Posts Written by Jessica
By Jessica Stephens • 12 years ago

SNL’s ‘golden rule': Gay sex is (only) OK in a three-way

This post originally appeared in the blog True Jest.

According to last night’s obligatory Justin-Timberlake’s-hosting digital short on Saturday Night Live, the “golden rule” is that it’s not gay for two men to have sex if it’s part of a three-way. Of course there’s only a need for such a rule if there’s something wrong with a man being gay in the first place.

SNL writers haven’t always been the most forward-thinking when it comes to how they depict gay or transgender people, and to be fair to SNL, the show is certainly not alone in airing heteronormative sketches. But at some point before this song went on the air, someone should have caught on to the hurtful message behind this video. If you have to make excuses for having gay sex, the underlying message is that gay sex isn’t OK.
By Jessica Stephens • 12 years ago

Beauty is (white) skin deep

This post was originally published on the blog True Jest.
When I was a teenager, I defined beauty as everything that I wasn’t. In my mind, the lighter your hair and eyes, the more beautiful you were. I don’t know where that idea came from or when it finally and thankfully left my head, but my point is this: For more than half my life, I believed my dark hair and eyes made me hopelessly ugly. I was actually envious of the members of Hanson because they were prettier than me. While I was in Bible college, I helped teach children’s church for fourth grade girls who rode the bus to church. Most of these girls were black or ...
This post was originally published on the blog True Jest.
When I was a teenager, I defined beauty as everything that I wasn’t. In my mind, the lighter your hair and eyes, the more beautiful ...