Sociologist primarily search out and study broad social patterns. One of the most important and pervasive patterns is the devaluation of certain groups in society. Many sociologists question why some among us, such as women, humans of color, children, humans with disabilities, humans who are older or poor, and those with different sexual orientations, seem [...]
“I haven’t found being vegan to be an inconvenience. It seems like the very least I can do…People seem to think that there is some magical difference between the human species and all other species. But why not draw the line between genus, family, class, etc.? I realize the practical reasons – because most groups [...]
Isaac Bashevis Singer fled Nazi Europe in 1935 and came to this country. He married my grandmother, who had escaped from Hitler’s Germany in 1940. He went on to become a lauded author and won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1978. His family — those who stayed behind — were killed in the concentration [...]
The following essay first appeared in The Huffington Post. I’m a proud feminist, as anyone who cares about the plight of women on our planet should be. In many parts of the world, women are still treated as property. They have few, if any, rights and are subject to exploitation, indignities, and violence on a [...]
“Both humans and animals share the ability to suffer from restricted freedom of movement, from the loss of social freedom, and to experience pain at the loss of a loved one. Both groups suffer or suffered from their common capacity to be terrified by being hunted, tormented, or injured. Both have been ‘objectified,’ treated as [...]