Michaela

Michaela

Michaela is a senior in college studying human sexuality and anthropology. When she's not blogging, you'll catch her crafting, cooking, or working at impish, a baby boutique. She hopes to one day be a professor of feminist anthropology/sexuality studies.

Recent posts

Join the Consent Revolution

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Last week, two media-savvy feminists launched the Pink Loves Consent campaign. Designed to look just like the actual Victoria’s Secret website, their site sells underwear boasting empowering slogans such as “ask first” and “let’s talk about sex.” Additionally, the home page of their website features a gorgeous plus size woman of color – something that would never happen on the real page. Image courtesy of Baltimore Fishbowl

The website caused quite a stir. In my opinion, creators Hannah Brancato and Rebecca Nagle chose a fantastic way to draw attention to rape culture and attempt to make social change. Continue Reading →

Filed under: Body Image, Communication

Why “They” and “Them” Will Never Work

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I’m all about gender-neutral pronouns. The English language, once again, fails us when it comes to those that don’t fit within the norm (see my post on the limits of the English language for reference). Like many languages, English pretty much only allows us two options for singular gendered pronouns: he/him/his and she/her/hers. Those within the queer community (and allies/supporters) have been subverting these language norms for years. In fact, it’s been happening for a lot longer than I thought! Continue Reading →

Filed under: Communication, Gender Issues, GLBT, Gender, language

Sarah Silverman Can Turn Your Mouth Into A Vulva

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Sarah Silverman thinks that “being comfortable and vocal with your body” is a good thing – and I can’t say I disagree. Yet Silverman, who has never let ideas about “appropriateness” sway her, once again takes this comfort to the next level. Last week on Late Night with Conan O’Brien, Silverman shared her favorite new camera trick with the audience. Bound to entertain pubescent boys (and perhaps the occasional adult who dabbles in the “dirty”) for decades to come, the trick involves photographing someone’s mouth in such a way that it resembles a vulva. Check out the video for a full how-to: Sarah Silverman’s iPhone Vulva Craft (thanks to Gizmodo for the tip). Continue Reading →

Filed under: Sex In the News, crafts, iphone, sarah silverman, vulva

Change is a Beautiful Thing

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Change can be a beautiful thing. When I first met Liv, my partner, I couldn’t help but think he was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen. He’s tall, with soft blue eyes and the impish charm of a schoolboy, and dresses the part, too. He’s covered in some serious ink, and dons heavy, colorful stone gauges. Basically, he was my dream boi. Continue Reading →

Filed under: Gender Issues, GLBT, Sex In the News

Pop Your Top Deluxe Kit Review

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Good Vibrations has done it again! Once again, I had the pleasure of reviewing the Pop Your Top Deluxe Kit, a creative combination of toys handpicked by the experts at GV. The kit is a combination of three items, the Hitachi Magic Wand, a Pop Tops Deluxe Silicone G-Spotter, and Please Cream lube, each of which I will review separately. Put them all together, and you’ve got one saucy kit! Hitachi Magic Wand

Talk about power! Continue Reading →

Filed under: How to Have Sex, Reviews, Sex Toys and Lubricants

Vaginal Tightening Gel Makes You Feel “Like A Virgin”?

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It seems that almost every day, I come across a new product that somehow offends me on several levels. “18 Again,” a vaginal tightening gel produced by an Indian pharmaceutical company Ultratech, is no exception. According to the article from the NY Daily News, Ultratech’s goal is to “empower the new age woman.” Now, while I understand that it could be considered empowering to take the status of your vagina into your own hands (literally), the fact that the company is essentially telling millions of women that they are only worthwhile if they have so-called virginal vaginas is far from empowering. Continue Reading →

Filed under: Art & Culture, Culture, Sexual Health, Warnings, Women's Sexual Health

HIV Awareness Through Dessert

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Public health campaigns take all kinds of forms, whether it be billboards, public service announcements, or kitschy jingles. But Alvin Leung, head chef at Bo Innovation restaurant in Hong Kong, China has taken a whole new approach. According to this article from Delish.com, Chef Leung has created a dessert called “Sex on the Beach,” which features an edible pink condom over edible sand. The condom, made of a “kappa and konjac” mixture and shaped around a cigar, also features a “white gooey substance” inside, made of mixture of honey and ham. Sounds appetizing! Continue Reading →

Filed under: Sexual Health, STI/STD/HIV, food, HIV/AIDS

“The Last Taboo”: Dealing with Disability and Sexuality

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Alexander Freeman, Taken from The Last Taboo courtesy of OUTCAST PRODUCTIONS

“When someone looks at someone in a chair, or with a disability, or someone who is outside what we call ‘normal’, they, in their minds, they’re not thinking ‘this person could meet me on an intellectual and sexual level,’ and they’re not thinking ‘oh, I can have a fling with this person’ or ‘I’d like to go out with this guy in a chair’ or ‘this girl in a chair,’ or ‘this is different but I’ll try it out’ and that’s part of the problem…able-bodied people aren’t willing to take the first step to find out what is possible.” At age 25, Alexander Freeman is no newcomer to the social politics of having a disability. Having dealt with cerebral palsy since the day he was born, Freeman has come to both understand and question the nuances of social interaction that are specific to people with visible disabilities. A few years ago, during his time at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, all of these lingering questions came to a head. After sharing a very personal experience with a close friend, Freeman “was determined to change people’s perspectives” on disability and sexuality “and capture the stories of many people, and tell [his] own story.” Continue Reading →

Filed under: Bodies, Body Image

Limits of the English Language – Revisited

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Our most recent theme week, Sex and Language, has prompted me to revisit a topic that I blogged about a while back: the use of language when describing a significant other. At the time, I was struggling with what I should call my Sig O. Since my partner (yes, I’ve settled on that word) is transgender, I was bouncing between boyfriend and partner. “Boyfriend,” on the one hand, led everyone to assume heterosexuality, while “partner” made me sound like an old lesbian (no offense whatsoever to that crowd, I’m just not quite there yet). This of course brings up the question of whether or not I actually care what people think of me. When I use boyfriend and people assume I’m straight, should that bother me? Continue Reading →

Filed under: Art & Culture, Communication, Gender Issues, GLBT, Language

Polari: Gay Slang of the 60s

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Though it sounds like a term straight out of Twilight, Polari is actually a 50 yea- old queer slang language. Used among gay men in the UK, Polari (often seen as Palare, as the word comes from the Italian “parlare,” or “to speak”) was born out of necessity; gay men in the 1960s needed a certain level of privacy, and thus a secret slang language was born. According to the few sources I was able to find, Polari is a mix of several different languages and slang dialects, including English, Italian, Yiddish, circus-slang, and Gypsy languages. Polari was made up of a small lexicon of only about 20 words, but was ever-changing and often included up to 500 words. This website has a lot of Polari words and their modern translations, but I’ve picked out a few of my favorites to share with you here:

plate                   feet; to fellate

onk                     nose

oglefakes           glasses   (definitely going to use this one)

meshigener       nutty, crazy, mental (ah, there’s the Yiddish I recognize!)

cottaging           having or looking for sex in a cottage

cottage              public loo (particularly with reference to cottaging)

basket               the bulge of male genitals through clothes

chicken            young boy

So, MSP readers, if you catch me throwing in a few Polari words into my posts here and there, you’ll know where they come from! Continue Reading →

Filed under: Art & Culture, GLBT, Language, Sex In the News