Love, Inc

Infidelity

Ashley Madison May Be Too Honest For Our Times

Laurie Essig Ph.D. on August 19, 2015

37 Million Ashley Madison users have had their personal information released by hackers who don't like the idea of a website for married people who want to have an affair. But these hactiprudes are not heroes.

37 Million Ashley Madison users have had their personal information released by hackers who don't like the idea of a website for married people who want to have an affair. But these hactiprudes are not heroes.

Marriage

White Supremacy and Dream Weddings

Laurie Essig Ph.D. on July 2, 2015

Dylan Roof's sister is upset because she couldn't have her PERFECT wedding in the wake of her brother's racially motivated murders of nine innocent people. We could read this as another sign that the Roof family is crazy, but in fact Amber's selfishness is part of the ideology of romance.

Dylan Roof's sister is upset because she couldn't have her PERFECT wedding in the wake of her brother's racially motivated murders of nine innocent people. We could read this as another sign that the Roof family is crazy, but in fact Amber's selfishness is part of the ideology of romance.

Marriage

Supreme Court Upholds Marriage Ideology

Laurie Essig Ph.D. on June 26, 2015

We can celebrate the Supreme Court decision on marriage equality without swallowing the Supreme Court's marriage ideology.

We can celebrate the Supreme Court decision on marriage equality without swallowing the Supreme Court's marriage ideology.

Media

Death by Selfie

Laurie Essig Ph.D. on May 24, 2015

Death by selfie is not randomly distributed in the population. Like suicide, selficide is patterned and predictable, killing those most likely to depend on social media for their performance of self.

Death by selfie is not randomly distributed in the population. Like suicide, selficide is patterned and predictable, killing those most likely to depend on social media for their performance of self.

Bias

Baltimore Isn't About Race, But It Is About Racism

Laurie Essig Ph.D. on May 3, 2015

Some of the officers charged in Freddy Gray's murder are black.What does this mean? It means that we are all shaped- and misshapen- by the ideology of racism. Black and white Americans are stuck in a system that marks white bodies as safe and marks black bodies as dangerous.

Some of the officers charged in Freddy Gray's murder are black.What does this mean? It means that we are all shaped- and misshapen- by the ideology of racism. Black and white Americans are stuck in a system that marks white bodies as safe and marks black bodies as dangerous.

Cross-Cultural Psychology

Can We Talk?

Laurie Essig Ph.D. on March 21, 2015

Speech was never free. It always had costs. But this commonsense has mixed with a moral panic to allow hate speech and discriminatory speech to thrive even as offensive speech is silenced. Can we talk?

Speech was never free. It always had costs. But this commonsense has mixed with a moral panic to allow hate speech and discriminatory speech to thrive even as offensive speech is silenced. Can we talk?

Bias

Patriarchy Alive and Well in March

Laurie Essig Ph.D. on March 16, 2015

Let's replace Women's History Month with Congrats on Surviving Another Year of Patriarchy Month! That way, instead of locating patriarchy in the past, we can acknowledge that it is here in the present moment, locally and globally.

Let's replace Women's History Month with Congrats on Surviving Another Year of Patriarchy Month! That way, instead of locating patriarchy in the past, we can acknowledge that it is here in the present moment, locally and globally.

Sex

The State of the Union and the New Cold War

Laurie Essig Ph.D. on January 22, 2015

According to President Barack Obama and other leaders of the "West," there is a new Sexual Cold War emerging between countries that support LGBT rights and those that do not. But these battle lines are not as easily located as the old Cold War because there is no Sexual Iron Curtain to keep them in place and both homophobia and LGBT rights travel the globe.

According to President Barack Obama and other leaders of the "West," there is a new Sexual Cold War emerging between countries that support LGBT rights and those that do not. But these battle lines are not as easily located as the old Cold War because there is no Sexual Iron Curtain to keep them in place and both homophobia and LGBT rights travel the globe.

Fantasies

"The Interview" as White Man's Burden

Laurie Essig Ph.D. on January 4, 2015

"The Interview" revitalizes highly radicalized fantasies of colonial conquest. The conquest happens primarily through sexual conquest, but also through bringing the goods of consumer capitalism to North Korea. In this 21st century version of "The White Man's Burden," it is not soap, but Skype that signifies how much better life will be after invasion.

"The Interview" revitalizes highly radicalized fantasies of colonial conquest. The conquest happens primarily through sexual conquest, but also through bringing the goods of consumer capitalism to North Korea. In this 21st century version of "The White Man's Burden," it is not soap, but Skype that signifies how much better life will be after invasion.

Optimism

The Cruel Optimism of Xmas

Laurie Essig Ph.D. on December 15, 2014

Xmas induces a feeling of hopefulness in hopeless times. That hopefulness is a kind of cruel optimism that stops us from facing the reality of income disparity in the US in favor of believing that a magical event like Black Friday shopping can save us.

Xmas induces a feeling of hopefulness in hopeless times. That hopefulness is a kind of cruel optimism that stops us from facing the reality of income disparity in the US in favor of believing that a magical event like Black Friday shopping can save us.

