Social Justice

Low-Barrier Housing and NIMBYism in Action

NIMBYism, the idea that certain development projects are okay, but Not In My BackYard, is discrimination with a prettier hat on. NIMBYs don’t come right out and say the actual reasons for their opposition; instead, they offer other reasons, perhaps to reduce their own cognitive dissonance because they don’t want to think of themselves as …

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Puberty Blockers: What They Are and How They Work

It crossed my mind that we often talk about puberty blockers without actually talking about what they are, so I wanted to do this post to help fill that gap. The hormone party There are three types of hormones and hormone-releasing areas that are relevant here: Hypothalamus: The hypothalamus is the brain’s hormonal air traffic …

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Separating Out Sex/Gender, Biology and Social Construct

I got thinking about this after watching an interview with Steven Pinker, one of my academic crushes, and then another interview with Jordan Peterson. Both referred to biological differences between men and women, although in different ways, and I wanted to do a post exploring my own take on sex and gender differences, and the …

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Diagram of socially acceptable identities and deviant identities

Racism, Prejudice, and Implicit/Explicit Beliefs

Last week I reviewed White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo. There were some important concepts that she alluded to but didn’t clearly explain, so I decided to do a post, from a social constructionist viewpoint, about how stereotypes and prejudice develop, and why the difference between implicit and explicit beliefs is important. Our societies create categories …

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Is Being Politically Correct Helpful or Ineffective?

The push to be politically correct drives some people crazy, while others think that being careful about language is necessary to keep from causing offence. There are all kinds of people out there being intentionally offensive (just look at Twitter), but to what extent should we as a society go hunting for it when it’s …

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Indian Residential Schools: Canada’s National Disgrace

On May 27, Canada was shaken out of its coronavirus haze by a press release from the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc (Kamloops Indian Band) stating that the remains of 215 children had been found buried on the grounds of the Kamloops Indian Residential School. The school, operated by the Catholic Church in Kamloops, British Columbia, housed …

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Why Are Only Some Differences Socially Significant?

As human beings, each of us is more alike than we are different. In fact, we all share 99.9% of the same genes, according to the National Human Genome Research Institute. Despite all of this sameness, we pay a lot of attention to differences… but only some differences are socially significant. The rest, we don’t …

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"The opposite of poverty isn't wealth, the opposite of poverty is justice" – Bryan Stevenson

Poverty Can Be Very Expensive

There are some significant barriers that people living in poverty face when it comes to managing their finances. However, these may not always be obvious, so let’s talk about them. Let’s consider what it might look like to be living in poverty here in British Columbia, Canada, where I live. Provincial income assistance payments, including …

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Marginalized Groups and On-Screen Representation

A fellow blogger wrote a while back about social media claims that a film was whitewashing. It reminded me of a conversation about on-screen representation of marginalized groups that I’d had with someone not long before that, and I thought I’d write about it. Representation issues Let’s begin with the conversation from a while back. …

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Universal income: a guaranteed livable income could take poverty out of the picture

Benefits of Universal Basic Income for People with Mental Illness

I don’t have the economics background to speak to the feasibility of universal basic income, so I won’t try; however, I did want to explore the potential benefits for people with mental illness. What universal basic income is While various implementations have been proposed, at its core, universal basic income (UBI) has several basic characteristics. …

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