Chances are, you know someone (or are yourself someone) who has been raped. Rape culture surrounds us all the time. Sometimes it seems like every time you turn around there is another news story featuring a celebrity accused of rape or a fraternity on a college campus making a sport out of raping freshman girls. […]
Review: Come As You Are
Everything you think you know about sex, desire, and sexuality is wrong. Probably. That’s one of many lessons to take away from Emily Nagoski’s new book Come As You Are: The Surprising New Science That Will Transform Your Sex Life. Combining science and psychology with the stories of women she has helped over decades of […]
REVIEW: Spinster: Making a Life of One’s Own
I work part-time in a bookstore, and was captivated by both the title and cover of Kate Bolick’s new book, Spinster: Making a Life of One’s Own on our shelves. A woman, presumably Bolick, sits smiling on an antique sofa in a beautiful dress, holding an antique tea cup. It is at once nothing like the […]
Glenn Greenwald Discusses US Surveillance State and his book, No Place to Hide
In an interview with Occupy.com, journalist Glenn Greenwald said a lot has changed in the two years since he exposed secret NSA surveillance programs with information gleaned from whistleblower Edward Snowden. Foremost is the sense that “Internet companies like Facebook, Google, Apple, Yahoo and Microsoft are really petrified that if they don’t demonstrate a commitment to […]
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, […]
Book Review: Not My Father’s Son
Not My Father’s Son, a new memoir by bisexual actor Alan Cumming, is at once poignant, honest, heart-wrenching, hopeful, humerous, devastating, and affirming. That may seem like too many contradictory emotions all at once, but in the book, Cumming details a particularly difficult and emotional span of time in his life. The book centers around […]
Book Review: PRO: Reclaiming Abortion Rights
If I got pregnant today, I would have an abortion. That’s not a popular thing for a woman to say in this country. But if it’s true for me, I’m sure it’s true for a lot of other women, too. In fact, I know it is. Because statistically, 1 in 3 women will have an […]
Book Review: More Than Two
More Than Two is a new, comprehensive guide to polyamory by Franklin Veaux and Eve Rickert. For years, Veaux has blogged about polyamory on http://www.morethantwo.com/, and the book is an outgrowth of that work. More Than Two is divided into both sections and chapters, providing advice on multiple aspects of polyamory. After answering the question, […]
Book Review: Testo Junkie
Beatriz Preciado’s Testo Junkie is half theoretical treatise on gender, half performative autobiography. Preciado self-administered doses of black market testosterone for a year, chronicling its effects on her body and psyche. Preciado did this without the intention to use the hormones as an aid for transitioning from female to male, meaning her actions were technically […]
Book Review: The S&M Feminist
A friend recently lent me The S&M Feminist, a collection of articles by sex-positive blogger and activist Clarisse Thorn.
I’m going to start off by saying, everyone should read this book. Seriously. Everyone. Read it if you are into S&M or identify as a feminist. Read it if you are sex-positive or polyamorous. Read it if you are a PUA or an activist. Read it if you are friends with anyone listed above.
Or, even if you don’t identify in any of those ways or know anyone who does, still read it. Because we don’t have enough frank and honest conversations about sex or feminism in our culture, and Thorn is incredibly articulate about both. You won’t be disappointed. (It’s also super easy to pick up and put down since the book is full of bite-size articles).