Greta Thunberg is not a 'caricatural woman,' says Slavoj Žižek — her approach is 'brutal'

What image of femininity is subtly imposed on us in the war against toxic masculinity?

Photo credit: Samuel de Roman / Contributor via Getty
  • Slavoj Žižek is a Slovenian philosopher and cultural critic whose diverse body of work often emphasizes the role of ideology in culture and capitalism.
  • In a recent interview, Žižek described how the war against so-called toxic masculinity necessarily implies a certain image of femininity.
  • Žižek suggests we should be wary of accepting this image of femininity without closer examination.
Keep reading Show less
men gender women philosophy

Why Simone de Beauvoir didn’t believe in being ‘a strong woman’

De Beauvoir finds that the ‘strong woman’ is actually just bound to housework

JEAN MEUNIER/AFP/Getty Images

In The Second Sex (1949), Simone de Beauvoir argued that women were at a disadvantage in a society where they grew up under 'a multiplicity of incompatible myths' about women.

Keep reading Show less
philosophy feminism gender gender equality psychology Work women

Exposing our hidden biases curbs their influence, new research suggests

Do you know the implicit biases you have? Here are some ways to find them out.

Image source: Hinterhaus Productions / Getty
  • A study finds that even becoming aware of your own implicit bias can help you overcome it.
  • We all have biases. Some of them are helpful — others not so much.
Keep reading Show less
gender race lgbt decision-making personal growth science implicit bias bias discrimination inequality

There may be very easy way to predict the sex of sperm

A team of Japanese researchers comes across a remarkably simple trick.

Image source: Shidlovski / Shutterstock / Big Think
  • On average, ejaculate holds about a 50/50 mix of X and Y sperm.
  • In some cultures and countries, there are strong historical and contemporary preferences for males over females.
  • There are genes unique to X sperm that can be manipulated to make them swim more slowly than Y sperm.
Keep reading Show less
biology human body genetics population sex gender pregnancy

The way children draw human figures has changed since the 1970s, reflecting modern society's attitudes to gender — German study

Study finds both a possible rise in gender equality and gender differentiation.

Over the last half century Western European countries have enjoyed a large increase in gender equality.

Keep reading Show less
children gender equality parenting society gender