Category Archives: Sexuality

My Therapist is a Horse

Posted on November 12, 2019 by Abigail

My Therapist is a Horse By that I don’t mean that it’s healthy for me to relax and do something different, rather than “think” all the time. I mean Cali [aka California], a tall pinto, is my therapist. Last Friday, … Continue reading →

Posted in Absurdism, Academe, Action, Alienation, American Politics, Anthropology, Art, Art of Living, beauty, books, bureaucracy, Chivalry, Cities, Class, conformism, Contemplation, Contradictions, Cool, Courage, Courtship, cults, Cultural Politics, Culture, Desire, dialectic, Erotic Life, Ethics, Evil, Existentialism, exploitation, Faith, Fashion, Femininity, Feminism, Friendship, Gender Balance, glitterati, Guilt and Innocence, Health, hegemony, Heroes, hidden God, hierarchy, history of ideas, Idealism, Ideality, Identity, Ideology, Idolatry, Immorality, Institutional Power, Jews, Journalism, Judaism, Legal Responsibility, life and death struggle, Literature, Love, Male Power, Masculinity, master/slave relation, Memoir, memory, Mind Control, Modernism, Moral action, Moral evaluation, Moral psychology, morality, nineteenth-century, novels, Ontology, Oppression, Past and Future, Phenomenology of Mind, Philosophy, Political Movements, politics, politics of ideas, post modernism, Power, presence, promissory notes, Propaganda, Psychology, public facade, Public Intellectual, radicalism, Reading, Reductionism, relationships, Roles, Romance, Seduction, self-deception, Sex Appeal, Sexuality, social climbing, social construction, Social Conventions, social ranking, spiritual journey, spiritual not religious, Spirituality, status, status of women, Suffering, The Examined Life, The Problematic of Men, The Problematic of Woman, the profane, the sacred, Theology, Time, twentieth century, twenty-first century, victimhood, victims, Violence, War, Work, Writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged 19th century novels, Abigail L. Rosenthal's "Confessions of a Young Philosopher", academic feminism, academic job struggle, academic prestige, author’s platform, “About Abigail Rosenthal” video, “Autumn Leaves”, background music, blaming Holocaust victims, book genre, Brooklyn College Philosophy Department, Charles de Gaulle, Charles Dickens’s Tale of Two Cities, Charlotte Bronte's "Jane Eyre", collegial friend, Columbia philosophy department, Columbia Religion Department, communication, Coulda been a contender, CUNY, Currer and Acton Bell, equine therapist, Fair Play for Cuba Committee, Fidelista, French philosopher, Hannah Arendt, Hannah Arendt's Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil, horse sense, horse tracks, Houyhnhnms, human therapist, Israeli ambassador, Jane Austen, Laurel Nobilis stables, Les feuilles mortes, life strategy, love of wisdom, male pseudonyms, manuscript design, mass executions, multi-tasking, natural riding, opinion shapers, opportunism, overthinking, philosophy of language, philosophy students, podcast, preamble and outgo, public space, purposive action, R&R, reaching readers, receptive silence, relaxation, remembering where you’re headed, rest and recuperation, seeking readers, staying invisible, success as a full-time job, success tradeoffs, Susan Sontag, the Bronte Sisters, therapist, truth-seeking, whitewashing Nazis, women writers, words and images | Leave a comment

Time and Me

Posted on November 5, 2019 by Abigail

Time and Me When I was a little girl, I didn’t worry about Time at all. I pretended I was a deer and roved the forests. I pretended I was a boy raised by wolves and roamed the jungle. Back … Continue reading →

