Posts Written by Amy

Pretending to be gay?

Ed. note: This post is part of the second round of the Feministing “So You Think You Can Blog” contributor contest (background here). Stay tuned all week as our six finalists take turns turns covering the blog and giving us a sense of their personal contributor style. The winner of the contest and newest member of the Feministing team will be announced next week!

This is one of those stories that I read and just think “What??” Nashville resident Timothy Kurek just came out of the closet (on National Coming Out Day!) by telling his friends and family that he’s…straight? Kurek was raised to believe that homosexuality is a sin. When a friend came out to him as a lesbian, it made him question his belief, so he decided to live as a gay man for a year to see what it was like. Over the last year, he came out to his parents, friends, and community, “got a job in a gay cafe, hung out in a gay bar and joined a gay softball league, all the while maintaining his inner identity as a straight Christian.” Kurek just revealed all this on Thursday when he launched a memoir about his experiences, titled The Cross in the Closet, and he’s had about a bajillion interviews and articles written about him since then.

Okay, I’m super conflicted about this whole thing. On the one hand, you ...

Young, feminist, and… married!

Ed. note: This post is part of the second round of the Feministing “So You Think You Can Blog” contributor contest (background here). Stay tuned all week as our six finalists take turns turns covering the blog and giving us a sense of their personal contributor style. The winner of the contest and newest member of the Feministing team will be announced next week!

Marriage is not something that’s generally on my radar these days. I live and work in a world where everyone is so busy and crazy liberal and questioning of every social norm that it’s not something that really comes up, except when it’s being critiqued. Ever since graduating college, it seems like my ...

Ed. note: This post is part of the second round of the Feministing “So You Think You Can Blog” contributor contest (background here). Stay tuned all week as our six finalists take turns turns ...

What porn can teach us about safer sex

Ed. note: This post is part of the second round of the Feministing “So You Think You Can Blog” contributor contest (background here). Stay tuned all week as our six finalists take turns turns covering the blog and giving us a sense of their personal contributor style. The winner of the contest and newest member of the Feministing team will be announced next week!

Shame and misinformation surrounding sex are unfortunate when they prevent people from following their desires or experiencing pleasure. But it’s just plain dangerous when they put people’s health at risk. And that’s exactly what might happen this November in LA County.

On Election Day, Los Angeles residents will go to the polls to vote ...

Ed. note: This post is part of the second round of the Feministing “So You Think You Can Blog” contributor contest (background here). Stay tuned all week as our six finalists take turns turns ...

The Big O

A SYTYCB Entry

A friend of mine recently brought this article to my attention and asked for my opinion on it as a sex educator. The article is about “karezza,” (from the Italian “caress”) a philosophy and practice of making love without orgasm as a way to reconnect with your partner. I’m a lot more into the second link (which is an actual karezza practitioner talking about the practice) than the first one (which is a major news network giving their perspective), but I think there are a lot of interesting points that this brings up.

The bottom line for me is that if a sex act is consensual and between adults, I’m all for it! I do think our ...

A SYTYCB Entry

A friend of mine recently brought this article to my attention and asked for my opinion on it as a sex educator. The article is about “karezza,” (from the Italian “caress”) a philosophy ...

Phyllis Diller, Feminist Badass

A SYTYCB Entry

It’s a tough world for women, especially funny ones. Despite the massive strides we’ve made in this country in terms of being able to vote, own property, and generally have some say over our destiny, we still have a long way to go. Standup comedy is one of the hardest jobs for women to break into (right up there with becoming CEO of a Fortune 500 company and running for Congress). In standup comedy, not only are you most likely the only woman in a lineup of men on any particular night, but EVERYONE else in the lineup is telling really sexist jokes about abuse, rape, and how women are stupid and/or sex objects, and the audience (of ...

A SYTYCB Entry

It’s a tough world for women, especially funny ones. Despite the massive strides we’ve made in this country in terms of being able to vote, own property, and generally have some say over our destiny, ...