Posts Categorized: Sex and Culture
Shaving, Waxing, and Squeezing: The Horrors of Sex Prep
When I was in 10th grade I found myself in a particularly peculiar conversation with my grandmother. I was on my way upstairs to take a shower and I had my essentials in hand. Of those essentials one in particular stood out to her – a razor. She stared at me and said, “I’ve never shaved down there in my life and I don’t see why you need to.” Pause. Was my grandmother starting a conversation with me about her pubic hair when all I wanted to do was take a shower? Yes, yes she was. Being the angst-ridden teenager I was and still regret to this day, I scowled at her and retorted with some angry response about having hairy armpits and not caring at all about her pubic… Read more »
Turner Test: How Long is Long Enough?
Earlier this month articles started circulating about the devil himself – Brock Turner (but don’t worry this article isn’t about him). News had broken that Turner, who raped an unconscious woman, was released from jail after serving just three months of his ridiculously short six-month jail sentence. After Turner’s release, a familiar series of Facebook posts and tweets found themselves populating just about everyone’s news feed. Posts with captions like: “Brock Turner served 3 months, this black man is serving 15 years for the same crime,” hinted at the social media and cultural storm that would soon follow Brock Turner and his post-conviction life. People were, and still are, rightfully upset with the blatant racial inequality and discrimination in the criminal justice system. But this article isn’t about that either, though it is an… Read more »
5 Tired Microaggressions Trans People Are Tired of Hearing
I realized that I was trans when I was 15 and a sophomore in high school. Prior to then, I was mostly occupied with uncovering my sexuality, which was further complicated by my false idea that gender and sexuality are two inextricable elements, rather than two independent–but frequently –intersecting identities. Although I didn’t truly let my trans flag fly until my senior year, I have been open about my identity (in varying degrees) for years, meaning that people around me have had plenty of time to come up with uncreative, stale, and expired microaggressions. Here are 5 hella microaggressive comments/questions to never say/ask to trans people! (and if you say them to me, consider yourself cut off :)) 1. It is important to note that a name change does not validate… Read more »
College Football, Masculinity, and Sexual Assault
It’s college football season! From now until the Super Bowl, millions of Americans will dedicate their Saturays to college football and their Sundays to the NFL. They will prepare feasts composed of pizza, wings, burgers, and beer. They will watch the game at local sports bars, homes, and stadiums. They will be adorned in sports memorabilia. And many of them will fiercely defend their teams from negativity even at the expense of survivors of sexual assault who have been assaulted by a player on the team. On September 13, 2016, Allen Artis, a football player at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill was suspended from the team and a warrant was issued for his arrest, but the arrest warrant was only issued when the survivor went public even though the attack… Read more »
Slurs Ain’t Cute
The first time I had ever heard the phrase “bitch” I was no older than seven years old. It was a rainy day in Michigan and my mom refused to let a white man over into our lane while driving. This infuriated him, and caused him to roll down his window. Along with a racial slur, the man leaned out of his car and the veins in his neck popped as he called my beautiful and beloved mother, a bitch. Tears formed in her eyes as she rolled up her window quickly, looked at me sternly, and said “Kristina. You are to NEVER repeat those words that you just heard.” The first time I was ever actually called a bitch was in 7th grade math class. After declining to date a… Read more »
Is This My Land Too?
Body language. Facial expressions. Volume. All are irrefutable evidence of what makes respectability politics a core element demanded of black people. “Is this my land too?” periodically comes up in many conversations surrounding racial and civil liberties. We are constantly bombarded with scenarios that illustrate the hazards of being black and demanding basic human rights across America. Recently, Solange Knowles attended a concert in New Orleans called Kraftwerk, a German electronic and pop music band, to expose her eleven-year old son to new experiences. When her favorite song came on, she stood up to dance like any other person would whenever their song comes on at a music concert. However, her movement and passion in the atmosphere upset a group of white women who yelled and threw half-eaten limes at her…. Read more »
Chubby Not Chastity: Guess What? I’m Fat and Want Plan B
During finals week this past April, I found myself slumped over a frequently dying PC, empty Starbucks double shots and a series of text messages about Plan B. My sole sexual partner at the time was trying to convince me that sex with condoms is lame and that au-naturale was the way to go. Now, of course the break from studying piqued my interest so I listened to his various arguments for why latex-less sex was what all the kids were doing. After a few misguided attempts to convince me, he offered up what I’m sure he saw as the winning argument: “how about I buy you Plan B afterwards.” There it was, the end all, be all of preventative methods. Except there was one flaw with this holy… Read more »
The New LGBTQ Health Measure You Need To Know About
Last week was historical for the transgender community. In the span of five days we saw the U.S. Government sue North Carolina over their discriminatory bathroom bill, HB 2, arguing that it violates federal law; we watched the U.S. Attorney General, Loretta Lynch, deliver a powerful public speech on transgender rights and equality; President Obama directed public schools to allow transgender students to use whichever bathroom fits their gender identity; and, finally, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) published a nondiscrimination ruling on the Affordable Care Act (ACA), banning discrimination in the healthcare context based on gender identity or sex. It was a big week. Rounding out the week was the ACA nondiscrimination rule. This ruling deserves additional attention, not only because of the immediate and widespread impact… Read more »
Another Reason Why We Should Ditch Toxic Masculinity
A high school student in Mesa, Arizona has been making headlines for a photo that appeared in the yearbook that has resulted in “69 misdemeanor counts of indecent exposure and one felony count of furnishing harmful items to minors.” Hunter Osborn, in response to a dare, “exposed himself in the varsity football team picture.” Yes; the then eighteen-year-old exposed his genitals in a photo he knew would appear in the yearbook and would ultimately be distributed to his classmates. There are a lot of angles I could choose to look at this story. How did nobody on the yearbook committee notice this—or the photographer, for that matter? Did Osborn not for a second consider the fact that one of the thousands of students at his school might see it and… Read more »
Polyamory: The Next Big Court Battle
Every primate has a different method of mating, and ever since Darwin first described his theory of evolution, people have been arguing over whether or not our behavior is the result of evolution or our society’s influence. Polyamory is one such idea being constantly debated. What is polyamory? It means having a relationship with more than one person, and it has been a touchy topic amongst feminists in the past. Many support “ethical polyamory,”while others find it harmful. Some believe it can lead to abuse or appropriation, though I would argue that’s possible with any style of relationship. Even so, polyamorous relationships seem to be making something of a comeback in the public eye. Both scripted and reality TV has looked at the phenomenon. Last week in Utah, polygamous marriage… Read more »
