Welcome!

This is a comprehensive (but not exhaustive) list of books, blogs, articles, videos, and other materials about social justice and related subjects that I care about, such as mental health, sex and dating, atheism, science literacy, and current events.

I decided to create this list after realizing that my own blog has little in the way of 101-type of material, and I want to have a way to direct people who ask me those sorts of questions, especially when they concern subjects with which I’m not well-acquainted. Hopefully this will help you find what you’re looking for.

I have personally read almost all of the resources on this list, and those that I haven’t read have been recommended to me by trusted sources. That said, I can’t promise that they are flawless. Some I’ve included with a caveat. Also, while I’ve added a trigger warning to materials that are particularly difficult, keep in mind that everything in a certain category may contain triggering material related to that category.

Links that are particularly good for newcomers to social justice are marked with an asterisk (*).

This list is always being updated, so please keep checking back, and feel free to email me any suggestions at miriam@brutereason.net. And here’s the Google Docs version.

-Miriam
Last update: 10/17/12

1. General Social Justice
   1. American Civil Liberties Union (website)
   2. How to Be a Fan of Problematic Things (article)
   3. It’s Pronounced Metrosexual (blog)
   4. Microaggressions (blog)
   5. Missing the Point on Language (article)
   6. On expecting more and why care about social justice (article)
   7. Pharyngula’s SJ link roundup
   8. Social Justice League (blog)
   9. Sociological Images (blog)
   10. Southern Poverty Law Center (website)
   11. This Ain’t Livin’ (blog)
   12. Transformative Justice Law Project of Illinois (website)
   13. Allyship
       1. So You Want to Be an Ally! (article)
       2. The Terrible Bargain We Have Regretfully Struck (article)
       3. Tools for White Guys Who Are Working for Social Change (article)
       4. You Don’t Have to Get It to Respect It (article)
   14. Arguments/Strategies
       1. Concern Troll (article)
       2. Derailing for Dummies (website)
       3. The Revolution Will Not be Polite: The Issue of Nice versus Good (article)
       4. Rolling Boulders (article)
       5. Tone Argument (article)
       6. Trigger Warning (article)
       7. Why You Should Feed the Trolls if You Damn Well Need To (video)
   15. Privilege
       1. Checking Your Privilege 101 (article)
       2. A List of Privilege Lists (article)
       3. Of Dogs and Lizards: A Parable of Privilege (article)
       4. Straight White Male: The Lowest Difficulty Setting There Is* (article)
       5. Things I Don’t Have to Think About Today* (article)
2. Feminism/Sexism/Gender
   1. The Beheld: Beauty, and What It Means (blog)
   2. The Crunk Feminist Collective (blog)
   3. Feministe (blog)
   4. Feministing (blog)
   5. Finally, a Feminism 101 Blog*
   6. Geek Feminism Wiki (website)
   7. Full Frontal Feminism: A Young Woman’s Guide to Why Feminism Matters* (book)
   8. Hugo Schwyzer (blog)
   9. Jessica Valenti (blog)
   10. Kate Harding (blog; fat acceptance but also general feminism)
   11. Ms. Magazine (website)
   12. Pandagon (blog)
   13. The Purity Myth: How America’s Obsession with Virginity Is Hurting Young Women (book)
   14. Role/Reboot (blog)
   15. Shakesville’s Feminism 101* (article)
   16. Tiger Beatdown (blog)
   17. The Wage Gap Series (article)
   18. When Everything Changed: The Amazing Journey of American Women from 1960 to the Present (book)
   19. Media
       1. Bechdel Test (website)
       2. Bitch Magazine (website)
       3. Geek Culture Wants a Cookie & A Pat on the Head for Not Creating Kim Kardashian (article)
       4. The Rise of Enlightened Sexism: How Pop Culture Took Us from Girl Power to Girls Gone Wild (book)
