A Better Version of Yourself? Self-Obsession in The Substance
If our takeaway from The Substance is yet another lament about Hollywood’s impossible beauty standards for women, then we’ve let ourselves off the hook.
“Because You Let Me.” The Horror of Speak No Evil, Niceness, and Complacent Men
Speak No Evil starkly portrays the point at which niceness becomes a weapon in the hands of those cruel and clever enough to wield it.
“All Things Change, Nothing Perishes”—The Body in Annihilation
The horror of this story is the annihilation of identity, the erosion of a personal self that has a recognizable shape.
Unveiling the Great Women Behind Dune: Part Two’s Great Men
If anyone is inclined to take away from this film the message that men shouldn’t listen to women because they’re shameless manipulators, then they’ve missed the point.
The Beautiful Community and Brutal Scapegoating in The Peasants
This 2023 animated adaptation of the acclaimed Polish novel highlights the tension between tradition and community, and modern individualism.
Marrying for Love? Marcia A. Zug’s You’ll Do and the Problem of Marital Privilege (Part 2)
We keep on using the word “marriage,” but it no longer means what we think it means.
Why Marry? Marcia A. Zug’s You’ll Do Explores the Strange and Surprising Reasons (Part 1)
I never knew that American marriages had such a checkered history.
Indian Matchmaking: What’s It Like to Look for Love the Old-Fashioned Way?
Netflix’s hit reality TV series reveals how many of our beliefs and practices regarding marriage are time-bound historical phenomena, not unchanging universal ideals.
Oh Fudge! Why We Swear and What it Means
There are times when, to properly name evil as evil, only the worst of words will do.
Responding to What Is a Woman?, Part 3: “It Sucks to Be a Girl”
While many of women’s problems are age-old, what’s changed is the promise of a new solution: the promise of escaping womanhood by adopting a new identity.
Responding to What Is a Woman?, Part 2: You Don’t Know What You’ve Got ‘Til It’s Gone
Without tradition to protect us, our bodies become subject to the dynamics of the market.
Responding to What Is a Woman?, Part 1: It’s Too Simple for Words
The categories of male/female and man/woman are simply too ancient and fundamental to be tampered with without consequences.
My Dear Wormwood: A Screwtape Letter on the Art of Smartphone Addiction
Neutrality towards technology isn’t as good as enthusiasm, of course, but it’s much better than allowing the seeds of skepticism to grow.
The Making of Biblical Womanhood and the Missing Mother of God (Part 2)
Celibate monasticism was a symbol of the radical resurrection equality of men and women—of their symmetrical status as eternal brothers and sisters.
The Making of Biblical Womanhood and the Missing Mother of God (Part 1)
When the highest feminine symbol within church history was rejected as an idol, a primary example of women’s indisputable dignity disappeared too.
Station Eleven: The Virtue of Being an Artist and Answering Death with Beauty
At the heart of Station Eleven is a conflict between affirmation of Life and negation of Life. Affirmation wins.
