differently than allosexual people, on the whole.
I often see people complaining that asexual culture boils down to cake,...
You know what's awesome? Inside Nature's Giants....
I am curled up watching enthusiastic people dissect (ethically sourced) dead animals and explain what all the structures do and how the animal’s anatomy helps it do cool things, and how and why it evolved these structures. I’m fascinated, especially since anatomy is not my strong suit. They have kangaroos and giant squids and whales and now insects and trees (in the Jungle episode)....
April 2013
8 posts
I am now procrastinating on writing about science...
Well done, Sci.
kingedmundsroyalmurder:
[snip]
I spent most of the Wilson and Holldobbler article going, “but you haven’t proved anything. You’re just talking in circles.” And possibly that’s just because I don’t actually have a clear idea about how group selection is supposed to work, but I found it seriously unconvincing.
And yeah, I agree with you about the lifelong vs. temporary non-reproductiveness. (I’d...
kingedmundsroyalmurder:
writingfromfactorx:
kingedmundsroyalmurder:
Semi-convincing arguments for eusociality in humans=a suitable connection to class material.
(To clarify, the semi-convincing arguments aren’t mine, they’re just ones that I will be examining in order to justify talking about insect social structures in a class about hominin paleoecology.)
*stares* Mind sharing? Because...
kingedmundsroyalmurder:
Semi-convincing arguments for eusociality in humans=a suitable connection to class material.
(To clarify, the semi-convincing arguments aren’t mine, they’re just ones that I will be examining in order to justify talking about insect social structures in a class about hominin paleoecology.)
*stares* Mind sharing? Because I’ve seen people make claims that...
1 tag
Index of Asexual Student Groups?
nextstepcake:
After a recent conversation about ace student groups, I realized that I don’t think I’ve ever seen a comprehensive list - but I would like to start one!
So far I know of groups at UC Berkeley, UC Davis, and Western Washington University; and I think I remember hearing about one in florida but can’t remember any details.
Anyway, does anyone else know of any College or University...
blackdogrunning:
There’s a thing going round my facebook feed thing now, and it really fucking pisses me off? Like, it’s about shelters, and all the “If your dog is black/a ‘bullie breed’ it’s pretty much dead as soon as it walk in the door” and the “The whole trip to the euthinasia room is terrible and sad and euthinasia for all the dogs is aweful and gorey and gross and they are in pain and...
Graduate school, asexily
queenieofaces:
This post has been cross-posted to The Asexual Agenda.
Since so many of the writers on The Asexual Agenda are graduate students, a while back we were talking about writing about what it’s like to be an ace in graduate school. Since grad school has been taking over my life recently, I figured now was as good a time as any.
It should be noted that these are my experiences, and...
Nietzsche's Gramophone Record: Ok so this... →
swankivy:
neondarling:
Ok so this asexuality documentary is pretty good
but the only thing I have an issue with is that they don’t actually interview any cute aces. It’s pretty good with the core info but it doesn’t exactly aid in getting rid of the stereotype that aces are fat, weird, lonely people who can’t get it…
Sorry, I must’ve left my “pretty” face in my other pants the day we were...
March 2013
19 posts
facingthenorthwind:
thestruttingdead:
gardenburger:
gardenburger:
hey everyone, lets talk about how syphilis didnt appear in Europe till after Christopher Columbus came back from America but didnt exist in people from the Americas either until then. lets talk about how the only animals syphilis was found in before then were llamas.
no im not kidding we need to talk about this
#are you...
Anonymous asked: Thanks for changing the Cthulhu post. I appreciate it.
Anonymous asked: Hi Sciatrix, Just saw your post about our Cthulhu paper, thanks for writing about it. Do you mind changing "endosymbiontic bacteria" to "symbiotic protists"? The two new genera are microbial eukaryotes living within the guts of termites. Some of these eukaryotic symbionts do indeed have endosymbiotic bacteria, in fact Cthulhu macrofasciculumque and Cthylla microfasciculumque...
4 tags
Holy shit, someone named two entire genera of...
Here, we describe two new genera of small-to-intermediate size and complexity, represented by the type species Cthulhu macrofasciculumque and Cthylla microfasciculumque from Prorhinotermes simplex and Reticulitermes virginicus, respectively (both hosts confirmed by DNA barcoding).
