By Alex S. Morgan
We usually think of dissociation as a coping skill or adaptive behavior associated with trauma, anxiety, and/or sometimes distress related to gender dysphoria, but in reality many people are partially mentally or emotionally checked out, or not fully present in their bodies, during sexual and intimate activities. Continue reading “On Disassociation”
By Chelsea Whitlow Shay
Clothing has long been used to regulate culture and express ones social standing. Whether it’s women wearing corset dresses, a staple in women’s fashion from the 16th -18th centuries, or businessmen wearing two button verse three button suits to the office, clothing is often used as a visual marker of belonging or as a sign of being an outcast. There have been eras of fashion trends that have come and gone; from skirt hemlines rising and falling and rising again to women’s fight to wear pants, a trend that became socially acceptable in the 1930s in the U.S. even though women were not permitted to wear pants in the U.S. Senate until 1993. One trend that has never seemed to catch on is men wearing skirts or dresses. Continue reading “Women in Pants, Men in Dresses: A Societal Double Standard”
By Phoenix Calida
Let’s discuss opposites.
Slut. a word that is applied to women to degrade them. It can be based actual sexuality that defies puritanical patriarchy, assumed promiscuity, rumors, or clothing choices. Women have been shamed, ostracized, and kicked out of social circles for being slut shamed.
What is the male equivalent of this term? Continue reading “No words for shaming”
By Phoenix Calida
When a group higher up the social ladder tells a another group what is appropriate to complain about, there’s a something disturbing happening. Continue reading “Dehumanization Starts By Not Valuing Our Voices”
By Chelsea Whitlow Shay
Baby Shower. Two words that often result in sighs of annoyance and disgruntled acceptance of invitations for all but the most baby and pregnancy loving people out there. And by “people,” I mean women, because for men when these words are uttered they all but shut down and tune out the conversation. Continue reading “Baby Showers with Men: A Revolution that Should Have Already Happened”
By Phoenix Calida
I’m baffled why people think saying we live in a male centric society is “silly” or “far fetched”.
Everything in our society was created to cater to men, specifically white, upper class, able-bodied, cis, hetero men. Continue reading “Male Centric Society So Obvious, It’s Painful”
By Phoenix Callida
The goal is to make you feel worthless. The goal is to make you shut up. The goal is to make you feel hopeless.
But it’s a lie. All of it. Continue reading “The Goal is to Make you Hopeless: But It’s a Lie.”
By Alex S. Morgan
Happy National Coming Out Day! I’m going to update my list of disclosures a little today. See if you notice anything new. Continue reading “Celebrating National Coming Out Day: Something Personal for Everyone”
By Phoenix Calida
Privilege is a thing you have. You get it without asking for it or deserving it. You get privilege because you fall into categories that are deemed desirable by society. You get privilege for most closely resembling the people who run our society. In America, this means the more you resemble white, wealthy, Christian, cis, hetero, abled, males, the more privilege you have.
Continue reading “Privilege 101”
By Chris Crass
“If anyone says ‘boys can’t wear dresses’, tell them that everyone can wear dresses and lots of boys in your family wear dresses,” I explained. My son, River, picked out one of his dresses to wear to pre-school today. Continue reading “Everyone Can Wear Dresses”
By Alex S. Morgan
Friendly reminder: gender presentation and identity are not the same thing. Too often we either just guess, or only ask someone’s pronouns if they’re visibly androgynous or gender-non-conforming. (I can count on one hand the number of people who asked me mine before I cut my hair, though I was out as genderqueer for years.) Continue reading “Gender Presentation is Not Identity”
