Alex Mell-Taylor
Bio
I write long-form pieces on timely themes inside entertainment, pop culture, video games, gender, sexuality, race and politics. My writing currently reaches a growing audience of over 10,000 people every month across various publications.
Stories (56/0)
You’re Delusional if You Think Queer People Are Responsible for This Moral Panic
There is this tiring argument that happens on the Internet (and in real life), where whenever something bad happens —i.e., an election doesn't go well, a terrible law is passed, a court decision reverses a group's rights, etc.—people try to push the blame onto the person or group hurt.
By Alex Mell-Taylor4 months ago in Pride
This Anti-Trans Moral Panic Was Never About How We Define Gender
There's been a huge debate about the "transgenders" recently. I can hear the "just asking questions" starter pack now. Are trans women real women? What is gender? What is sex? Do we really need to respect these people who are changing the game on this thing that has always existed?
By Alex Mell-Taylor4 months ago in Pride
Feminism & Groomers: 'The House of The Dragon' Was Always About How Men Use Women
HBO's Game of Thrones spinoff, The House of the Dragon (sometimes referred to online as House of Dragons), knew what it wanted to talk about in the very first episode. After it's revealed that between two contenders to the throne — the cowardly Viserys I Targaryen and the wiser Rhaenys Targaryen — Viserys is given the Iron Throne because he is a man, we know that patriarchy is going to be a throughline in this story.
By Alex Mell-Taylor5 months ago in Geeks
Pop Culture's Reckoning with "Wage Slavery"
A lot of people hate work. "Work is not my highest priority and never will be," rants a user on r/Jobs. "I don't hate my job; I actually enjoy it. However, I'm just sick of this western(?) idea that your work is your identifier and needs to be your 'highest priority.'" This is a common perspective (see also my article You Are Not Crazy for Hating the Idea of Work).
By Alex Mell-Taylor5 months ago in Geeks
Is “Occupy Democrats” Fake News?
Occupy Democrats is a very popular brand. Until very recently, its posts routinely found themselves breaking Facebook's Top 10 performing posts every day. Its success has been cited by the likes of The New York Times, framing their piece as the story of "How Immigrant Twin Brothers Are Beating Trump's Team on Facebook."
By Alex Mell-Taylor5 months ago in The Swamp
The Lean-in Feminism of 'She-Hulk: Attorney At Law'
She-Hulk: Attorney at Law was meant to be a meta-textual, feminist deconstruction of the MCU, and in some ways, it succeeds with this goal. Whether it's referencing Roxane Gay's Bad Feminist or jokes about women in the workplace, there are plenty of progressive nuggets for viewers to mine.
By Alex Mell-Taylor5 months ago in Geeks
A Brief Primer On What "Wage Slavery" Means
The concept of work has been challenged since its inception. For Aristotle, the end goal for humans was supposed to be leisure. This is a sentiment that has continued to the modern day. Contemporary philosopher John Danaher wrote: "Work, suitably-defined, is a bad thing and we should try to create a society in which it is no longer necessary." A statement that somewhat controversially opposes the well-ingrained idea that work gives us meaning.
By Alex Mell-Taylor5 months ago in The Swamp
How One Minecraft Video Proves The Futility of Increasing Police Budgets
Policing is a contentious issue in the US. As crime increases (though it is still far lower than our country's high in the 90s), a lot of politicians are saying that we need to increase police budgets so we can hire more officers. 46th President of the US, Joe Biden, has made repeated requests for increased police budgets, and the same proposals have been made by mayors and governors across the country.
By Alex Mell-Taylor5 months ago in Geeks
Forget Collapse: Things May Be Like This Until You Die
There has been a lot of talk of collapse recently. A study out of Harvard asserts that civilization might collapse if we do not make substantial changes. The Doomsday Clock has been moved to 100 seconds till midnight. It would surprise few to wake up one day and receive an alert on our phones telling us that a missile was launching, another plague had started, or that food reserves could no longer support our current population.
By Alex Mell-Taylor6 months ago in Earth
Westworld and the Limits of White Imagination
Thomas Jefferson described the relationship with the men and women he enslaved as holding "a wolf by the ear, and we can neither hold him nor safely let him go." While he allegedly favored "gradual emancipation," he feared that sudden liberation would result in a race war. We will discuss this fear in greater detail later, but keep it in the back of your mind as we examine the sci-fi hit Westworld and how it relates to revolution and imagination.
By Alex Mell-Taylor6 months ago in Geeks
The Website That Makes Climate Denial Easy — (ft. Climateaction.org)
Why hello there, traveler, and welcome to the "Apocalypse Tour!" This is the extraterrestrial walking (or hovering) tour where we observe all the locations that led to species 947's demise — 947 was also known as humanity [hyoo·ma·nuh·tee]. This tour covers the locations that contributed to humanity's untimely end on a tiny planet called Earth in the year 90,423 XE (what humans may know as 2XXX AD).
By Alex Mell-Taylor6 months ago in Earth
The Stormcloaks From Skyrim Have Always Been The Wrong Faction To Choose
The fantasy, open-world game Skyrim was first released over twenty years ago and remains a popular game. The mod community continues on stronger than ever, with fun mods still coming out regularly. If you want a fun hack and slash to get lost in with a sublime score, then the land of Skyrim may be for you.
By Alex Mell-Taylor6 months ago in Gamers
