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Hello, also goodbye (JUST for the weekend!)

Meow Mix

Chatte Féministe
I figured I'd make a post introducing myself even though I'm not technically "new" to RF (but I have been gone for almost a decade).

I'm a nontheist, have some layperson's interest in philosophy, am a graduate student in astrophysics (or, as the school puts it, "physics with emphasis in astro" if that matters). I've been a student for way longer than I should have due to making various stupid life decisions, but here I am at 37, a year into my MS and potentially bridging straight to PhD.

You can find me in the liberal, socialist, feminist, and atheist DIR's (though the only word among these that I like and would actually use to describe myself is feminist).

I'll be active during the week only, so for all my beloved RF people that I have missed that might get concerned when I disappear, I'll be back by Monday, don't worry ^.^
 

exchemist

Veteran Member
I figured I'd make a post introducing myself even though I'm not technically "new" to RF (but I have been gone for almost a decade).

I'm a nontheist, have some layperson's interest in philosophy, am a graduate student in astrophysics (or, as the school puts it, "physics with emphasis in astro" if that matters). I've been a student for way longer than I should have due to making various stupid life decisions, but here I am at 37, a year into my MS and potentially bridging straight to PhD.

You can find me in the liberal, socialist, feminist, and atheist DIR's (though the only word among these that I like and would actually use to describe myself is feminist).

I'll be active during the week only, so for all my beloved RF people that I have missed that might get concerned when I disappear, I'll be back by Monday, don't worry ^.^
I'll look forward to your contributions on physical science, then. (I'm not sure, these days, that a man is allowed to be a feminist, though I always regarded myself as one when I was at university, back in the 1970s. But it's all moved on a lot since then, of course.)
 

sun rise

The world is on fire
Premium Member
Since you are new to me: hi!

Keeping up with science specifically including astrophysics is one of my hobbies. Do you have a research area picked out for your "potential bridge" PhD?
 

lewisnotmiller

Grand Hat
Staff member
Premium Member
I'll look forward to your contributions on physical science, then. (I'm not sure, these days, that a man is allowed to be a feminist, though I always regarded myself as one when I was at university, back in the 1970s. But it's all moved on a lot since then, of course.)

That's going to depend entirely on which feminist school of thought you ask, but just to clarify, at RF it's possible for a male to identify as a feminist and access the feminist DIR area.
 

Dan From Smithville

What's up Doc?
Staff member
Premium Member
I figured I'd make a post introducing myself even though I'm not technically "new" to RF (but I have been gone for almost a decade).

I'm a nontheist, have some layperson's interest in philosophy, am a graduate student in astrophysics (or, as the school puts it, "physics with emphasis in astro" if that matters). I've been a student for way longer than I should have due to making various stupid life decisions, but here I am at 37, a year into my MS and potentially bridging straight to PhD.

You can find me in the liberal, socialist, feminist, and atheist DIR's (though the only word among these that I like and would actually use to describe myself is feminist).

I'll be active during the week only, so for all my beloved RF people that I have missed that might get concerned when I disappear, I'll be back by Monday, don't worry ^.^
Hello.
 

SigurdReginson

Grēne Mann
Premium Member
Nice to meet yah, and welcome back! :)

As someone who is more non-religiously minded, what drew you to the religious forums in the first place, and what draws you back?
 

Meow Mix

Chatte Féministe
I'll look forward to your contributions on physical science, then. (I'm not sure, these days, that a man is allowed to be a feminist, though I always regarded myself as one when I was at university, back in the 1970s. But it's all moved on a lot since then, of course.)

Some say men can only be allies, I’m more than happy to say men can be feminists. Feminism is a humanism to me.
 

Meow Mix

Chatte Féministe
Since you are new to me: hi!

Keeping up with science specifically including astrophysics is one of my hobbies. Do you have a research area picked out for your "potential bridge" PhD?

So far I’ve had a lot of focus on constraints on dark energy and dark energy’s equation of state, and I hope to keep it there because it really interests me. The school has a research group focusing on galaxy evolution, which I’m supposed to be starting with just before fall (in that case I’ll be doing... whatever the person I’m assigned to will be doing. Right now there’s a lot of interest in a correlation between light concentration, dark matter, and galaxy type in galaxies in the group).

So, to answer: as soon as I can pick my own thesis, it’ll be dark energy constraints. In the meanwhile, it’ll be galaxy evolution.
 

Meow Mix

Chatte Féministe
Nice to meet yah, and welcome back! :)

As someone who is more non-religiously minded, what drew you to the religious forums in the first place, and what draws you back?

Probably my interest in philosophy; and I did consider myself religious as a child. It interested me that EVERYONE around me believed in things that I was increasingly skeptical of as I got older. I wanted to know why they did: imagine being surrounded by people that were convinced of something you weren’t (and maybe you’ve experienced this, I haven’t had the chance to talk to you on the forums much yet). So, debating religion and testing my own ideas (and testing others’ ideas) became a hobby.
 

