Category Archives: Gender and the Body

A Poem for Leaving Patriarchal Male Heterosexuality Behind

I’ve been reading and thoroughly enjoying a poet too few people read these days, J. V. Cunningham. One day, I will write about why I think he’s worth reading and learning from, even though the kind of poetry he wrote … Continue reading

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Clothes Never Shut Up

[Description of photo: Legs of a young woman wearing a black skirt. She is lifting one side of her skirt high. We can read labels written at various heights on her leg, suggesting different skirt lengths, starting high on the … Continue reading

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Pretty Privilege: Emilie Autumn’s “Thank God I’m Pretty” and Cameron Russell’s TEDtalk

I ran into these two videos, and thought they made an interesting duo. In the above video, via Rebecca at The Mary Sue, model Cameron Russell talks about the ups and downs of “winning the genetic lottery” and being a … Continue reading

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Dad Wears a Skirt So His Son Will Feel Strong Enough To Do So As Well

I saw this story by Piper Weiss on Yahoo and it is heartwarming and inspiring: [Nils] Pickert never minded that his son liked dressing in little girl’s clothes, but when his family moved from West Berlin to a small southern … Continue reading

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Blogging My Summer Classes: Literature of the Holocaust

I have just finished reading the first set of essays written by my students in ENG 261, Literature of the Holocaust. The prompt asked them to consider whether or not they think there is an obligation to remember the Holocaust, with … Continue reading

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Save the Body Parts

As you may be aware, I’m a testicular cancer survivor. That sounds a lot more badass than it is; testicular cancer is extremely treatable if caught reasonably early, and while chemo and surgery are exactly as fun as you’d think … Continue reading

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Fragments of Evolving Manhood: The “Cunt Poem” Challenge

Trigger warning for a brief mention of sexual violence. I have not posted a Fragments of Evolving Manhood piece on a long while, mostly because my attention has been focused elsewhere, but I have been working these past couple of … Continue reading

Posted in Gender and the Body, Men and masculinity, Rape, intimate violence, & related issues, Sex, Writing | Comments Off  

Poised behind my closet door

[Edited to add context: I am a trans woman. I have not yet publicly transitioned, so I still present as male. And I am a police officer.] In “Milk”, the movie starring Sean Penn, there is a scene which haunts … Continue reading

Posted in About the Bloggers, Free speech, censorship, copyright law, etc., Gender and the Body, Gender and the Economy, Transsexual and Transgender related issues | Comments Off  

Joe Paterno, Jerry Sandusky, Foreskin Man, Vulva Girl and the Two-Thirds of My Freshman Composition Class Who Are Failing Right Now

You know that feeling when there is so much going on, so much you have to do, so many different threads that you need to keep weaving together, or balls in the air that you can’t let drop, or spinning … Continue reading

Posted in Africa, Anti-Semitism, Education, Gender and the Body, Jews and Judaism, Rape, intimate violence, & related issues | Comments Off  

A Unified Theory of Orgasm

This is a guest post by Clarisse Thorn. It was originally published at the girl-power site Off Our Chests. * * * I CAN’T COME. and it’s poisoned every romance I’ve ever had. masturbating doesn’t work. I don’t know why. … Continue reading

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