Posts Categorized: Uncategorized
“On My Mama”
“On my mama, on my hood, I look fly, I look good.” Victoria Monét has made it clear with her latest release, Jaguar II, that she will no longer accept flying under the radar. Much like the title of her seventh project, the R&B singer-songwriter is moving out of the shadows and stepping into her power as a vibrant, unapologetic, songstress, and entertainer. However, as her career continues to skyrocket, she is constantly reminding her supporters that before anything else, she is a mother. Monét gave birth to her daughter, Hazel Monét, in early 2021. At just 2-years-old, Hazel has made a few appearances on her mom’s projects. Monét’s efforts to include the significance of motherhood in her artistry is similar to several other Black female entertainers and public figures,… Read more »
We’ve Freed the Pill. It’s Time to Free Sex Ed.
As a Georgian, sex education in school primarily consisted of graphic photos of sexually transmitted infections (STIs). As a Latina, at home, sex education was nonexistent and as a Catholic, my sex education was full of shame. I learned what I could from friends, the internet, and pamphlets I’d sneak from my pediatrician’s office, but by the time I was interested in sex as a teenager, I still hadn’t learned much about how to have safe, consensual, and pleasurable sex. Thanks to sex-positive, feminist YouTube videos, I learned about birth control pills and secretly scheduled a gynecologist appointment to get some. Hopeful that I’d leave with what I needed, I was instead met with intense judgment and shame from a female doctor who claimed to be a reproductive health expert…. Read more »
Trans & Intersex Are Separate Categories, But Our Fates Are Inextricably Linked.
In a world increasingly polarized by debates about LGBTQIA+ rights, it is more important than ever to recognize the fundamental human right to bodily autonomy. Unnecessary and non-consensual surgical interventions on intersex children and bans on gender-affirming care for transgender youth emerge as a reminder of the United States’ lack of protection for this fundamental human right. Young people navigating a path marked by resilience and vulnerability have found themselves at the center of social, political, and cultural storms. With each step they take, harmful and misleading discourse follows as debates about what rights they should be afforded proliferate. Discourses of societal acceptance, individual freedoms, and evolving cultural norms are invoked and tested. When considering the lack of gender-affirming care for transgender and intersex youth specifically, it’s essential to understand… Read more »
Stop Labeling Every Form of Gender Transgression Drag. Drag is Black Queer History
On March 2nd, 2023 Governor Bill Lee of Tennessee signed Senate Bill 3, also known as the Tennessee Adult Entertainment Act. The bill makes engaging in “adult cabaret” in public or “in a location where the adult cabaret could be viewed by a person who is not an adult” a punishable offense. The bill goes on to define an “adult cabaret performer” as “topless dancers, go-go dancers, strippers, male or female impersonators.” The bill applies to any “similar entertainers,” whether they are performing or not. In other words, even individuals who are not paid performers could be prosecuted if they are perceived to be “adult cabaret performers.” This language not only targets drag performers but transgender people in its denunciation of all forms of gender nonconformity. This perpetuates the dangerous… Read more »
Finding Reproductive Justice: “No Más Bebés” & The Limitations Of “Pro-Choice”
I’m proud to be a Latina, but I wasn’t always. Growing up in a predominantly white community in Georgia, my family and I were often targets of incredibly ignorant and hurtful microaggressions. I’ve lost count of how many times someone has made assumptions about how my parents arrived to the United States, or where I’m really from. Even as a kid, I was hyper-aware of how different I looked from my white peers and begged my parents to speak to me in English in front of my friends. The microaggressions I experienced as a child, questioning my belonging and citizenship, were not just incidents of routine childhood teasing, but were a part of a larger system of xenophobia. These seemingly innocuous and juvenile expressions of contempt can better be understood… Read more »
To be young, houseless, and pregnant
When Beyoncé wrote “America Has a Problem,” she was likely talking about many things in this country, from economic inequality to the frequency of mass shootings. But perhaps one of the U.S.’ most alarming problems is its sustained housing crisis. Black and brown maternal health is one of the many reproductive justice issues that first sparked my interest in the field. After seeing this viral TikTok video in which houseless, pregnant, teen couple Jimena and Gabriel discuss their experience while expecting, I became curious as to how the condition of houselessness could affect the health of her baby and herself as a new mom. Over half a million Americans experience homelessness every single year, though it is very difficult to accurately quantify this population. Houselessness is defined as the state… Read more »
HIV Stigma and Queerphobia in Pop Culture and Public Health
Disclaimer: Mentions of HIV Stigma, anti-LGBTQ+ stigma, and healthcare discrimination As I entered adulthood, I began having more access and space to talk about sex. Being raised in a household where sexual health was not discussed, and there were anti-LGBTQ+ attitudes, talking about sex and expressing curiosities about dating were new to me. One thing I noticed from conversations I had with my peers about sex (many of whom identified as cis-straight Black women), was that there was frequent speculation about other people’s sexual identities. I remember being asked a couple of times if I would engage romantically with a bisexual guy. At the time, I didn’t understand these types of questions because I, too, was queer. I couldn’t fathom why it would be my concern if I dated other… Read more »
Who Taught You, You Weren’t Worthy of Joy? Who Taught You, You Weren’t Deserving of Pleasure?
I’d like to begin this essay with a couple questions. Who is deserving of pleasure, and who has the right to joy? How can we begin to obtain this pleasure and joy? And what happens when we center our actions, activism, and resistance around this pleasure and joy? Community Organizers and the activists who center our lives around this work realize that our efforts typically stem from moments of witnessing injustices and finding an outlet to let us combat our pain for the sake of our communities and ourselves. So, what does this have to do with Joy and Pleasure and more importantly what does this have to do with Reproductive Justice? This semester I had the privilege of taking two courses, Reproductive Justice: No Single-Issue Struggle and Foundations in… Read more »
When it’s “Errbody Business”: Bbymutha’s Sex-Positivity
Disclaimer: References to sexually explicit content and imagery. One of my favorite rappers is Chattanooga native Bbymutha. Bbymutha transforms the dimensions of Black queerness, motherhood, and womanhood in her music through her skillful lyricism that seeks to reclaim sexuality, pleasure, and agency. I was particularly drawn to Bbymutha for being unapologetically Black and Queer and for the empowering messages behind her songs, most notably, “Rules.” In this well-rounded song, Bbymutha details the lessons she’s learned and offers advice on dealing with the sexual politics of dating men. Sexual politics refers to the underlying rules for how one should engage sexually and romantically with others that may be influenced by patriarchy. Bbymutha provides a set of guidelines for being involved romantically and sexually with men in a way that is intentional… Read more »
Towards “Good” Sex: Concepts from Music and Pop Culture
Disclaimer: This blog includes references to sex, genitalia, and implicit erotic and nude imagery. For the purposes of this blog, the context of “sex” will only encompass sexual experiences outside of sexual violence. In her hit single “Tragic” from the album Heaux Tales, Jazmine Sullivan details an unsatisfying sexual experience with a casual sex partner. Throughout the song, Sullivan discusses her sexual desires and expectations that were not prioritized in the encounter with the guy. Repurposing an audio clip of Representative Maxine Waters’s response to former US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin’s during a congressional hearing, repeating the phrase “reclaiming my time,” listeners are introduced to the idea of power and agency within sexual partnerships. Over captivating lyrics, Sullivan adds to Black popular culture discourse about the concept of “bad sex.” In heteronormative… Read more »