James ER, Okamoto N, Burki F, Scheffrahn RH, Keeling PJ (2013) Cthulhu Macrofasciculumque n. g., n. sp....
This is something I've seriously been wondering...
metapianycist:
fahrbotdrusilla:
If a bisexual were to identify is a homo-romantic bisexual, would an asexual consider that appropriation?
No, because romantic and sexual orientations can disagree like that. It’s called having a mixed orientation.
I feel the need to point out here that the concept of having a mixed orientation itself is actually older than asexual communities, and was first...
chibiwaja:
writingfromfactorx replied to your post: filling out fafsa is the biggest pain in my ass
They’re changing the HOPE requirements? Huh.
yeaaaaaaaaah, just that starting this summer in order to obtain hope—students have to fill out fafsa every year (which is a complete pain in my ass as i don’t want/need loans and i’m not eligible for work study or anything). i’ve been getting hope...
metapianycist:
minionier:
xenotox:
metapianycist:
You seem to be forgetting that demisexual additionally means a person who experiences themself as asexual most of the time and experiences sexual attraction only to people they’ve known for a long time, so no, this would not “theoretically apply to anyone.” Demisexuality can mean that you don’t know if you’ll ever be sexually attracted to...
xenotox:
metapianycist:
You seem to be forgetting that demisexual additionally means a person who experiences themself as asexual most of the time and experiences sexual attraction only to people they’ve known for a long time, so no, this would not “theoretically apply to anyone.” Demisexuality can mean that you don’t know if you’ll ever be sexually attracted to your partner.
Sexual...
A proposition for other aces who like following...
ace-muslim:
I’m going to propose something different. I think that this would be most effective as an “Ace Reading Club” run through the Asexual Agenda blog. Somebody could serve as a moderator and every week (or whatever frequency worked best) would put up a post with a link to a publicly-accessible academic paper, or to a detailed summary. People could read the paper/summary in their own time...
What is "the asexual community"?
ace-muslim:
writingfromfactorx:
greenchestnuts:
ace-muslim:
This post is inspired by two different threads discussing the articles on asexuality from the Psychology & Sexuality special theme issue (1, 2), but I wanted to pull this issue into its own post.
When we talk about “the asexual community” I think most of us mean the online communities around AVEN and/or Tumblr.
These online...
A proposition for other aces who like following...
anthean:
writingfromfactorx:
nextstepcake:
Would there be any interest in anything like a skype group, or chat room, or some such to have a place to discuss articles and general thoughts about asexuality and academia in a place more suited to back and forth conversation than tumblr?
EDIT: I think I’m going to set up a temporary skype group while we work out details, so if anyone wants to...
What is "the asexual community"?
greenchestnuts:
ace-muslim:
This post is inspired by two different threads discussing the articles on asexuality from the Psychology & Sexuality special theme issue (1, 2), but I wanted to pull this issue into its own post.
When we talk about “the asexual community” I think most of us mean the online communities around AVEN and/or Tumblr.
These online communities are only a small and...
A proposition for other aces who like following...
nextstepcake:
Would there be any interest in anything like a skype group, or chat room, or some such to have a place to discuss articles and general thoughts about asexuality and academia in a place more suited to back and forth conversation than tumblr?
EDIT: I think I’m going to set up a temporary skype group while we work out details, so if anyone wants to skype about ways to set up a forum...
ace-muslim:
Taylor & Francis Online :: Psychology & Sexuality - Latest articles
For those who have access to academic journals, the latest issue of Psychology & Sexuality has several articles about asexuality.
Does ANYONE on my feeds have access to this journal? So far I don’t have access, and I have not been able to get hold of anyone with a university that subscribes to it...
Aces like Words, Part 2: The Ambiguity of... →
aromanticaardvark:
writingfromfactorx:
aromanticaardvark:
I like this post, but I disagree that it’s the ‘asexual community’ - ‘zucchini’ and ‘queerplatonic’ were coined by the aromantic community, not the asexual, and I have encountered the same relationship hierarchy in the asexual community as in society at large. I think the distinction between these two things is an important one to...
Aces like Words, Part 2: The Ambiguity of... →
aromanticaardvark:
I like this post, but I disagree that it’s the ‘asexual community’ - ‘zucchini’ and ‘queerplatonic’ were coined by the aromantic community, not the asexual, and I have encountered the same relationship hierarchy in the asexual community as in society at large. I think the distinction between these two things is an important one to make, since they’re often conflated...
savagedamsel:
It is the great tragedy of my life that I cannot knit and blanket-burrito myself at the same time.