Happiness

Happiness and Its Discontents

Laurie Essig Ph.D. on August 12, 2014

The incessant pursuit of happiness may be making us miserable. That's because happiness is always momentary, chased by its shadow, sadness. The thin line between the two is what makes Robin Williams' death both more and less comprehensible: a man so happy and full of life who was also plagued by soul-crushing depression.

The incessant pursuit of happiness may be making us miserable. That's because happiness is always momentary, chased by its shadow, sadness. The thin line between the two is what makes Robin Williams' death both more and less comprehensible: a man so happy and full of life who was also plagued by soul-crushing depression.

Child Development

Is "Thomas the Tank Engine" to Blame for Bad News?

Laurie Essig Ph.D. on July 29, 2014

The innocent childhood that "Thomas the Tank Engine" represents blew up this summer when Thomas's voice left the show because he didn't earn enough money to live. Yet the category of innocent childhood still structures so much of the violence we are seeing from Ukraine to Palestine to the child refugee crisis in the Americas.

The innocent childhood that "Thomas the Tank Engine" represents blew up this summer when Thomas's voice left the show because he didn't earn enough money to live. Yet the category of innocent childhood still structures so much of the violence we are seeing from Ukraine to Palestine to the child refugee crisis in the Americas.

Alcoholism

Putinchology

Laurie Essig Ph.D. on July 6, 2014

Vladimir Putin has ruled by creating enemies, internal and external. Gays, America and Ukrainian "fascists" are all used as an excuse for the increased tightening of control on the everyday life of Russians. And yet most of these laws are bent, subverted or even openly ignored. The result is a state where "rule of law" is as absurd as it was during the late Soviet period.

Vladimir Putin has ruled by creating enemies, internal and external. Gays, America and Ukrainian "fascists" are all used as an excuse for the increased tightening of control on the everyday life of Russians. And yet most of these laws are bent, subverted or even openly ignored. The result is a state where "rule of law" is as absurd as it was during the late Soviet period.

Sex

George Will Doesn't Believe Campus Rape Is a Problem

Laurie Essig Ph.D. on June 11, 2014

George Will tried to take down his favorite enemy — the tenured radical — by pooh poohing the idea that rape is really such a big problem on college campuses. The question isn't why Will would do such a thing, but why the Washington Post would publish it.

George Will tried to take down his favorite enemy — the tenured radical — by pooh poohing the idea that rape is really such a big problem on college campuses. The question isn't why Will would do such a thing, but why the Washington Post would publish it.

Domestic Violence

Elliot Rodger and the problem with manhood

Laurie Essig Ph.D. on May 25, 2014

Elliot Rodger may or may not have been mentally ill, but his hatred of women, his sense of entitlement rooted in sexist ideas of having a right to women's bodies and using violence to punish them is not outside of an increasingly popular angry masculinity that is visible in everything from rape culture to domestic violence to the violent rhetoric of the men's movement.

Elliot Rodger may or may not have been mentally ill, but his hatred of women, his sense of entitlement rooted in sexist ideas of having a right to women's bodies and using violence to punish them is not outside of an increasingly popular angry masculinity that is visible in everything from rape culture to domestic violence to the violent rhetoric of the men's movement.

When Donald Sterling told his mistress V. Stiviano to stop posting images of herself with "minorities" to her Tumblr, he unleashed a national conversation about racism. But the story is not just about race, but sex as well. This intersection of racism and sexism is exactly what makes the most banal of breakups into a much more sublime cultural text.

Fantasies

A Manhood Problem

Laurie Essig Ph.D. on April 20, 2014

David Brooks is like a Disney Princess waiting for a prince to ride in and defeat all of America's enemies with a mighty sword/phallus. And that is a really dangerous political fairytale.

David Brooks is like a Disney Princess waiting for a prince to ride in and defeat all of America's enemies with a mighty sword/phallus. And that is a really dangerous political fairytale.

The #CancelColbert campaign is a sign of a new generation of politics, a politics structured entirely by emotion and yet completely lacking in an analysis of structure. That's because a new generation of activists have been raised to believe any and all obstacles with throw them off track. Hurt feelings become as difficult to conquer as structural racism.

Relationships

Love and Hate American Style

Laurie Essig Ph.D. on March 25, 2014

We Americans love to hate our enemies. Bad leaders from bad countries. Sinners. Evil doers. Our exes. That's because American culture sees the world in black and white, good and evil, right and wrong. That's a bad idea in politics and religion. It might be an even worse idea in our personal lives.

We Americans love to hate our enemies. Bad leaders from bad countries. Sinners. Evil doers. Our exes. That's because American culture sees the world in black and white, good and evil, right and wrong. That's a bad idea in politics and religion. It might be an even worse idea in our personal lives.

Fear

GOPutin

Laurie Essig Ph.D. on March 9, 2014

In the past few months, GOP legislators have been trying to pass anti-gay laws that would make parts of the US look like Putin's Russia. Based on a similar fear of gay contagion, these laws would make it legal to deny LGBT Americans basic services, even government services. So far most of these bills have been defeated because they're bad for business.

In the past few months, GOP legislators have been trying to pass anti-gay laws that would make parts of the US look like Putin's Russia. Based on a similar fear of gay contagion, these laws would make it legal to deny LGBT Americans basic services, even government services. So far most of these bills have been defeated because they're bad for business.