       5. Some Notes on Criticism (article)
       6. SPARK (website; on media sexualization of girls)
   20. Men
       1. 1 in 6 (website; for male rape survivors)
       2. The Good Men Project (blog)
       3. Male Rape Survivors and Victim Blaming (article)
       4. Male Survivor (website)
       5. Manboobz (blog; MRAs)
       6. Men Can Stop Rape (website)
       7. Men’s Rights Myth: Women Trick Men Into Fatherhood So They Can Collect Child Support (article)
       8. National Organization for Men Against Sexism (website)
       9. No Seriously, What About Teh Menz? (blog)
3. Race/Racism
   1. Applied Research Center (website)
   2. Being White: Stories of Race and Racism (book)
   3. Clutch Magazine (website)
   4. Colorlines (website)
   5. Colour Blindness – Not a Virtue (article)
   6. Guide for white people (article)
   7. How To Know If You Are White (article; on white privilege)
   8. “I am not a racist but…”: Mapping White college students’ racial ideology in the USA (article)
   9. Jane Elliott’s Blue Eye/Brown Eye experiment (video)
   10. Ku Klux Klan: A History of Racism (article)
   11. NAACP (website)
   12. National Black Justice Coalition (website; for LGBT rights)
   13. Racialicious (blog)
   14. Racism: a Definition (article)
   15. Shuffling feet: a black man’s view on Schroedinger’s Rapist (article)
   16. Understanding Race (website)
   17. White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack* (article)
   18. “Why Are All The Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?” (book)
   19. Yo, Is This Racist? (blog)
4. Mental Health/Illness
   1. 1-800-273-TALK (NATIONAL SUICIDE PREVENTION HOTLINE)
   2. Active Minds (website)
   3. Campaign Against Living Miserably (website; on male suicide)
   4. Bright-Sided: How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America (book)
   5. Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking (book)
   6. Hey. Don’t Kill Yourself. (article)
   7. National Alliance On Mental Illness (website)
   8. On bouncing back and finding community (article)
   9. Suicide and Suicide Attempt Resources* (article)
   10. Toxic Stress Response (article)
   11. General Mental Illness
       1. Hello Cruel World: 101 Alternatives to Suicide for Teens, Freaks and Other Outlaws (book)
       2. Mental Illness and Why the Skeptic Community Should Give a Shit (video)
       3. National Institute of Mental Health* (website)
   12. Eating Disorders/Body Image
       1. Fashion, “The Rules,” and Hiding Your Body (article)
       2. How can my girlfriend and I prevent body issues from derailing our awesome love story? (article)
       3. Mara Glatzel (blog; body acceptance)
       4. My mom won’t shut up about my weight (article)
       5. Perfect Girls, Starving Daughters: The Frightening New Normalcy of Hating Your Body (book)
       6. Weightless (blog)
   13. Mood Disorders
       1. Against Depression (book)
       2. Bipolar Burble (blog)
       3. I Don’t Want to Talk About It: Overcoming the Secret Legacy of Male Depression (book)
       4. Listening to Prozac (book)
       5. My anxiety is messing up my relationship (article)
   14. Other Mental Illnesses
       1. The Eden Express: A Memoir of Madness (book)
   15. Therapy/Medication/Treatment
       1. How to locate low-cost mental health care in the US and Canada* (article)
       2. New town, old blues, and the case for therapy (article)
       3. The Secular Therapist Project (website)
       4. What It’s Like in a Mental Hospital (article)
       5. Why I will continue recommending counseling on this blog FOREVER (article)
   16. For Allies
       1. 4 Things You Shouldn’t Say To Someone Having A Panic Attack (article)
       2. Dealing with a coworker with a severe mental illness (article)
       3. How To “Be There” For A Depressed Person* (article)
       4. My partner is depressed and I am drowning (article)
