It’s maybe not the best idea to start a review by giving away the ending of the book, but I’m gonna break that rule because I think you’ll be more likely to read Canadian writer Diane Obomsawin’s graphic novel, On Loving Women, if I tell you that it ends with a threesome in which one of the women loses her virginity and blurts out, “Women rock!” Agreed?
Sonya Renee Taylor didn’t mean to become a poet, but once it happened she was unstoppable. She didn’t plan on creating an international body positivity movement, but today her project The Body Is Not An Apology reaches 100,000 people every week.
“There were no giant moments where it was clear that everything would change,” Sonya Renee explained. “There were tiny moments when I chose to do something and it might have been scary and then it changed the trajectory of my life.”
After its regressive ruling last December, when it recriminalized homosexuality, the Indian Supreme Court recognized the rights of transgender persons on 15 April 2014. The ruling, which recognizes the legal rights of the Indian transgender community, is currently making its larger queer community hopeful. The recognition of the “third gender” on one hand, and the recriminalization of homosexuality on the other, makes queer rights in India a complex paradox, where alternative gender is recognized but alternative sexualities are not.
You already know that books are really great. And you already know that libraries are where you can get books for free, which is why you may have raised an eyebrow at the recent fuss over the idea of “Netflix for books.” As important as free books are, however, they offer us more than that; libraries offer free access to knowledge, and knowledge is power. For queer and trans women, libraries gave some of us the chance to know something about ourselves — reading fiction or nonfiction about queer people without our parents around, or using the internet anonymously to figure out whether we really were the only one in the whole world who felt this way. Technically, National Library Week has passed, but is there ever a bad time to talk about how much libraries mean to us? No, no there isn’t.
Children who have to be forced to eat vegetables in movies and TV always seem to be hating on peas. A pile of peas always seems to be what’s standing in their way of dessert or playing baseball at the Sandlot or watching Leave it to Beaver or whatever it is kids on TV do after dinner. Which makes no sense, because peas are delicious. I guess somewhere out there, mushy, soggy canned peas exist, but why focus on that when we could be eating perfect, fresh peas that taste like spring? Peas are in season around now, and you might be seeing them at farmer’s markets or in a CSA box. But the good news is that even at other times, peas are still really good when you buy them frozen, and they’re so versatile that you’ll want them around all year. Here are 25 ways to get started, easy peasy.
Last summer, my girlfriend and I started eating local food shortly after moving to New Orleans and instantly falling in love with Hollygrove Market. It combines all the best aspects of a farmers’ market, a food co-op, and a CSA program. Every week, the market features a “box” of local food. For $25, we got the weekly selection of fresh veggies, fruits, and pantry staples — like a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) subscription, but without the up-front commitment. The market also sold tons of individual items, including local honey, organic dairy, and humanely-raised and humanely-slaughtered meat.
“‘There are a lot of ideas about sexual compatibility in the field of sex therapy, lots of ways to qualify different styles of lovers based on their needs, communication style, and that sort of thing,’ Dr. Timaree Schmit, a sexologist and doctor of Human Sexuality, told Nerve. When I pushed her on a hard and fast definition of erotic compatibility, she explains, ‘I think ultimately what is most important is that lovers as individuals really, legitimately know what they want — not just sexual acts or frequency or type of intimacy, but also what the underlying emotional need is that’s being met through these things.” Part of that comes with communication, as she notes, “someone may say they want sex six times a week and their partner only wants it once a week and that’s the way the problem is identified. But what is it that they both really want? Just to get off? Or perhaps a sense of validation — that they are attractive to their partner? Maybe it’s a wish for intimacy.’”
Hello, magic love muffins! It’s been a week since last Sunday, which means it’s time for another dose of good queer news. Luckily for you, I came prepared.
Kale: “I’m Gay, I Like Myself, and I’m Tired of Living a Lie”
You don’t have to be local to New York City to have paid attention to the #myNYPD debacle. But in case you didn’t see it, here’s what happened: the New York Police Department asked everyone to tweet pictures of themselves with the NYPD and tag it with #myNYPD. People flooded that hashtag with pictures of police brutality.
Welcome to Saturday Morning Cartoons, a segment where four artists take turns delighting you with their whimsy, facts and punchlines on Saturday mornings! Our four esteemed cartoon critters are Cameron Glavin, Anna Bongiovanni, Megan Prazenica and Sarah Rosenblatt. Today’s cartoon is by Megan!