Posted in Absurdism, Academe, Action, Afterlife, Alienation, Art, Art of Living, Autonomy, beauty, Childhood, conformism, Contemplation, Contradictions, Cool, Courtship, Cultural Politics, Culture, Desire, dialectic, Erotic Life, Eternity, Existentialism, Fashion, Femininity, Feminism, Freedom, Gender Balance, Guilt and Innocence, Health, Hegel, Identity, Literature, Love, Masculinity, Memoir, memory, Moral psychology, Mortality, motherhood, novels, Ontology, Past and Future, Peace, Philosophy, politics of ideas, post modernism, Power, presence, promissory notes, Psychology, Reading, Reductionism, relationships, Renaissance, Roles, Romance, Romantic Love, Seduction, self-deception, Sex Appeal, Sexuality, social climbing, social construction, Social Conventions, social ranking, Sociobiology, spiritual journey, spiritual not religious, Spirituality, status, status of women, Suffering, The Examined Life, The Problematic of Men, The Problematic of Woman, the profane, the sacred, Time, twentieth century, twenty-first century, Work, Writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged actualization and time, adolescence, adolescent boys, believing the unbelievable, book illustration, childhood’s end, coming of age, coquetry, coquetry in Europe, filling time, Flirting, flirting in America, future, getting your work done, growing pains, growing up in America, here today gone tomorrow, hypothetical and actual, imaginary worlds, intentionality, John Tenniel, knowing what’s real, knowing who one is, learning one’s purpose, Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking Glass, life lessons, life regrets, life vocation, life’s work, Michelangelo, nostalgia, one’s calling, past, present, realization and time, running out of time, sufficient unto the day, teenage angst, temporality, the coming of reason, the lens of time, the real and the imaginary, Time, time and purpose, time flies, time of childhood, time’s wingéd chariot, to last and get your work done, wallflower, women friends, young girls in bloom | 2 Comments

Androgyny?

Posted on October 22, 2019 by Abigail

Androgyny? “The Lure of Androgyny” is the title of an article I just read. It reports that the trend to downplay biological differences between the sexes is now world-wide. This is different from giving women equal opportunity. More like: THERE’S … Continue reading →

Posted in "Absolute Freedom and Terror", Absurdism, Academe, Action, Alienation, Anthropology, Art of Living, Autonomy, beauty, books, Chivalry, Christianity, Cities, Class, conformism, Contemplation, Contradictions, Cool, Courage, Courtship, Cultural Politics, Culture, Desire, dialectic, Erotic Life, Eternity, Ethics, Evil, Existentialism, exploitation, Faith, Fashion, Femininity, Feminism, Films, Freedom, Friendship, Gender Balance, glitterati, Gnosticism, Guilt and Innocence, Health, hegemony, Heroes, hidden God, hierarchy, history of ideas, ID, Idealism, Ideality, Identity, Ideology, Immorality, Institutional Power, Journalism, Legal Responsibility, life and death struggle, Literature, Male Power, Martyrdom, Masculinity, master/slave relation, Medieval, Memoir, memory, Mind Control, Modernism, Moral action, Moral evaluation, Moral psychology, morality, motherhood, novels, Oppression, Past and Future, Phenomenology of Mind, Philosophy, Poetry, Political Movements, politics of ideas, post modernism, Power, presence, promissory notes, Propaganda, Psychology, public facade, Public Intellectual, radicalism, Reading, Reductionism, relationships, Roles, Romance, Romantic Love, Romanticism, scientism, secular, Seduction, self-deception, Sex Appeal, Sexuality, slave, social climbing, social construction, Social Conventions, social ranking, Sociobiology, spiritual journey, spiritual not religious, Spirituality, status, status of women, Suffering, The Examined Life, The Problematic of Men, The Problematic of Woman, the profane, the sacred, Theism, Theology, Time, twentieth century, twenty-first century, Utopia, victimhood, victims, Violence, Work, Writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged actors and actresses, androgyny, anti-male prejudice, athletes, biological female, biological male, blue jeans, censorship, crude men, cultural change, Dante's Beatrice, debased men, defending honor, defending women’s honor, Emmanuel Levinas, entertainment fields, equal opportunity, female vulnerability, feminine security, fire fighting, firefighter rescue, French philosophy, Freudian prohibitions, gender as social construct, Hamlet, hatred of men, high fashion designers, idealizing women, level playing field, Levinas’s “And God Created Woman”, life or death situation, magazine article, make love like a man, male bashing, male gallantry, male protectiveness, male trustworthiness, marital partnership, marital protection, Marriage, Mary Eberstadt’s “The Lure of Androgyny”, masculine protection, misandry, misogyny, Ophelia, overcoming inhibitions, parental role model, policewoman, political correctness, pop music, pressures on men, prizes for acting, protective fathers, redemptress, relations between the sexes. human to human v man to woman, respect for women, Richard Lovelace’s “To Lucasta on Going to the Wars”, sexual revolution, sexual tact, single mother, targeting weakness, the arts, the eternal feminine, The New York Review of Books, the victimized woman, theatre awards, toxic masculinity, trendy article, trust, truth in sports, unisex, unisex bathrooms, unisex designers, unisex outfits, unisex sports, winning the race, women athletes, women firefighters, women in the military, women's liberation, women’s self-defense, Woodstock, worldwide trends | Leave a comment

