Recently by Miriam
This is a great idea--we need to share these experiences in more open and honest ways.
MY LITTLE RED BOOK is an anthology of stories about first periods, collected from women of all ages from around the world. The accounts range from light-hearted (the editor got hers while water skiing in a yellow bathing suit) to heart-stopping (a first period discovered just as one girl was about to be strip-searched by the Nazis). The contributors include well-known women writers (Meg Cabot, Erica Jong, Gloria Steinem, Cecily von Ziegesar), alongside today's teens. And while the authors differ in race, faith, or cultural background, their stories share a common bond: they are all accessible, deeply honest, and highly informative. Whatever a girl experiences or expects, she'll find stories that speak to her thoughts and feelings.
What's your first period story?
Via Chicago Tribune:
Faced with mounting unpaid lunch charges, Albuquerque Public Schools last month instituted a "cheese sandwich policy," serving a cold cheese sandwich, fruit and a milk carton to children whose parents are supposed to pay for some or all of their regular meals but fail to pick up the tab.
There is a lot that is troubling about this policy, but the main thing is the idea of making kids suffer because of their parents financial situations. Not only would this policy have a nutritional affect on the kids (since they don't get the variety offered by the hot lunch options) it also has a shaming affect, singling them out and making it clear to their peers that they are poor.
Tactics like this are becoming necessary in a worsening financial environment but it's sad to see that low-income children are the first to suffer.
What do you all think?
The media can't get enough about America's new butch sweetheart, Rachel Maddow.
I can't say I blame them, but this week's piece on Maddow entitled Butch Fatale maybe takes it a bit too far.
Author Daphne Merkin writes an overly poetic piece about the role of lesbians in fashion--the forgotten wallflowers, she calls us. She relies on a lot of played out tropes (battle of the sexes, lipstick lesbians, etc) and makes the claim that Maddow marks the beginning of a new era for lesbian glamour.
Lesbianism has finally come into a glamour of its own, an appeal that goes beyond butch and femme archetypes into a more universal seduction. Her name is Rachel Maddow, the polished-looking, self-declared gay newscaster who stares out from the MSNBC studio every weekday night and makes love to her audience.
While I agree that Rachel Maddow's existence and popularity definitely say something about the openness of the mainstream media, I can't help but think Merkin is making a mountain out of a molehill. Maddow hasn't changed the lesbian community as a whole, and despite whatever the mainstream population does or doesn't think about lesbians, there is a subculture which promotes and fosters all sorts of fashions and gender presentations. It's a subculture that has been thriving for a long time now, with or without media representation.
Maddow may be making love to some of her audience (like the Feministing crew) but she's also walking the fine line between androgyny and acceptability. She's got the necessary feminine touches to make her palatable (coiffed hair, pink lipstick, eyeshadow) and not too butch for TV. I wouldn't fool ourselves into thinking she has changed the fundamental meaning of sex icon.
I heart Maddow just like the rest of us but let's not pretend she's some sort of lesbian savior.
A woman was recently harassed, chased and eventually banned from playing Xbox Live for self identifying as a lesbian. Teresa says:
...My account was suspended because I had said in my profile that I was a lesbian. I was harassed by several players, 'chased' to different maps/games to get away from their harassment. They followed me into the games and told all the other players to turn me in because they didn't want to see that crap or their kids to see that crap.My account was suspended and xbox live did nothing to solve this, but instead said others found it offensive.
I'm not a gamer, so I'm not familiar with how these communities operate, but this seems like a blatant example of homophobia. Apparently this has happened before, even to people who simply have the word "gay" in their tag.
I'm very excited to be able to introduce a new series on Feministing. We've been playing around with the idea of a sex advice column for a while now and it's finally here!
Thanks to Rebecca for agreeing to do this column. She's a friend of mine, hilarious and amazingly well versed in topics of sex and sexuality.
About Ask Professor Foxy:
Rebecca Fox has been a sex educator since discussing how to have an orgasm in the cafeteria of her all-girl Catholic high school in Jersey. She currently lives in the DC-area with her partner and their many pets. She has worked on advocacy and policy for numerous LGBTQ, sexual health and women's rights organizations. She proudly serves on the board of Choice USA, the Washington Area Clinic Defense Task Force, and the Woodhull Freedom Foundation.
She would love to answer all your questions about sex and sexuality (since it is about more than just intercourse). One major caveat - she won't tell you how to do anything illegal. Thanks to Lawerence v. Texas, all sodomy questions are answerable, so write them in to your dirty little heart's content.
You can email your questions to her at ProfessorFoxyATFeministingDOTcom. You can also leave your questions in comments! Her first post will appear this Saturday, so check back for some great sex advice.
Via Washington Post, the story of Ryan Allen aka Reann Ballslee, the first drag queen to be named homecoming queen at GMU.
I think it's a pretty awesome twist on an otherwise stereotypical and somewhat sexist contest. While it seems from the press around his election that many people see this as more humorous than anything else, acceptance of different gender expressions (like drag) are small steps towards broader acceptance.
Yesterday the birthday of Sharkfu, an amazing, passionate and always on point blogger. We're super psyched to have her thoughts posted here every week.
So give the woman some love, she's celebrating 36 years of rabble rousing and bitchitude. You can check out her work at angryblackbitch and rhrealitycheck.
This weekend I was excited to be in Chicago because I've been wanting to check out the feminist sex shop so many of you raved about: Early to Bed.
Early to Bed was founded in 2001 by owner Searah, who was frustrated with the traditional sex shop options.
I made my way to ETB via public transportation, excited to see that it was super accessible. The store front is discreet enough that I walked right by it on the first shot, but not totally hidden. The glass store front sports a large decal/painting of a blue bed with the tagline "intimate apparel."
The stock is pretty standard feminist sex shop fare. Lube, condoms, some gag gifts (but not too many and definitely NO penis lollypops or other annoying bachlorette party gifts), dildos, vibrators, anal toys, harnesses, videos, books and some BDSM gear.
Things that stood out for me about Early to Bed:
- Comfortable and welcoming seating area in the back that my friend and I hung out at reading for a while. Didn't feel rushed or pressured to buy anything.
- Great reference books meant for pursuing, in addition to a few resources from E2B: a Q&A book with questions asked by customers and answered by the owner as well as a book of personal sex toy reviews.
- Great selection of harnesses (all shapes, sizes, materials and price ranges) as well as a unusually large selection of pretty BDSM gear with studded collars, hand restraints etc.
- Very reasonably priced. Toys that I have seen elsewhere for almost twice as much were surprisingly low priced. Not sure how they do it but it's great to see, especially since these toys can be very expensive!
- Great signage throughout the store. My personal favorite: "Please touch, fondle and turn on the toys"
Overall it was a great store and I recommend checking it out. They also have a website where you can buy most of their products. They also have a dedicated youtube channel, with short videos about sex and sexuality.
An open thread for those of you who are avid movie watchers. I'm always looking for new ideas for my netflix queue, and it's also an interesting peek into people's lives and tastes.
Currently at the top of my netflix queue:
1. Fire
2. Wonderfalls: Disc 1
3. Chutney Popcorn
So readers, what's at the top of your netflix queue/movie watching wish list?
