Sex and Sexuality

The Lady Is a Tramp: How Lena Horne Helped Me Become a Tramp

Sex and Sexuality post by Andrea Plaid on May 11, 2010 - 9:44am; tagged appreciation, black women, Lena Horne, pro-sex, sex, The Lady Is a Tramp.

Oh honestly, unclutch your pearls. I’m not speaking ill of the dead.

If you ever heard the song "The Lady Is a Tramp"—and how the late Lena Horne sang it—you’ll understand why I say that about the legendary performer.

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The Young and The Feckless: Casual Sex Meets Cognitive Dissonance

Sex and Sexuality post by J Maureen Henderson on April 21, 2010 - 7:00am; tagged feminism, generation y, george orwell, hook up culture, millennials, pop culture, sex, sexuality, Slate, The Young and The Feckless.

Last week, a reader sent a link to a Slate article on the new wave of sexual judgment-mongering among Gen Y and suggested I might want to address the issue here. I wasn't sure I was the one to write this because A) I spent my college years (undergrad and grad) at schools and/or in programs that lacked the traditional qualities necessary to foster a thriving campus hook-up culture - no Greek systems, significantly unequal male/female enrollment stats, nose-to-the-grindstone academic focus, etc. and B) wherever there's a loop, I'm guaranteed to be out of it. Not that that would stop me from plunging in, obviously. But the more I read and pondered, the more muddled things got.

Photo by TheeErin

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Don't back down from backing up your birth control

Sex and Sexuality post by Kjerstin Johnson on March 24, 2010 - 12:10pm; tagged birth control, emergency contraception.

Tell the FDA to Act on Emergency Contraception from Center for Reproductive Rights on Vimeo.

With the Ides of March (3/15), Pi Day (3/14), and Dodge the Drunk Douchebag Day (3/17), in March, you might forget that today's Back Up Your Birth Control Day, started to raise awareness about emergency contraception and the politics behind it. This year the Center for Reproductive Rights is focusing on re-lighting a fire beneath the FDA's butt, since last year they promised to make emergency contraception easier to access for women of all ages. Unfortunately, it's still only available behind the counter and you need to prove you're over 17 to access it. To spread the message, CRR's made a short video that combines some of my favorite things, like talking bunnies and reproductive rights. Video transcript after jump.

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Sapphic Salon: 5 New Books by Queer Women You Should Read Now

Sex and Sexuality post by Natalie Stein on March 5, 2010 - 1:00pm; tagged Barbara Hammer, books, Joan Schenkar, Michelle Cliff, Sapphic Salon, Terri Griffith, Terry Castle.

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.

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Sapphic Salon: Does Drew Barrymore Deserve the Vanguard Award?

Sex and Sexuality post by Natalie Stein on February 23, 2010 - 1:26pm; tagged bisexuality, Drew Barrymore, GLAAD, Sapphic Salon.

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.

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Sapphic Salon: Lady Sovereign and other celebrities who come out, despite their publicists

Sex and Sexuality post by Natalie Stein on January 19, 2010 - 12:56pm; tagged Celebrity Big Brother, Lady Sovereign, Sapphic Salon, sexuality.

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.

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Sapphic Salon: Sex and Misogyny in the Publishing World

Sex and Sexuality post by Natalie Stein on January 4, 2010 - 1:17pm; tagged authors, Sapphic Salon, sex, writers.

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.

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Don't Drop the Birth Control Ball This Year

Sex and Sexuality post by Kjerstin Johnson on December 29, 2009 - 4:15pm; tagged birth control, emergency contraception, New Year's, reproductive health.

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!

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Sapphic Salon: The lesbian low-blow

Sex and Sexuality post by Natalie Stein on December 22, 2009 - 3:18pm; tagged lesbian, Sapphic Salon.

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.

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Sapphic Salon: Lesbian-penned "How to Sew a Button" is a perfect holiday gift

Sex and Sexuality post by Natalie Stein on December 16, 2009 - 1:56pm; tagged Erin Bried, How to Sew a Button, Sapphic Salon.

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:

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