5. LGBTQ
   1. 10 Anti-Gay Myths Debunked* (article)
   2. Anti-Gay Hate Crimes: Doing the Math (article)
   3. A Beginner’s Guide to No Homo (video)
   4. Autostraddle (website; for queer women)
   5. Born This Way Foundation (website)
   6. Campus Pride (website)
   7. FCKH8 (website)
   8. GayWrites (blog)
   9. Human Rights Campaign* (website)
   10. In Our Words (blog)
   11. It Gets Better (website)
   12. Lambda Legal (website)
   13. LGBT Humanist Council (website)
   14. The Monogamous Bisexual (article)
   15. National Black Justice Coalition (website)
   16. National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (website)
   17. Nature and Nurture of Sexual Orientation (article)
   18. NoH8 Campaign (website)
   19. Queer Zine Archive Project (website)
   20. Queereka (blog; for queer skeptics/atheists)
   21. Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity 101* (article)
   22. The Trevor Project (website)
   23. Trans*
       1. 13 Myths and Misconceptions about Trans Women* (article)
       2. Breaking through the binary: Gender explained using continuums* (article)
       3. Children and Genderplay (article)
       4. Disgusting (article; on transphobia)
       5. Gender Expression is Not Gender Identity (article)
       6. My Gender Workbook (book)
       7. National Center for Transgender Equality (website)
       8. QueerTransmen (website)
       9. Tranifesto (blog)
       10. Whipping Girl: A Transsexual Woman on Sexism and the Scapegoating of Femininity (book)
       11. “You Look Great! I Never Would Have Guessed!” And Other Acts Of Well-Intentioned Cissexism (article)
6. Sex
   1. Advocates For Youth (website)
   2. Are We Having Sex Now Or What? (article)
   3. The Big Bang: A Guide to the New Sexual Universe (book)
   4. Charlie Glickman: Adult Sexuality Education (website)
   5. The Dirty Normal (blog)
   6. Figleaf’s Real Adult Sex (blog)
   7. The Guide to Getting It On* (book)
   8. Laci Green (YouTube channel)
   9. Pervocracy (blog)
   10. S.E.X.: The All-You-Need-To-Know Progressive Sexuality Guide to Get You Through High School and College* (book)
   11. Savage Love (advice column; I include this with a caveat because Dan Savage has made transphobic and fat-shaming remarks in the past)
   12. Scarleteen* (website)
   13. What You Really Really Want: The Smart Girl’s Shame-Free Guide to Sex and Safety* (book)
   14. Yes Means Yes (blog)
   15. Asexuality
       1. Asexual Visibility and Education Network* (website)
       2. Demisexuality (blog)
   16. Kink
       1. Clarisse Thorn (blog)
       2. Fetlife (website)
       3. Kink Aware Professionals (website)
       4. Love Bites: An S&M Coming Out Story (article)
       5. The S&M Feminist: Best of Clarisse Thorn (book)
       6. SM101: A Realistic Introduction* (book)
       7. The Ultimate Guide to Kink: BDSM, Role Play and the Erotic Edge (book)
       8. Xeromag BDSM Guide (website)
   17. Sex Work and Pornography
       1. Is Criminalization a Good Prevention Tactic? (article)
       2. Meet the Mayhems (website; NSFW)
       3. Sex Workers Outreach Project (website)
       4. Tits and Sass (blog)
       5. Turn Off the Blue Light (website; on sex workers’ rights)
       6. When Porn Goes Bad: “Girls Gone Wild” (article)
       7. Which Side Are You On? Pro-Porn and Anti-Porn Arguments (article)
       8. Whore, Prostitute, Hooker, or Sex Worker? What Should You Say? (article)
       9. Why Porn Matters (article)
7. Sexual assault, harassment, and abuse
   1. 1 in 6 (website; for male rape survivors)
   2. Circle of 6 (phone app)
   3. I Am A Survivor, And This Is My Story (article; TRIGGER WARNING for detailed descriptions of sexual assault)
   4. The Line Campaign (website)
   5. Male Rape Survivors and Victim Blaming (article)
   6. Men Can Stop Rape (website)
   7. Mythcommunication: It’s Not That They Don’t Understand, They Just Don’t Like The Answer (article)
