Culture
Thinking Kink: Gay S&M in Pop Music, Then and Now
Back in 1983, Frankie said “Relax” and a media unsettled by gay S&M did the exact opposite. A generation later, we pride ourselves on being a little cooler with queerness and BDSM, but I suspect there are still some double standards when it comes to gay men getting kinky….
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Douchebag Decree: Don't Let Chick-fil-A Distract You From the Douchiness that is the Latest Hooters Campaign
The new Hooters campaign features two owl puppets—a devil and an angel—meant to represent the internal conflict many customers face when eating fried food at what is basically the world’s least gratifying strip club. On the one hand, you consider yourself a nice person, but on the other hand... Read more »
Thinking Kink: The Politics of BDSM Fashion
Considering how restrictive so much kinky clothing is, when does sexy cross the line into sexist? Is shoe-horning oneself into corsets, latex or agonizingly high heels just part of fetishism, or is it just another way in which the female body is molded and manipulated? Today, I’m peeling back... Read more »
About Face: HBO's Documentary on Aging Supermodels is Only Skin Deep
Last night I pried myself away from the hot bodies of the London Games to watch a documentary about a different group of people who make their living with their hot bodies: supermodels. Timothy Greenfield Sanders’ feature-length HBO film ... Read more »
Games On! The London 2012 Olympics: So Far, So Feminist?
If you thought this year’s Olympics would be a sexism-free zone, you were forgetting about the notoriously chauvinistic Mayor of London, who likened the female... Read more »
Bridal Party: Tale of a Tomboy Bride
As a tomboy bride, I BARELY wanted to wear a dress, let alone something that looked like to me like a cupcake.
The wedding industry, and pop culture in general, is so bossy about what everyone’s experience of gender is. Hey, Wedding Crap Culture! Not everyone is a pile of... Read more »
Thinking Kink: A Visit to the Sex Toy Store
Today, I’m reflecting on some of my trips to sex stores and consider the cost of kink, as well as how many stores pass the female-friendly test. Is having a decent kink toybox all about the Benjamins? And why do some sex stores still feel reserved for the dirty raincoat brigade?
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Love and Afrofeminism: Queer Bois and the Gendered Politics of Partner Dancing
I had felt unsafe in that space. The night had represented every micro aggression I’d ever experienced from straight people: cab drivers that kicked me out in the middle of the night because they wouldn’t tolerate “that” at the back of their cabs, store managers who kept insisting I... Read more »
BitchTapes: Sexy Jams
Sexy Jamz from BitchTapes on 8tracks.
“Why do I have a playlist labeled 'Sexy Jamz' with nothing in it?” I exclaimed one day while looking through my computer... Read more »
Thinking Kink: Some Like it Rough
“Baby, when it’s love, if it’s not rough it isn’t fun”, growls Lady Gaga in her hit “Poker Face.” Today, I’m considering how rough sex is portrayed in the media, and why a taste for the rough stuff troubling to some but damn sexy to others…
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