Red Letter Day

Posted on October 8, 2019 by Abigail

Red Letter Day In recent columns, I’ve alluded to reversals of fortune, a succession of them, coming in the form of rejection letters. Two came from senior editors who turned down an article, controversial and breaking new ground, which was … Continue reading →

Posted in Absurdism, Academe, Action, Afterlife, Alienation, American Politics, Anthropology, Art, Art of Living, Atheism, Autonomy, beauty, books, bureaucracy, Chivalry, Cities, Class, conformism, Contemplation, Contradictions, Cool, Courage, Courtship, cults, Cultural Politics, Culture, Desire, dialectic, Erotic Life, Eternity, Existentialism, exploitation, Faith, Fashion, Femininity, Feminism, Freedom, Friendship, Gender Balance, glitterati, Health, hegemony, hidden God, hierarchy, history of ideas, Ideality, Identity, Ideology, Idolatry, Immortality, Institutional Power, Literature, Love, Masculinity, master, Memoir, memory, Messianic Age, Mind Control, Modernism, Moral action, Moral evaluation, Moral psychology, novels, Ontology, Oppression, Past and Future, Philosophy, Political, politics of ideas, post modernism, Power, presence, Psychology, public facade, Public Intellectual, Race, radicalism, Reading, Reductionism, relationships, Roles, Romance, secular, Seduction, self-deception, Sex Appeal, Sexuality, social climbing, social construction, Social Conventions, social ranking, spiritual journey, spiritual not religious, Spirituality, status, status of women, Suffering, The Examined Life, The Problematic of Men, The Problematic of Woman, the profane, the sacred, Theology, Time, twentieth century, twenty-first century, Utopia, victims, Work, Writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged Abigail L. Rosenthal's "Confessions of a Young Philosopher", anti-humanism, anti-semitism, at home in the world, Augustine’s Confessions, big shots, book people, controversial essays, exhausting one's options, experiment with truth, feeling lighter, gender asymmetry, identity politics, illustrated books, influencers, influential people, internalizing rejection, literary agent, literary prizes, lungeing the horse, magazine editors, Marxism, men and women, millenarianism, natural riding, newsworthy article, Nobel Prize, novelistic non-fiction, opinion shapers, popularity, race relations, Red letter day, rejection letters, respect from horses, respecting horses, reversals of fortune, Rousseau’s Confessions, self-publishing advantages, self-worth, sexual asymmetry, sexual equality, shedding light, stunned silence, trade press, true story, university press, unpublished book, weight of the world, words and images, world views, worldly considerations | Leave a comment

Womanly Arts

Posted on September 3, 2019 by Abigail

Womanly Arts At the Eric Voegelin Society conference we attended this week in D.C., Jerry and I were on a panel entitled “Life as a Spiritual Journey.” They went awfully well — both of our (totally different) presentations. For the … Continue reading →