   8. Now Give Your Uncle a Kiss (article)
   9. Rape Culture 101* (article)
   10. Schrodinger’s Rapist* (article)
   11. Shakesville on rape jokes (article)
   12. Survivors are So Sensitive (article; on rape jokes)
   13. A three-for-one stalker (un)special (article)
   14. RAINN* (website)
   15. Yes Means Yes: Visions of Female Sexual Power and a World Without Rape (book)
   16. Harassment
       1. Hollaback (website; on street harassment)
       2. It’s Really Time for the Harassment to End (article)
       3. One-sided Conversations on a Train (article)
       4. On Men Who Think Street Harassment Would Be Awesome* (article)
       5. Stop Street Harassment* (website)
8. Dating/relationships/friendship
   1. Captain Awkward (blog; advice column)
   2. Geek Social Fallacies (article)
   3. Geek Social Fallacies of Relationships (article)
   4. Geek Social Fallacies of Sex (article)
   5. A Message To Women From A Man: You Are Not “Crazy” (article)
   6. Nice Guy Syndrome (article)
   7. No Fat Chicks: Navigating the Dating World as a Fat Girl (article)
   8. On Dumb Luck (article; also on fat positivity)
   9. Outdated: Why Dating is Ruining Your Love Life (book)
   10. Paging Doctor Nerdlove (blog)
   11. A shy guy caught my eye (article)
   12. Communication
       1. Derailing: How not to talk to people who are telling you something sad* (article)
       2. The N Words for Women: Need and Needy (article)
       3. Silencing the Silent Treatment (article)
   13. Creepiness
       1. Dating 101: How to Meet Women Without Being Creepy* (article)
       2. Don’t Be a Creeper (article)
       3. An Incomplete Guide to Not Creeping (article)
       4. “My friend group has a case of the Creepy Dude. How do we clear that up?” (article)
       5. On Creeps (article)
       6. This is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things (Or: More on Creepers) (article)
   14. Friendship
       1. Girls and Friends: Pop Culture Unicorns (article)
       2. How do I make and keep friends?* (article)
       3. I lent an ear to a friend, how do I get it back? (article)
       4. My friend is dating someone terrible, or, Secrets of The Darth Vader Boyfriend (article)
       5. Queerplatonic Partnerships (article)
       6. The Sandwich Means “I Love You”: A Valentine* (article; on friendship)
   15. Polyamory
       1. The Ethical Slut (book)
       2. More Than Two* (website)
       3. Opening Up: A Guide to Creating and Sustaining Open Relationships* (book)
9. Children and Parenting
   1. Advocates For Youth (website; on sexual health)
   2. Ageism
      1. Children Talk But No One Listens (article)
10. Health
    1. Breaking the Doctor-Patient Relationship (article)
    2. Healthism and Food (article)
    3. Helping Patients Participate in Their Care (article)
    4. Our Bodies, Ourselves* (book)
    5. Reproductive Justice
       1. Bedsider (website, on birth control)
       2. My Body, My Choice (article; on tubal litigation)
       3. National Abortion Federation (website)
       4. “The Only Moral Abortion is My Abortion” (article)
       5. Planned Parenthood* (website)
       6. RH Reality Check (website)
       7. VaginaPagina (website)
    6. Weight and Fatism
       1. No Fat Chicks: Navigating the Dating World as a Fat Girl (article)
       2. Think Twice Before You Praise Someone For Losing Weight
       3. Weightless (blog)
       4. Who Really Takes Up Space on Airplanes? (article)
11. Disability/Ableism
    1. But You Don’t Look Sick* (website; for chronic illness and invisible disability)
    2. Does My Disability Pride Scare You? (article)
    3. Norming Access (article)
    4. The Spoon Theory* (article)
    5. Yes, People With Physical Disabilities Like Fashion Too (article)
    6. Autism Spectrum
       1. Autistic Self Advocacy Network* (website)
       2. An Autistic Speaks About Autism Speaks (article)