Debater Slayer

Vipassana
Staff member
Premium Member
1) As I've already said, I'm really glad you're back. I wondered whether you'd ever come to the forum again after your brief return in late 2017.

2) It always feels almost a bit surreal when you reconnect with someone, even if only online, when you knew each other so long ago. It's like you've gotten to see parts of each other in completely different stages of life, and that fascinates me!

On that note, I'm curious how much you recall from the days of the chat room and late-night Terraria. They really feel like ancient history now. :laughing:

I look forward to reading your ever-insightful contributions again!
 

Polymath257

Think & Care
Staff member
Premium Member
I'll look forward to your contributions on physical science, then. (I'm not sure, these days, that a man is allowed to be a feminist, though I always regarded myself as one when I was at university, back in the 1970s. But it's all moved on a lot since then, of course.)

When I was doing my undergraduate degree, the local chapter of NOW made me an honorary woman. I've always valued that designation.
 

exchemist

Veteran Member
When I was doing my undergraduate degree, the local chapter of NOW made me an honorary woman. I've always valued that designation.
Yeah but this is the sort of things that somewhat annoys me. Back in the 1970s, feminism was the belief that women should be treated equally to men. That was a view that members of either sex could hold, obviously.

Being treated as an "honorary woman" suggests you have to take sides, in some way, between the sexes, or that you can be admitted to the sisterhood if you adopt the right posture. I find that divisive and objectionable. It makes me squirm.
 

Meow Mix

Chatte Féministe
Yeah but this is the sort of things that somewhat annoys me. Back in the 1970s, feminism was the belief that women should be treated equally to men. That was a view that members of either sex could hold, obviously.

Being treated as an "honorary woman" suggests you have to take sides, in some way, between the sexes, or that you can be admitted to the sisterhood if you adopt the right posture. I find that divisive and objectionable. It makes me squirm.

I took it as tongue in cheek, because I agree that there aren’t sides and that one doesn’t have to be a woman to be a feminist.

A lot of my focus re: feminism is the concept of toxic masculinity, which harms everyone: men are taught not to express themselves, men that are abused have a harder time finding help or empathy/sympathy, men are cordoned off into particular roles just as women often are: laden with expectations because of their sex and/or gender.

People may ask, “what about toxic femininity,” and that is a thing too. I just point out in such cases that the word feminist is just a specific concern about society, and we can have more than one concern about society at a time.
 

exchemist

Veteran Member
I took it as tongue in cheek, because I agree that there aren’t sides and that one doesn’t have to be a woman to be a feminist.

A lot of my focus re: feminism is the concept of toxic masculinity, which harms everyone: men are taught not to express themselves, men that are abused have a harder time finding help or empathy/sympathy, men are cordoned off into particular roles just as women often are: laden with expectations because of their sex and/or gender.

People may ask, “what about toxic femininity,” and that is a thing too. I just point out in such cases that the word feminist is just a specific concern about society, and we can have more than one concern about society at a time.
What I hate about the tone of some of this stuff nowadays is the adversarial nature of it. We are all in our different ways prisoners of cultural norms - as your post seems to recognise. The original aim of feminism was to abolish discrimination in practice, and discriminatory assumptions, about women. I signed up to that in my twenties and I still do.
 

Meow Mix

Chatte Féministe
What I hate about the tone of some of this stuff nowadays is the adversarial nature of it. We are all in our different ways prisoners of cultural norms - as your post seems to recognise. The original aim of feminism was to abolish discrimination in practice, and discriminatory assumptions, about women. I signed up to that in my twenties and I still do.

That is still the aim; but some problems are being recognized as systemic and cultural.

The thing about systemic misogny (or racism, or any systemic ism) is that it doesn’t mean “the system is full of misogynists,” it means “the system would disproportionately and adversely affect women as it’s set up regardless.”

Sometimes “the system” is gross culture.

Again, men face a different set of cultural issues, too. Being concerned about what women face (feminism) doesn’t mean we can’t also be concerned about what men face (and there are systemics there too).

I think the hostility you mention comes from people that maybe don’t keep that in mind. I can’t speak for their experiences.
 

sun rise

The world is on fire
Premium Member
So far I’ve had a lot of focus on constraints on dark energy and dark energy’s equation of state, and I hope to keep it there because it really interests me. The school has a research group focusing on galaxy evolution, which I’m supposed to be starting with just before fall (in that case I’ll be doing... whatever the person I’m assigned to will be doing. Right now there’s a lot of interest in a correlation between light concentration, dark matter, and galaxy type in galaxies in the group).

So, to answer: as soon as I can pick my own thesis, it’ll be dark energy constraints. In the meanwhile, it’ll be galaxy evolution.
I never finished my PhD in Colloid & Surface Chemistry (long story) but my choice was which professor to work for and what grants that professor had for work. Funding was all at least back in the day for me.
 

Meow Mix

Chatte Féministe
I said I wouldn’t be here on the weekend, apparently that was a lie ^.^

I guess I won’t be here on the more serious threads until Monday is what I meant!
 
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