Sex and Sexuality

In a time when Sarah Palin's memoir is a best seller, it can be hard to locate books by out women at major bookstores. But even if you have to use the internet or (even better) support your local feminist/queer shop, there are quality books being published that are way more worth your time.

Terry Castle — The Professor

Writings from the Stanford prof on her fascination with World War I, taking her mother on a trip to Santa Fe and her disastrous love affair with a professor while in grad school. It's incredibly well-written, funny, poignant, queer and self-deprecating in a way that makes you nod your head in agreement.

2010 has been pretty good to Drew Barrymore thus far. The birthday girl (yesterday was the big 35) has a major ad campaign as one of the faces of Cover Girl and she won both a Screen Actors Guild Award and a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Miniseries or Television Film for her portrayal of Little Edie in Grey Gardens. She also rekindled her relationship with actor Justin Long and just recently found out she would be awarded the Vanguard Award by GLAAD at an upcoming ceremony.

The Vanguard Award goes to "media professionals who have increased the visibility and understanding of the LGBT community." GLAAD notes that Drew has done so by starring in Boys on the Side, from openly gay filmmaker Don Roos, producing He’s Just Not That Into You "in which she played a straight reporter at a LGBT newspaper who desperately seeks dating advice from her gay best friends" and playing the lesbian daughter of Robert de Niro in 2009's Everybody's Fine.

This week on the UK's Celebrity Big Brother, MC Lady Sovereign was evicted from the competition. However, she was on the show long enough to finally talk about something fans have been waiting for: Her sexuality. Here's a clip:

I've tried to get interviews with Lady Sovereign a handful of times, and even had a few set up before her publicist said she wasn't picking up her phone or we'd just have to reschedule. That aside, they always asked me not to discuss her sexuality with her. Full disclosure: I briefly worked at a record label associated with Sov, where it was well known she was into relationships with women. She was also involved with someone I know, and she's never been one to play down the Sapphic references while on stage — in fact, she quite likes to play them up.

There's a great piece in this Sunday's New York Times Book Review by Katie Roiphe regarding the inclusion of sex in novels by American male writers over time. Roiphe argues that it's a generational difference, as writers like John Updike and Philip Roth would be very explicit and close to raunchy in their fictitious encounters, while newer authors like Dave Eggers shy away from racy jaunts and, instead, focus on relationships.

But what interested me the most about this piece was the note Up Front from Roiphe, who said that while male writers are writing less openly about sex, women and gay writers are much more open to experimenting with it now, and how the feminist revolution is largely to thank for some of the change.

Oh the things that make up New Year's Eve: chintzy eye-glasses, countless top ten lists, nosiemakers...emergency contraception? According to the National Institute for Reproductive Health, sales for emergency contraception more than double in the first days after the New Year. The Back Up Your Birth Control Campaign has made a short vid reminding you that if things don't go as planned--as they often don't--you have options. And it's a cute vid (love you, Grandma!) that really works year-round. So if you don't want a New Year's baby of your own, don't drop the ball! Plan ahead and tell your friends to too!

If you're a famous face, the easiest way to get a scandal going is to get someone to say you're a lesbian. It doesn't even have to be true, no proof is needed — as long as you're willing to respond negatively about the situation and make being a lesbian sound like the worst thing ever.

The latest "lesbians" include Tiger Woods' mistresses, who are not only into threesomes (so therefore lesbians by association with alleged bed sharing), but are also possibly pregnant.

The press isn't questioning women on their sexuality and maternal statuses because they are genuinely interested — they want a scandalous quote they can manipulate.

Douchebag is too good a word for Rod Jetton, who's actually more of a monster, as commenters noted. Jetton, former Speaker of the Missouri House and present-day political consultant, made headlines when assault charges were brought against him last week involving what appeared to be sex play done wrong. Unfortunately, what sounded like another case of a hypocritical family values type caught with his pants down actually sounds like a much more serious case of rape and battery if the allegations are true. **Trigger warning:** contains graphic description of alleged sexual assault.

If you're in need of a gift for a friend who is interested in learning crafty basics, pick up a copy of Erin Bried's How to Sew a Button: And Other Nifty Things Your Grandmother Knew. The out lesbian author (and Self magazine staff writer) aims to teach things you might need to know, like how to tie a necktie or how to make a Manhattan. It's a how-to book that anyone could learn something from.

Bried also demonstrates several of these acts on her YouTube channel (including "How to brew beer.") and has lesbian chef Cat Cora vouching for her:

When Lady Gaga first told a gay magazine she was bisexual at the end of 2008, she was still a rising star. "Just Dance" had just begun switching over from gay club anthem to mainstream radio hit, and sure, she could probably benefit from using her sexuality as a point of interest about her.

Since the original statement, she's been back and forth on the statement. In December 2008, she told Popeater: "I'm really free-spirited about love and sexuality, which I think is apparent in my music, and even the visuals, which are all very androgynous" but that she didn't want to label herself."

Then in February 2009, she kissed a female cop in her music video for "Love Game" and shortly after, "Poker Face" became a huge hit, featuring lyrics about women like "bluffing with my muffin" and switching between pronouns from he to she.

Yesterday, one of hip-hop's rising stars, Nicki Minaj Tweeted something that caught my eye:

A rumored lesbian (or bisexual, depending on who you ask), Nicki is not "out," but took to Twitter for this random piece of knowledge, which only furthered my curiosity about her and how it relates to closeted women in the hip-hop community. As the "First Lady" of Lil' Wayne's Young Money record label, she recently admitted to feeling a lot of pressure, being a new artist.