The problem with Norse mythology is that no one really knows that much about it. Most of what we do know was written down by Christian scholars hundreds of years after Wotan’s faith was a functioning religion, and so we’ve got a long time of hearsay and the biases of a bunch of monks standing between us and what actually went on back then. Which is probably what makes Norse mythology such fertile ground for things like the Marvel universe. The plot holes are so big you could drive a goat-drawn chariot through, and so nobody will get real mad if you leave out some stories that aren’t quite kid (or sanity) friendly. But that doesn’t mean those stories aren’t super entertaining, so here are ten aspects of Norse mythology that we’re not likely to see in Thor this weekend. And if we do… well, that’s going to super awesome to watch. >>>Check out the list.

We are all about Take Your Daughter to Work Day (or, as it is now known, Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day). In a time when it’s a struggle just to get people to acknowledge that something needs to be done about the underrepresentation of women in the sciences, academics, and business, it’s super important to remind young girls that no matter what they’re interested in, and no matter how “feminine” (or not) it is, they can totally do that when they grow up. So this Thursday, April 28th, 2011, take your son or daughter to work with you. … but not if your boss is a religous zealot, your coworkers are notoriously and fatally untrustworthy, or if devastating scientific accidents happen on a semi-weekly basis. In other words, but not if you work in any of the following places. >>>See the list.

This Friday is Earth Day, and more than that, it’s also Arbor Day (at least here in the USA). Trees line our streets and parks, sit in pots in our homes, and exist in vast hordes across many areas of our planet.

Here are ten of the most compelling reasons why you really, really should think twice about messing with those giant, green, tough, old creatures, judging by a vast swathe of fictional supporting evidence.

>>>List at The Mary Sue.

Meanwhile, at The Mary Sue, our sister site tries — and tries valiantly! — to explain the actual rules to 10 of the most inexplicable games from sci-fi, comics, and assorted geek entertainment. Considering that the creators don’t always seem to entirely know what’s going on, it’s no easy feat.

The rules of Calvinball are whatever the players declare them to be, at any point in the game. The primary and only permanent rule of Calvinball is that once you’ve played a certain way, you can never play that way again.

>>>Full list at The Mary Sue.

Over at The Mary Sue, Natasha Simons does a bang-up job questioning the truism that cult hero writer and director Joss Whedon is a feminist because his work features strong women.

“He’s praised for his interesting and multiform characters. Why, in these very pages, I’ve given him a share of credit myself. He’s earned the moniker of feminist seemingly through just the creation of strong female characters alone. But … “Having a girl beat up guys is not equivalent to a strong female character when they ALWAYS, CONSTANTLY depend on men.” So true! Let’s consider some of his body of work as we undertake the Topic that Made the Fanboys Cry: Joss Whedon’s feminism.”

(The Mary Sue)

A few days ago, Scott Adams, creator of the long running comic strip Dilbert, asked the commenters on his blog for a topic to write about, and the overwhelming vote was for him to take up the cause of Men’s Rights Activism for a post.

I guess there are a lot of masculinists who also enjoy bland but occasionally funny cubicle farm humor? Never would have guessed. Well, let’s see how Adams handles the controversial topic:

The reality is that women are treated differently by society for exactly the same reason that children and the mentally handicapped are treated differently. It’s just easier this way for everyone. You don’t argue with a four-year old about why he shouldn’t eat candy for dinner. You don’t punch a mentally handicapped guy even if he punches you first. And you don’t argue when a women tells you she’s only making 80 cents to your dollar. It’s the path of least resistance. You save your energy for more important battles.

Well, shit.

>>>Full story at The Mary Sue.

Classics Majors, this one's for you. See, it turns out, there's are a lot of storytelling conventions out there that aren't original... and haven't been for quite a bit longer than you might expect.

Behold! Geekosystem’s sister site, The Mary Sue, is live as of this morning, and we hope you will give it a look. The site will explore entertainment, fandom, and topics of interest to geek women with a greater depth than Geekosystem has to date. But Geekosystem is not about to become an all-boys club, nor will The Mary Sue be an all-girls club: For a more full explanation of the rationale behind the site, check out what Susana Polo, the managing editor of The Mary Sue (and, until a few weeks ago, my #2 at Geekosystem), has to say. Also check out the story behind The Mary Sue’s name.

Enjoy!

[The Mary Sue]

We’re hard at work preparing The Mary Sue for launch next week, but in the meantime we thought you’d like to see one of the things we just put together.  The Mary Sue will go live this coming Monday, but for now feel free to follow us on Twitter @The_MarySue. – Susana

The Hipster Princesses Meme began humbly, with only Ariel, but unlike its red haired founder, this meme has legs.  It’s now expanded to lay its photoshopped plastic spectacles over a wide swath of female Disney characters.

We’ve put nineteen more of our favorites after the jump.  After all, we’ve been watching this meme since before it became mainstream.

Read on...

As of today, Facebook gives you two more ways to describe your “it’s complicated.”  Perfectly timed with the passing today of Hawaii’s same-sex civil union law (soon to be signed into law by the state’s governor), Facebook users can now choose “in a civil union” and “in a domestic partnership” from the list of relationship statuses.

At least you can in the U.S., Canada, France, the United Kingdom, and Australia.

It’s safe to say that most people on the correct side of the gay marriage argument would really rather that we lived in a society where it wasn’t necessary for anyone to say that they were in a domestic partnership or civil union when what they really wanted was to say they were married.  But as most of us are aware, sometimes, when you say it on the internet hard enough, it comes true.  We’re calling this a win.