Toward a Feminist View of Harm

Oppression, Harm, and Feminist Philosophy In many ways, our understanding of oppression is closely tied to the concept of harm. This connection is especially clear in feminist philosophy—not only do feminist philosophers regularly analyze oppression’s physical, material, psychological, and social harms, but they often argue that harm is a constitutive feature of oppression. For instance, […]

Witches and ‘Welfare Queens’: The Construction of Women as Threats in the Anti-Abortion Movement

While today’s anti-abortion movement has been empowered by the recent fall of Roe v. Wade, the original ‘right-to-life’ movement dates to the mid-nineteenth century. In the mid-1800s, physicians began to take over the practice of childbirth from midwives and the medical specialty of obstetrics developed. The movement to medicalize women’s reproductive health made use of […]

Gender Changes: Genderfluidity and Trans Possibilities

In a recent interview with the New York Times, Bella Ramsey remarked, “I guess my gender has always been very fluid,” explaining that he always enjoyed being mistaken for a boy, and that “being gendered isn’t something that I particularly like.” The rising star of HBO’s The Last of Us wore a chest binder while filming […]

Children’s Mental Health, Institutional Gaslighting, and Mother-Blame

There is a class action lawsuit against Iowa over failure to provide legally-required and medically necessary mental health services for Medicaid-eligible children. As a mother of an adult son with severe childhood-onset mental illness, I have mixed emotions. I am angry that it took so long and is too late for my son, relieved there […]