Sexism
News
8 Things You Should Know About Consent on College Campuses

A 2017 article written by Sarah Marcantonio, then a student at Emerson University in Boston Consent (noun): Permission, approval or agreement. Here’s my definition of sexual consent: two (or more) people actively, explicitly and consciously agreeing to have sexual interactions throughout those interactions, with no party having any reservations at any point. I was taught, […]

News
The Harsh Reality of Religion-Driven Sex Ed in America

Pantsuit Nation, the private Facebook group of around 4 million members, was originally created as online camaraderie for Hillary Clinton supporters in the 2016 election but has since morphed into a sort of support group for progressives facing trying times under the Trump administration. The following is a recent post to the group from a midwestern parent who gave us […]

News
Teaching Kids They Can’t Say “No”?

Utah excels at socializing male supremacy and female acquiescence. While students at Kanesville Elementary in West Haven, UT, were not required to take part in the Valentine’s Day sixth-grade dance, those participating would be asked to fill out a dance card with the names of students with whom they wanted to dance — anyone whose […]

How To
7 Ways to Fight the “Mommy Problem” from Within Your Relationship

We loved Heather Havrilesky’s “Mommy Problem” article in the Times a while back, about how “the culture demands that every mother be all in, all the time.” And we’re not alone, clearly: We lost count of the number of our friends who gave it the “yep” response in their Facebook feed. Responding in Jezebel, Tracy […]

Pop Culture
If You Challenge Gender Stereotyping, Prepare to Be Vilified

Our journalist friend Diane Stopyra recently penned an excellent piece for MarieClaire.com entitled “Dear Parents-to-Be: Stop Celebrating Your Baby’s Gender,” which argued that gender-reveal parties are misguided attempts at fun which reinforce harmful gender stereotypes (and, let’s face it, are just a tad narcissistic). Why pigeon-hole you’re kid before they’re even out of the womb? […]

Pop Culture
Nipplegate 2: Adam Levine’s Shirtless Superbowl Halftime Performance

There were audible groans among the crowd — especially from the hetero dads — at my friend’s Super Bowl LII party when Maroon 5’s frontman Adam Levine took off his shirt towards the end of their half-time show and spawned Nipplegate 2. The consensus seemed to be that this was not only cheesy, but inappropriate. Levine […]

Pop Culture
Fuck Mistletoe

Thanks to the #MeToo Movement, it’s become clear it’s high time to get rid of some long-standing traditions: sexual predation by men in power, friends and colleagues who turn a blind eye to — or worse, enable — misconduct, useless H.R. departments, answering the door in a robe, secret under-the-desk buttons that lock the office […]

News
When It Comes to Restrictions on Reproductive Rights, WOMEN Are the Problem

In the United States, it took 131 years for women to get the right to vote, 133 years to get our first female Senator, 192 years to get a woman on the Supreme Court, and we’re still waiting — a whopping 229 years — for our first female president. Like much of the world, our country has a […]

News
The Incel Rebellion

Longtime EMandLO.com reader Dave on the Incel Rebellion: On April 23rd, 2018, a lone male drove a delivery style van down a crowded Toronto sidewalk, killing 10 people and seriously injuring dozens of others. First thoughts from the media and the general public were that this might have been a terrorist attack, based (sadly) upon […]

TV
Sex Is Life-Affirming Freedom in “The Handmaid’s Tale” 

[spoiler alert!] When the state controls your body, sex is rape. The “ceremony” scenes in Season 1 of “The Handmaid’s Tale” on Hulu (based on the 1985 seemingly evergreen novel of the same name by Margaret Atwood) made that clear: when a fertile handmaid’s male “master” penetrates her in the presence of his infertile wife, there […]

What's Up Doc?
Dear Dr. Kate, Should I Have a FEMALE Gynecologist?

You wish  Dr. Kate were your gynecologist.  She’s an OB/GYN at one of the largest teaching hospitals in Boston who lectures nationally on women’s health issues and conducts research on reproductive health.  She regularly (and generously!) answers your health questions here on EMandLO.com. Today she responds to the question of whether women should have a female obgyn.  To ask her your own […]

Pop Culture
The Slut Shaming of Stormy Daniels

Stormy Daniels’ important story of who President Donald Trump is and what he has done – an alleged cheater who had an affair while his wife raised their baby and then had his lawyer pay, perhaps illegally, to cover it up with a non-disclosure agreement right before the 2016 presidential election, after having this ex-paramour […]

Pop Culture
10 Things We WON’T Miss from the Fifty Shades Franchise

We finally got closure on our seriously unhealthy relationship with the Fifty Shades juggernaut this past weekend. Fifty Shades Freed, the third and final cinematic adaptation of E.L. James’ best-selling erotica trilogy, was released on Friday — much to the chagrin of hardcore fans and to the relief of movie critics everywhere. The success of […]

Personal Essays
4 Dating Myths We’re STILL Stuck With

Edie Freedman is a student at New York University studying social and cultural analysis, politics and psychology. There she is a writer and editor for The Tab NYU. There is no question that the dating game for young people has changed dramatically in the last decade or so, thanks to social media and quick, instant-decision […]

News
Roy Moore, Hebephile

Here’s the definition of hebephilia, according to Psychology Today: Hebephilia is the sexual preference for early adolescent children (those roughly ages 11 to 14). Some evidence suggests that hebephilia is a distinct and discernable erotic age preference. But whether it qualifies as a disorder is the source of debate as critics believe including it in the DSM […]

Confessions
Comment of the Week: Unpacking the Sexual Misconduct of Unattractive Male Celebrities

Reliable commenter Dave had some provocative thoughts on the motivation behind some of these acts of sexual misconduct. [Note: his comments have been collated and edited for concision]: I’m sure the reasons behind the actions of [many of the male celebrities being accused of sexual misconduct lately] vary widely, but I do find it interesting that […]