Posted in "Absolute Freedom and Terror", Absurdism, Academe, Action, Alienation, Anthropology, Art, Art of Living, Autonomy, beauty, books, bureaucracy, Childhood, Chivalry, Cities, Class, conformism, Contemplation, Contradictions, Cool, Courage, Courtship, Cultural Politics, Culture, Desire, dialectic, Erotic Life, Ethics, Existentialism, exploitation, Faith, Fashion, Femininity, Feminism, Freedom, Friendship, Gender Balance, Guilt and Innocence, Health, hegemony, Heroes, hidden God, hierarchy, History, history of ideas, Idealism, Ideality, Identity, Ideology, Institutional Power, life and death struggle, Literature, Love, Male Power, Masculinity, Memoir, memory, Mind Control, Modernism, Moral action, Moral evaluation, Moral psychology, morality, motherhood, Oppression, Past and Future, Phenomenology of Mind, Philosophy, Political Movements, politics of ideas, post modernism, Power, presence, promissory notes, Propaganda, Psychology, public facade, Public Intellectual, Reading, Reductionism, relationships, Roles, Romance, Romantic Love, scientism, secular, Seduction, self-deception, Sex Appeal, Sexuality, social climbing, social construction, Social Conventions, social ranking, Sociobiology, spiritual journey, spiritual not religious, Spirituality, status, status of women, The Examined Life, The Problematic of Men, The Problematic of Woman, the profane, the sacred, Time, twentieth century, twenty-first century, Utopia, victimhood, victims, Work, Writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged Abigail L. Rosenthal's "Confessions of a Young Philosopher", acculturated behavior, adaptive behavior, advising daughters, advising sons, Americans in Paris, arbitrary values, autonomic functions, conference panelists, contingency of values, cultural denial, economic substructure, Eric Voegelin Society, ethology, feminine reality, feminine virtues, feminist movement, Fullbright Grantees, gender acculturation, German Occupation of Paris, high-sounding words, life as a spiritual journey, Marxist remedies, masculine virtues, memoir, modeling manhood, modeling virtue, modeling womanhood, nature and nurture, painting in oils, parental guidance, Parisian impressions, personal bungling, pre-feminist, professed ideals, professional bungling, professional success, public feminist, selling the Brooklyn Bridge, Simone de Beauvoir's The Second Sex, speaker’s anxiety, strategic mistakes, subsurface fears, surface idealism, the absurd, the feminine art, the masculine art, traditional virtues, tragic circumstances, Washington D.C., womanization, womanly fulfillment, women friends, you can’t say it, young American women | Leave a comment

Post-Traumatic Stress

Posted on July 30, 2019 by Abigail

Post-Traumatic Stress There’s a book I’m reading now titled In An Unspoken Voice by Peter A. Levine, a man who’s done research on the causes of trauma when it lasts well beyond the end of the stressful incident and currently … Continue reading →

