The time has come to say goodbye. Almost nine years after founding Role Reboot — and 4,000 published posts later — we are shutting down. The site remains up for the time being, but we are no longer publishing new content.  There are a lot of reasons why, but the main one is that, despite loyal and engaged contributors and readers, great content, good site traffic, and low operating costs, Role Reboot has never been financially sustainable. I built Role Reboot to be a lot of things, but a profitable media enterprise was never one of them.  It’s been a while since I’ve been personally involved i ..read more

There is no middle ground when it comes to human rights. My previous relationship was with a libertarian, and let me tell you: Reason was always the name of the game. Political discussions were all about who could sound the most reasonable, the most balanced, the most amiable to political compromise. We often listened to “politically-independent” podcasts on road trips and even though I found myself nodding along in agreement here or there, I generally raised an eyebrow at hosts who seemed more concerned with worshipping at the altar of moderation for its own sake than with acknowledging the d ..read more

When we are seen as objects, ornaments, or accessories, our relationships with each other will likewise be seen as not belonging to us. I was a band geek in high school. In exchange for the Saturdays we spent at various competitions all over the state, we would get an occasional “down” day to watch a movie or just hang out in the band room. These were lazy days filled with giggles and gossip, and on one day in particular, kisses with my friend Jessica. Jessica was cute and kind and one year younger than me. “I don’t see anything wrong when girls kiss girls,” she said as we sat cross-legged on ..read more

We may still have a long way to go, but the fight for representation is worth the struggle. The next generation of Asian Americans deserves to see themselves onscreen and their dreams as possibilities. Netflix’s Always Be My Maybe is set to premiere on May 31st — a fitting end to Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. The highly-anticipated rom-com stars Ali Wong, who co-wrote and produced the film, and Randall Park from ABC’s “Fresh Off the Boat” series. Recently, another “Fresh Off the Boat” star made headlines under less fortunate circumstances. Page Six reported last week that Constance Wu ..read more

It saddens me that we don’t stand alongside our trans community when they may need us the most.  Transgender Texans are finally afforded legal protection against hate crimes. With the recent introduction of House bill 1513 to add gender identity to the list of protected classes under the 2001 James Byrd  Jr. Hate Crimes Act, Texas state representatives finally acknowledged the rights of a community that is far too often victimized and dismissed. That’s a step forward. Now, if we could get our larger community to embrace our trans community, we may make real progress. Muhlaysia Booker was found ..read more

I’d like to think men have higher standards for themselves in relationships than avoiding a prison sentence. In electronic artist Moby’s recent memoir, Then It Fell Apart, he claims to have dated actor Natalie Portman when she was 20 years old and he was 33. Portman, who clarified that she was actually 18 during their brief acquaintance, spoke with Harper’s Bazaar about the surprising and upsetting experience of seeing their relationship described as “dating.” “We only hung out a handful of times before I realized that this was an older man who was interested in me in a way that felt inappropr ..read more

I want to live in a country where women can say no and not be sentenced for it. There is a line from my favorite novel, White Oleander, when Astrid loses Claire. I wanted to throw something into the fat ugly eye of God. I feel that now, deep in my bones. The helpless rage against a wall of indifference. The third season of The Handmaid’s Tale isn’t supposed to premiere for another three weeks. Today I am thinking of Alabama. Of the women whose lives have been deemed secondary to weeks-old clusters of cells. Of the women who will be forced to deliver stillborn babies and products of rape if the ..read more

After talking to some friends with severe, persistent allergies, I realized that allergies, much like mental health, are largely misunderstood and often dismissed as trivial or exaggerated. “Why don’t you like my cat?” my childhood best friend asked through her downturned mouth. “Give him a snuggle.” “My mom says I can’t,” I shrugged. “I can’t touch his fur.” “Well it’s not his fur. It’s his dander. It’s just cat spit!” Just cat spit had, along with many other things, lit up my forearm at the doctor’s office a few weeks ago. I was an asthmatic child and spent many hours of the day managing my ..read more

A family of two is not any less of a family. A family like mine no longer felt incomplete. With Mother’s Day fast approaching, I can’t help but think about how the year 2015 changed my life, not because I shaved my head (which I did), but because the television show “Gilmore Girls” resurfaced on Netflix. “Gilmore Girls” charmed a TV audience with its endearing and unique plotline in 2000 — independent, single mother Lorelai raises fiercely smart Rory in Stars Hollow, a fictional Connecticut suburb where Rory breaks every assumption one might have about being the daughter of a once-pregnant tee ..read more

Parents have to strive despite our knowledge that we will fail. Living with this cognitive dissonance is one of the hardest lessons of parenting, and one we can only embrace if we talk about our lives with all the doubt, nuance, and contradiction they actually encompass. Last year, in response to an influx of memoirs about ambivalent motherhood, Katie Heaney wrote, “Because I am a gay woman, I will not be able to have a baby without wanting one desperately and consistently.” This is a common refrain: Infertile or reproductively incompatible couples are never lukewarm about having children, bec ..read more