Michelle Gotto, MA, MA, MPH

The only good thing that can possibly come out of this will be a bonus @ifbookspod.bsky.social episode.

And again - I also want to win! And I do believe compromises need to be made. But not on people’s basic human dignity, not on the right to bodily autonomy. We can compromise on tax policy, and even climate regulations (within reason). But let people live.

What’s wild is that he’s been openly supportive of abortion, especially after his wife’s very difficult pregnancies. So this turn is really distressing. But it again shows that wealthy white people are willing to sacrifice the lives & safety of others to further their own politics.

Where does being married 3 times with multiple affairs fall on this index?

White men (almost) never fight FOR the rights of anyone else. So I am begging you to stop with the pro-life Dem nonsense and the ideas about compromising on trans rights. We can and should be able to win BECAUSE we are the party of equality. We need better messaging, not more compromise.

Also - my dude: we all want to win back power. But only white men are forever ok with doing that at the expense of the rest of us. It’s always the white men who want to compromise the rights of women, of trans people, of Black & brown folks, in order to win w the PROMISE of future rights.

What I find most frustrating is Ezra’s inability to acknowledge that his commentary on CK has whitewashed who CK was. Just admit that you were wrong - it’s fine! Especially when you have so many women, Black folks, LGBTQ+ folks, presumably immigrant folks, telling you. Listen to them.

I got through maybe 4 minutes, and then I was yelling at Ezra too much and had to stop. I cannot with this bullshit. I DO NOT understand how he thinks CK was doing anything other than normalizing violence against trans people, migrants, women, BIPOC, etc. It’s lunacy.

I’ve NEVER been as judged for the tone of my voice the way I’ve been in academia. By peers, students, administrators - my “tone” seems to be an issue. And I don’t know what to say. This is just my voice? I don’t know why I have to change the way I’ve sounded for 50 years to make you comfortable. 🤷🏻‍♀️

My Never-Ending Quest to Find a Bra With Lift: A Memoir

On The Bound from “When the Pawn”

Loved today’s rainbow, Pride-themed Strands from @nytgames.bsky.social. Very cute! But honestly a bit hard to take when their parent org, @nytimes.com is so consistently wretched to trans folks. If it’s a small act of rebellion, good for them. But the Times ed board needs to get 👏🏼 it 👏🏼 together.

I’ve been saying this for days: this is out of the “we need to compromise on abortion” playbook of the 1990s that led to Dobbs. It is GALLING that she is basically throwing trans kids under a bus for political gain. Have conversations! Absolutely! But do not cede rights. Learn a fucking lesson. 🙄

You cannot compromise with people who want you dead. The evidence of this is LITERALLY all around us, and we must fight for the rights of trans people (especially trans kids) to make decisions about their bodies. If trans folks have bodily autonomy, it assures it for the rest of us.

I tried listening to Ezra Klein’s interview with McBride & it’s honestly painful. Like, ma’am, why are you willing to sacrifice the existence of your community for political gain? Have you leaned nothing from Dobbs? We lost abortion bc we made compromises on bodily autonomy. Learn the lesson!!

I am so tired of managing the feelings of middle-aged men. If it’s going to be required of me at work, put it in my job description and fucking pay me for it.

LOL, true, true!

Even offering $1000 for “extras” on Craigslist didn’t seem to help. 😂

Has this man ever driven through Boston? Or an Italian neighborhood in *any* American city? Or is it just the brown folks he’s offended by? These man and his entire party can fuck right off.

No. This is a feckless excuse that Dems can use when they shit the bed during the midterms next year. We can both fight this bullshit AND stand up good candidates to take back the House and make gains in the Senate. But only if the party leaders get off their asses and DO SOMETHING.

You are an efficient people! 😂

a man in a suit is walking into the ocean . Alt: a man in a suit is walking into the ocean .

Today’s email from The Chronicle is an ad for a talk on “viewpoint diversity” with Steven Pinker.

Yes, because who better to talk about the importance of diverse views than a 70-year old white man with a PhD?

I really miss the days when people didn’t feel the need to have full conversations on their cell phones in every waiting room. I’m at the salon to RELAX, Susan. Not hear about your frustrating day with Antoinette. 🙄

I don’t know who’s in charge of these things, but can someone film the current cast of Cabaret on Broadway so we can just memorialize Orville Peck in this role? I didn’t think anyone would be as good as Alan Cumming, but Peck is OUTSTANDING.

Here’s a wild fucking idea: we could just treat trans people like human beings.

For instance, I can teach & carry the same admin workload, but bc I don’t have a PhD, I can’t be “faculty” & lose out on salary & benefits.

My point is more about the labor produced by employees. For instance, jobs held by non-faculty are often similar in workload than those of faculty, but bc those employees lack a terminal degree, the labor they’re doing is compensated at a lower value.

If men lack these skills, stop promoting them. TRAIN THEM.

Why, in the year of our lord and savior Dolly Rebecca Parton two thousand and twenty five are we still accepting this? Why are we still making excuses for it?

Someone said to me, regarding the poor management skills of a man we work with: “But remember, he’s a guy, and they’re just not as good at these things.”

I am so tired of this excuse. Stop letting men off the hook for their lack of communication and emotional intelligence.

FUCKING STOP IT

Would you say it’s less prevalent at non-R1 institutions? At liberal arts schools? Curious to know if there’s a correlation.