In episode 121 of The Just Checking In Podcast, we checked in with Paula Wright.
Paula Wright is a graduate student in evolutionary psychology, a writer, actress and comic.
Her Substack is called Dangerous Ideas and her journey into academia began when she founded a Facebook forum called Darwinian Gender Studies. This brought many academics, thinkers and writers to its discussion threads including now Quilette editor Claire Lehmann, Gad Saad and David Buss.
Paula came from a working-class background and left school with no qualifications. She went into academia relatively late and became fascinated by the subject of evolutionary psychology which she believed could be used as a lens to explain aspects of feminism and other societal issues.
In this episode we discuss how Paula got into academia, how Darwinian Gender Studies came to be and some of the issues she writes about, including the current conversation around rape, why she stopped identifying as a feminist when she said she found out the truth about rape conviction rates and cancel culture.
For Paula’s mental health we discuss her diagnosis of autism in her 40s, how she’s lived with ADHD throughout her life and how taking medication for anxiety has helped her mental health.
We also discuss the sexual abuse that was inflicted upon her family by her stepfather. Her stepfather sexually abused both of Paula’s two sisters and attempted to sexually abuse Paula but didn’t succeed.
We talk about the impact that had on her and her family, how it affected her and how after multiple mistrials, he was finally convicted for the crimes he committed.
As always, #itsokaytovent
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TRIGGER WARNING: This podcast contains deep and detailed discussions about sexual abuse, which some listeners may find extremely upsetting or distressing, so please listen with caution.