Posted in "Absolute Freedom and Terror", Absurdism, Academe, Action, Alienation, Anthropology, Art of Living, Autonomy, beauty, books, Childhood, Cities, conformism, Contemplation, Contradictions, Cool, Courage, cults, Cultural Politics, Culture, Desire, dialectic, Erotic Life, Ethics, Evil, Existentialism, exploitation, Fashion, Femininity, Feminism, Films, Freedom, Friendship, Gender Balance, Guilt and Innocence, Health, hegemony, Heroes, hierarchy, history of ideas, ID, Idealism, Identity, Ideology, Idolatry, Institutional Power, Jews, Judaism, Legal Responsibility, life and death struggle, Male Power, Masculinity, master/slave relation, memory, Mind Control, Moral action, Moral evaluation, Moral psychology, morality, Mortality, motherhood, Oppression, pacifism, Past and Future, Peace, politics of ideas, post modernism, Power, presence, Propaganda, Psychology, public facade, Reading, Reductionism, relationships, Roles, scientism, secular, Seduction, self-deception, Sexuality, social construction, Social Conventions, social ranking, Sociobiology, spiritual journey, status, status of women, Suffering, Terror, terrorism, The Examined Life, The Problematic of Men, The Problematic of Woman, TV, twenty-first century, victimhood, victims, Violence, War, Work, Writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged anaesthetized, animal behavior, animal hunting, animal killing, animal life, anti-semitism and culture, anti-semitism and history, anxiety, biofeedback, biological life, body awareness, body psychotherapy, cat and mouse, childhood trauma, circle of life, competitive hunters, curing PTSD, cycle of life, Darwin, Darwinian, Darwinian struggle, dynamic equilibrium, eat or be eaten, ecology, effective daily life, escape modes, ethology, fight or flight, fighting for justice, Freeze response, healing trauma, Holocaust rescues, Holocaust survivors, humanity and stress, hunting animals, immobilizing trap, incurable injustice, making the kill, medical biophysics, medical psychology, mind/body connection, Nat-Geo Wild, natural life, nature’s rough mercies, no exit, Peter A. Levine’s In An Unspoken Voice: How the Body Releases Trauma and Restores Goodness, post-traumatic stress, post-traumatic stress disorder, predator animals, predators, prey animals, PTSD, remedies for PTSD, rescue work, righteous combat, Somatic Experiencing, stealing your story, stress, stress response, stressful memories, stressful situations, survivors, targeted persons, trauma | 2 Comments

Overheard at the Café

Posted on July 23, 2019 by Abigail

Overheard at the Café Among the rewards of my composing this column at the café where I’m what the French call an habituée, is that I get to overhear scenes from other people’s real lives. The café meets my need to … Continue reading →

Posted in "Absolute Freedom and Terror", Absurdism, Action, Alienation, Anthropology, Art of Living, Autonomy, Biblical God, Chivalry, Class, conformism, Contemplation, Contradictions, Courtship, Cultural Politics, Culture, Desire, dialectic, Erotic Life, Eternity, Ethics, Evil, Existentialism, exploitation, Faith, Fashion, Femininity, Feminism, Freedom, Friendship, Gender Balance, Guilt and Innocence, hegemony, hidden God, hierarchy, history of ideas, ID, Idealism, Ideality, Identity, Ideology, Idolatry, Immorality, Institutional Power, Legal Responsibility, life and death struggle, Literature, Love, Male Power, Masculinity, master/slave relation, Mind Control, Modernism, Moral action, Moral evaluation, Moral psychology, morality, novels, Ontology, Oppression, Past and Future, Poetry, Political Movements, politics of ideas, post modernism, Power, presence, promissory notes, Propaganda, Psychology, public facade, Reading, Reductionism, relationships, Religion, Roles, Romance, Romantic Love, Romanticism, scientism, secular, Seduction, self-deception, Sex Appeal, Sexuality, social climbing, social construction, Social Conventions, social ranking, Sociobiology, spiritual journey, spiritual not religious, Spirituality, status, status of women, Suffering, Terror, The Examined Life, The Problematic of Men, The Problematic of Woman, the profane, the sacred, Theism, Theology, Time, twenty-first century, victimhood, victims, Work, Writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged advice to a stranger, bad company, behind her back, café life, café seclusion, Carl Sandburg’s Cool Tombs, covering one’s tracks, divorce, divorce and status, eavesdropping, feminism and biology, feminism and culture, feminism and history, fidelity, French cafes, gossip, habituée, happy endings, male protector, marital complaints, my wife doesn’t understand me, painful truths, personal dignity, personal happiness, personal love, private conversation, rabbinic dictum, romantic story, scenes from life, scenes overheard, seducers approach, seduction, single woman, social costs, social disadvantage, social outranking, social ranking, social safety, solitary woman, the library of life, the lottery of life, the official story, tragic romance, woman without a man, women's liberation, worldly honors, writers in cafés, writing a column | Leave a comment

	Abigail on Time and Me
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	Androgyny? \| "D… on Good Philosophy Gets You to th…
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Category Archives: Sexuality

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