50 Shades of Misogyny

I’m getting pretty tired of hearing about 50 Shades of Grey. With the recent film premiere, my Facebook feed has been flooded with articles decrying the series’ content. I had previously been willing to give the book’s nay-sayers the benefit of the doubt. Now, methinks (s)he doth protest too much. Since 50 Shades of Grey started as Twilight fan fiction, […]

OUTsider: Connections, Conversations, and Family

One of my favorite aspects of art and performance is putting related pieces into conversation with one another, enriching the conversation surrounding a given topic. I’m so very happy with the way OUTsider Festival’s programming is facilitating those sorts of conversations, and I only wish I had the opportunity to participate more fully this year. […]

OUTsider Fest: Queerness Past, Present, and Future

The creators of OUTsider Festival in Austin really did their homework as far as covering a large scope and breadth of queer art and performance in the programming. Which on the one hand, is refreshing and inspiring. But on the other hand, means that there is just so, so much to discuss. Festivals, conferences, art, […]

OUTsider Fest: Khmer Classical Dance

I never feel quite so Western as in those moments when I’m confronted with Asian modes of performance. So it’s only fitting that the second night of OUTsider Festival in Austin featured a performance by Prumsodun Ok, a practitioner of Cambodia’s Khmer classical dance. I think it’s important to be aware of and claim those moments […]

OUTsider Festival: Narcissister and Gay Wax Museum

I wasn’t sure what to expect when headed to see Narcissister for the opening night of OUTsider Festival in Austin. Narcissister’s name is what it sounds like; the complication of our cultural understanding of the narcissist juxtaposed with the idea of sisterhood, and how being a “sister” relates to the identities of women of color […]

What’s in a Name?

As it’s gotten closer to Valentine’s Day, I’ve been thinking a lot about relationships and love and labels. My partner and I are polyamorous. But not in the sense of the traditional poly narrative. Polyamory seems to have become more prominent in the cultural consciousness of late, but a lot of our discussions about it still […]

Lactate Intolerance

2015 is a bad time to be a worker. Not only is the minimum wage well below a living wage, but corporations seem determined to erode the rights of laborers wherever and however they can, and the government keeps siding with them. In December, the Supreme Court ruled 9-0 in favor of Amazon, saying that […]