Culture

New Book "Action" Is a Candid Reflection on Sexuality

by Rachel Davies
June 21, 2016 at 1:52pm
The honest book mixes memoir with sex-ed. Read more »

Oh Joy Sex Toy: The Rumble Vibrator

by Erika Moen
June 21, 2016 at 1:15pm
Artist Erika Moen tests out a futuristic-looking new vibrator—with mixed results. Read more »

Ask Bear: After Orlando, I'm Scared to Take My Child to Pride

by S. Bear Bergman
June 21, 2016 at 11:58am
“Your support is needed. Especially this year.” Read more »

Designing a Tampon That Can Test for Cervical Cancer

by Mika Doyle
June 21, 2016 at 11:18am
The “smart tampon” would test your blood flow for signs of cancer and other conditions. Read more »

Comedian Negin Farsad Talks About "How to Make White People Laugh"

by Sarah Mirk
June 20, 2016 at 9:14am
Iranian-American comedian Negin Farsad is equal parts subversive and hilarious.  Read more »

Bisexual Erasure in Grace and Frankie

by Jillian Richardson
June 17, 2016 at 11:06am
The show’s creators completely ignore the possibility that Robert and Sol could be sexually interested in both men and women. Read more »

Artist Lisa Hanawalt Talks Hot Dogs, Bojack Horseman, and Why It Helps to Give Anxiety a Name

by Sarah Mirk
June 17, 2016 at 10:11am
Welcome to the land of talking dogs and poop jokes. Oh and also sincere, vulnerable feelings. Read more »
a Black woman stands in a tunnel with a flashlight

Visibility Isn’t Enough: Abigail Mills and the Failed Promise of “Sleepy Hollow”

by Cate Young
June 16, 2016 at 11:59am
All’s fair in love and television. But that doesn’t mean everything’s equal. Read more »

Reading "The X-Men" As a Queer Text

by Sarah Mirk
June 16, 2016 at 10:57am
They're outcasts who choose their own family, explains comics scholar Ramzi Fawza.  Read more »
Bani Amor hitchhiking in central Ecuador

What Does it Mean to Decolonize Travel?

by Amy Lam
June 15, 2016 at 9:48am
Writer Bani Amor is challenging the way tourism and travel writing usually center on white stories. Read more »

Pages

Best of Bitch

Tina Belcher's Sexual Revolution

​​​​​​​Tina Belcher, an animated teenaged girl. She wears glasses and has black hair with bangs.
by Gabrielle Moss
May 6, 2014 at 11:57am
Tina Belcher breaks all the rules of network sitcoms. That's why she's wonderful.  Read more »

Mock & Awe: Janet Mock on Truth-Telling, Community Building, and Writing the Story She Had Been Waiting for Her Whole Life

Janet Mock, a transgender Hawaiian woman with curly, brown hair, smiles
by Tina Vasquez
Spring 2014 • Maps & Legends
“Redefining Realness” is written with astounding honesty and heart. Read more »

Politically Correct Language Isn't Just About Being Polite—It's About Survival

by Leela Ginelle
February 10, 2015 at 12:23pm
Photo by Phillipe Leroyer (Creative Commons). Two weeks ago, Jonathan Chait published the lengthy essay “Not a Very P.C.... Read more »

Hot Under the Bonnet: The Cooptation of Amish Culture in Mass-Market Fiction

a blue and white illustration of a woman in Amish attire standing next to a fan and a chicken
by Audrey deCoursey
Spring 2014 • Maps & Legends
Dubbed “Amish romance novels,” “Amish fiction,” or the more waggish “bonnet rippers,” these novels just one entry point into the varying images of Amish communities in U.S. popular culture. Read more »