Reading Time: 3 minutes At eighteen, I became an adult entertainer. Fed up with my stuffy office cubicle and hopelessly unfashionable telephone headset, I wanted something a little more liberating. I found it as a stripper. Never one to be all that shy about nudity, and while maybe not outgoing per se, I was unapologetic about my choice. I […]
stigma
If American Belly Dancers Protested Colonialism As Much As Our Dance’s Sexualization…
Reading Time: 5 minutes If you’ve ever chatted with a belly dancer from the U.S., you’ve probably heard some riff on the phrase, “It’s not sexual, it’s sensual.” Americans dancers have done a lot of activist work here…so what might the dance scene look like if we took on colonialism, too?
Social Distancing Is Like Monogamy: It Only Works If You Observe It Perfectly
Reading Time: 9 minutes Learning to assess and communicate about risk in relationships is something that many Americans don’t learn how to do, and I think it might be connected to our culture’s default setting of monogamy (or at the very least, that there’s a useful parallel to draw).
The Impact of the American Plan
Reading Time: 7 minutes The anti-sex-worker bias seen in the American Plan dovetails with forced sterilization and medical experimentation, as well as straight-up misogyny. It was enforced until the 1960s and 70s, if you can believe it. Here’s a rundown of the American Plan’s impact.
The American Plan and World War I
Reading Time: 5 minutes We can blame war for a lot of things; among them is America’s decision to lock up women suspected of being sex workers, and to do so indefinitely while forcing dangerous medical treatments on them.
Don’t Not Read This: William Styron’s ‘Darkness Visible’
Reading Time: 4 minutes A new New York Times article revisits a groundbreaking 1990 book on depression and suicide by late American novelist William Styron.
Why I’m Cool with Pair-Bonding But Not Enforced Monogamy
Reading Time: 5 minutes Speaking out against enforced monogamy doesn’t mean you’re anti-monogamy; it’s entirely possible that many people benefit from monogamy, because a lot of humans are driven to pair-bond. However, making the conversation about reducing violence raises problems and often misses nuances.
Sometimes We Commodify Intimacy, and That’s Okay
Reading Time: 4 minutes Is intimacy inherently better when it doesn’t have a dollar amount attached to it? I don’t necessarily think that has to be the case.
Thoughts on The Plight of the Independent Scholar
Reading Time: 2 minutes Even if you’re active in publishing and presenting your research, being an independent scholar can function like a stigma at conferences.
Teen Vogue Knocks It Out of the Park on Masturbation
Reading Time: < 1 minute Misinformation and stereotypes abound when it comes to masturbation. I’m glad that publications like Teen Vogue are stepping up to demystify the topic.