THAT’S WHY WE NEED TO GET YOU A SNUGGIE, DEAR.
quarterclever:
frogworkmajyyks:
pro = good
con = bad
prostitution
constitution
wake up america
Anyone have the OED handy? Because I know “con” in the sense of bad comes from the Latin contra, meaning against, while the “con” in constitution comes from the Latin con-, meaning with or together, but the Internet is giving me conflicting information on whether contra and con come from the...
February 2013
7 posts
quarterclever:
writingfromfactorx:
musicaljello:
It irks me when people just assume what you mean by something and then go off on a tantrum rant.
Chill. Seriously.
If you want science to take you seriously, don’t use something they’ve already used.
There is a difference between “the English language” and “Scientific language”.
In science, it is dangerous to call two things the same name...
2 tags
musicaljello:
It irks me when people just assume what you mean by something and then go off on a tantrum rant.
Chill. Seriously.
If you want science to take you seriously, don’t use something they’ve already used.
There is a difference between “the English language” and “Scientific language”.
In science, it is dangerous to call two things the same name because then people can be confused,...
2 tags
life's too short to even care at all: I think it’s... →
greenchestnuts:
juliorichterr:
I think it’s interesting that, despite the amount of people I see saying asexuals are super into slut-shaming (which is just a really terrible term pls stop using it), I never actually see anyone in the asexuality tag getting angry at people for having sex.
Sure, I occasionally see people saying…
I’ve seen it. For example, recently there was a post talking...
ace-muslim:
wtfdynamics:
Usually I raise an eyebrow at Valentine’s Day. But I had such a lovely Ash Wednesday (replaced it with “You Are Allowed To Screw Up Sometimes And Also To Eat Muffins” Day) that I don’t really feel like snarking about “Commercialization of Love and Reification of the Romantic Hierarchy” Day.
However, I’ve been listening to The Airborne Toxic Event’s cover of “The Book...
January 2013
15 posts
3 tags
Also, relevant to the “are aces queer” / “do aces have any place in queer spaces” argument that appears to be going across the Internet for the nth time: I finally got round to reaching out to my new university’s GSM resource center and saying “hey, I have an asexuality group going, I know it’s not a university group but would you be willing to add it to...
Academic Sex Fandom: writingfromfactorx:... →
writingfromfactorx:
alfredkinsey:
That’s what British biologist Emily Burdfield-Steele and her colleagues wanted to find out.
Their hypothesis was that people, including scientists, were grossly misunderstanding spider reproduction because they couldn’t stop anthropomorphizing the…
Thanks!
alfredkinsey:
That’s what British biologist Emily Burdfield-Steele and her colleagues wanted to find out.
Their hypothesis was that people, including scientists, were grossly misunderstanding spider reproduction because they couldn’t stop anthropomorphizing the creatures involved. Instead of seeing a natural spider sex act, they kept seeing “widows” and “male sacrifices.” Those are decidedly...
greenchestnuts:
abolished-your-mythology:
mosymoseys:
abolished-your-mythology replied to your post: Just a reminder that one of the most important…
It’s gotten to the point that I don’t even snicker. Today in cancer bio we were talking about a proto-oncogene called Crack, though, and that was a bit distracting.
LOL! I just want to know how high those researchers were when they...
voltafiish:
can i just say it makes me really uncomfortable when non-ace people say “oh well we should nix the romantic orientation stuff”
no
just
no
you don’t have to use them
but you don’t have any say on those who do
none
what so ever
I have essentially nixed the romantic orientation stuff in my personal identity, and that would make me really uncomfortable to see. It’s a...
ace-case asked: I just wanted to say thank you. My friend and I, just over a month ago, started dating queer platonically and I don't think I would have even known it was a possibility with out your presence in the ace community. So. On behalf of me and my new zucchini... Thank you so very much. Because this is wonderful.
quarterclever:
lairn replied to your link: Things you never say to a graduate student | Only A Model
Shoot, its basically one of the questions. But Im really only curious about the average time it takes for your particular doctorate program. Apparently a PhD in English takes 6-10 years, which bums me out a little.
Woah, dude, that’s a seriously long time! Is that for a combined MA/PhD or...
