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purple motes

a journal of whimsy and hope

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Highlights

  • most recent articles
  • incarcerating child support debtors
  • Wednesday's flowers
  • Aristotle's advice to Alexander
  • unjust paternity establishment
  • Gog & Magog behind wall
  • Dhuoda's Liber Manualis
  • Charlie Chaplin & Joan Berry

criminal justice

Peeping Tom killed for viewing naked woman riding through town

The popular legend of Lady Godiva and Peeping Tom illustrates the gender bias that disparages, devalues, and criminalizes men’s sexuality. … Read the post Peeping Tom killed for viewing naked woman riding through town

rosy-fingered Dawn (Eos) raping men: the untold story

The goddess Eos, also called Dawn and Aurora, abducted and raped the mortal men Cephalus, Tithonus, and Orion. Women raping men was widely recognized. … Read the post rosy-fingered Dawn (Eos) raping men: the untold story

Omphale pummeled Hercules: not just ancient Greek myth

For understanding domestic violence, ancient Greek myth is more insightful than modern myth. Think about Omphale pummeling Hercules with her slipper. … Read the post Omphale pummeled Hercules: not just ancient Greek myth

Gyges & Candaules: controlling men's sexuality and seduction

In his story of Gyges and Candaules, Herodotus included the Greek saying “When a woman takes off her clothes, she takes off her modesty.” It’s about men. … Read the post Gyges & Candaules: controlling men's sexuality and seduction

witch-hunt and gender: when women are executed like men

Witch-hunt history has tended to naturalize the vastly gender-disproportionate punishment of men. Witches were punished like men in relation to women. … Read the post witch-hunt and gender: when women are executed like men

Malleus Maleficarum, women & men witches, and executions

Malleus Maleficarum, a leading medieval Latin work on witches, provides key insights into gender, witches, and punishment. … Read the post Malleus Maleficarum, women & men witches, and executions

ancient Latin literature in Sanger's 19th-century social science

In reading ancient Latin literature, pioneering 19th-century social scientist William Sanger didn’t distinguish between cultural constructions and reality. … Read the post ancient Latin literature in Sanger's 19th-century social science

Sanger blamed men for prostitution: pioneering social science

William W. Sanger’s pioneering social-scientific study of prostitution turned to fiction and blamed men for women becoming prostitutes. … Read the post Sanger blamed men for prostitution: pioneering social science

Calisto set up for raping Melibea under new sex regulations

Consider how new totalitarian sex regulations set up Calisto for a charge of raping Melibea in the medieval Spanish masterpiece La Celestina. … Read the post Calisto set up for raping Melibea under new sex regulations

vindicating Macarius of false sex accusation enabled new birth

Through the terrible injustice of a false sex accusation against Macarius, God guided him to realizing his dream of becoming a holy man. … Read the post vindicating Macarius of false sex accusation enabled new birth

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