       3. The Disturbing “Autism Speaks” Project (article)
       4. How to Deal with the Negative Aspects of Asperger’s? (article)
       5. If Your Romantic Partner Has Asperger’s (article)
       6. Want to Foster Creativity in an Autistic Youngster? (article)
12. Classism/Poverty/Charity
    1. 6 Things Rich People Need to Stop Saying (article)
    2. Kiva (website)
    3. Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America (book)
    4. Notes from the Urban/Rural Divide: Poverty (article)
    5. Our Affordable Housing Policy is Out of Whack (article)
    6. Pornification and Disempowerment (article)
    7. “She Can’t Be Poor! She Has a Cell Phone!” (article)
    8. Where Do Your In-Kind Donations Really Go? (article)
    9. White Savior Complex (article)
    10. Who Gets Government Assistance? (article)
    11. Why Inequality Matters (article)
13. Atheism
    1. 1,000 Women Speakers Worth Listening To (article)
    2. Atheism Plus forum (website)
    3. Daylight Atheism (blog)
    4. Foundation Beyond Belief (website)
    5. Freedom From Religion Foundation (website)
    6. Friendly Atheist (blog)
    7. Godless Bitches (podcast)
    8. How Atheists are Dealing with Death (article)
    9. How to Be an Ally with Atheists (article)
    10. If I tell my parents I am an atheist, they will disown me (or worse) (article)
    11. Is the Word “Atheist” Negative? (article)
    12. Love Joy Feminism (blog)
    13. Pharyngula (blog)
    14. Recovering From Religion* (website)
    15. Secular Coalition for America (website)
    16. Secular Student Alliance (website)
    17. The Secular Therapist Project (website)
    18. Secular Woman (website)
    19. Spiritual Abuse Survivor Blogs Network (article)
    20. What Would JT Do? (blog)
14. Skepticism/Scientific Literacy
    1. Denialism: How Irrational Thinking Hinders Scientific Progress, Harms the Planet, and Threatens Our Lives* (book)
    2. Feminist Evolutionary Psychology Society (website)
    3. Gapminder (website)
    4. Neurologica (blog)
    5. Science-based Medicine (blog)
    6. Skepchick (blog)
    7. The Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe (podcast)
    8. Storm by Tim Minchin* (video; on pseudoscience)
    9. TED Talks (website)
    10. What is a Good Study? (article)
15. Food Policy and Environmentalism
    1. Ag Gag Laws (article)
    2. Check Your Seed Packets: Monsanto is Everywhere (article)
    3. Eating Animals (book)
    4. Fair Treatment for Farmworkers: A Non-Negotiable Aspect of Ethical Food (article)
    5. Farming, the Food Supply, and Reality (article)
    6. Fast Food Nation (book)
    7. Food, Inc.* (film)
    8. Food, Inc.: A Participant Guide (book)
    9. Food Politics (blog)
    10. Food Politics: How the Food Industry Influences Nutrition and Health (book)
    11. Food Sovereignty is Not Impossible (article)
    12. In Other News, Big Ag Lies (article)
    13. The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals* (book)
    14. Pure and Natural, Except for the Exploitation (article; on bottled water)
    15. Righteous Porkchop: Finding a Life and Good Food Beyond Factory Farming (book)
    16. School Lunch and Food Priorities (article)
    17. We’re Eating Less Meat…And Building More Factory Farms (article)
16. The Justice System
    1. An Easy Solution to Prison Overcrowding: Let Prisoners Out (article)
    2. Gates of Injustice: The Crisis in America’s Prisons (book)
    3. HIV in the Prison System (article)
    4. Learning Behind Bars (article)
    5. The New Jim Crow* (book)
    6. Perfect Victims, Perfect Narratives (article)
    7. Torturing Prisoners by Denying Access to Medical Care (article)
17. Colonialism/Indigeneity
    1. Top 99 Questions About Native Americans (article)
18. News
    1. Alternet
    2. Lawsonry
    3. The Maddow Blog
    4. Mother Jones
    5. Pacific Standard
    6. The Raw Story
    7. ThinkProgress