As I discussed in my blog post about how better knowledge of bodies makes for better public policy, bathroom access is a public health issue that disproportionately affects women, transgender people, and other people on who are agender or non-binary. This is one reason why I’m incensed about Indiana’s Senate Bill 35, which makes ” it […]
LGBTQ
Trans People Aren’t Sick, The Entire F*cking Patriarchy Is
I’ve been trying to wrap my head around autogynephilia for a few months now, and while I’m still evaluating the evidence for and against it, I want to make a point: when we pathologize people who do gender differently, we’re responding rationally within a sick system. Autogynephilia is a concept dating from the 1980s that […]
On “Woman” As A Category
I’m reading My New Gender Workbook by Kate Bornstein right now, and teaching a class on women’s folklore, so I’ve got women and women’s identities on the brain. I’m really interested in the ways in which we construct womanhood and femininity, and which traits get to go in those boxes vs. which are excluded. We all know […]
Woodhull’s Sexual Freedom Summit 2015: Best Conference Ever
I go to a lot of conferences. The conference presentations section of my CV is a bit ridiculous, and lately, as I’ve been attending more conferences in the sexuality field, I haven’t even been presenting that much, but rather going to soak it all in. So, I’ve experienced tons of conferences. But Woodhull’s Sexual Freedom […]
Stigma & Sexuality
If we define stigma as an undesirable identity that gets attributed to a person (often against their wishes), then it’s possible to explore the intersections of stigma and sexual identity, sexual acts, and so on. In this blog post I’ll describe some of these connections, and in an upcoming post, I’ll talk about why the stigma around […]
In Order to Fix Professional Boundaries, We Must Revolutionize the Meaning of Sex
I think about professional boundaries a lot. This is in large part because I occupy a number of professions: scholar, adjunct professor, sex educator, dance instructor, dance performer, and freelance writer, to name a few. I see a lot of people in a lot of different contexts (some of them even social!) and I like […]
Selective Applications of the Law in Indiana Part 1
As someone living in Indiana right now, I’ve been hit with the dual disappointment of two current events that impact women and LGBTQ minorities disproportionately. It’s especially upsetting because of the way these laws are being enacted, which is to say, selectively. First I’ll talk about RFRA, or the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (also called […]
Implications of the FDA Blood Donation Policy
Since 1977, the FDA has not allowed blood donations from men who have sex with men (MSM). However, the FDA has just announced that it’s considering lifting the ban, and making an exception for men who have sex with men who’ve been celibate for one year. On the one hand, it’s estimated that this will increase […]