angry poem

broke and unwed
the two worst things we can think of
might as well kill yourself, unworthy bitch
love and money make us turn
for the love of money we'll do anything
love money
love love
love sex
sex=currency?
sex money
money sex
thanks for doing the dishes, baby
now come here and let me suck you til your eyes roll back

single
but i have a job
not broke, just in debt
and nobody owes me shit
if you cum
i cum
but now he's too tired and my cunt feels raw
fuck it, let's just smoke a cigarette
war currency
prison currency
death currency
will you pay me if i promise to help kill you slowly over the next few decades?
all you have to do is suck smoke through this little stick as often as you want to
believe me, you'll want to

getting fucked on the regular
i smell like marlboro ultra-light super-deadly cancer smoke
but he doesn't care cuz he does too
and the sheets stink of sweat and precum and whatever women excrete when they want it
if you don't feel empty afterwards
he's a keeper
and you won't have to walk down the street alone anymore
so bold
slut in your cutoffs and red heels
musta dressed like that so men would change direction
call you baby and follow you to the store to buy more death in a box
7 bux a pack and can i get your number?
has anyone ever told you you're gorgeous?
yeah my mother and i didn't believe her either

men fuck women
men listen to men
so it'll take another man to tell you to lay off his shit i.e. me
leave her alone she's taken
stop sniffing around trying to piss on her leg
i already did

guess i'm claimed
at work i smell like him
and people will like me better cuz i have his picture on my cell phone
the old ones say don't make our mistakes
but we don't know which ones are the mistakes yet
showing up late and hungover
buying shoes instead of food
waiting
and the old ones send us to war
narrow their eyes at people who look different than they do
laugh at us when we try to hope
but then
so
do
i

iraq is the mistake
nafta is the mistake
10 years for half as many rocks is the mistake
we are all the mistakes
just follow the plan
follow the man
stay strong go long be wrong
if he'll give you the right things
so i sit at work
count my change and wonder if he'll be there to complete me when i get home
might as well kill yourself, unworthy bitch

MySpace's Queer Younger Sibling

outSMACK.com is a great online resource and social network for LGBT youth that encourages creativity, education, and connection. I recommend checking it out and passing it on to that lonely out teen you know.

Quick Hit: Gender Bending Celebs

Worth1000.com ran a contest for Photoshop nerds to put a gender bending twist on photos of female celebs. Due to copyrights I can't post any of the pictures, but you should check 'em out.

Thanks Jamie for the link!

San Diego Hearts the Gays

The demands of starting grad school have made it very difficult to justify spending time on posts, but this one is a must-see. Jerry Sanders, the Republican mayor of my home-city of San Diego, is passing a resolution in support of same sex marriage. He was expected to veto the resolution, but announced in this emotional speech that he had to do what he knows is right, "The concept of a 'separate but equal' institution is not something that I can support."

In case you are not familiar with San Diego politics, being gay in San Diego is no fun. Like I have already had to explain to so many here in Boston, San Diego is not just like San Francisco. They are far apart in both location and culture. Co-starting the first GSA at my high school was shitty. The group was publicly ridiculed by both students and faculty. I hope that the people of San Diego have watched this speech and that some can internalize its meaning. I also hope that Sanders will be re-elected next year but as a gay rights supporting Republican, I doubt it.

Taking Feministing's lead, I hope you all will send Sanders a message showing your gratitude and support. That took some kind of bravery.

seriously, women, I've been bleeding out of cycle for 14 days...
that's 20 days this month, of blood flowing from my vagina, and I have NO CLUE what is going on
can anyone relate? is this a national crisis? anyone else having freakish menstruation?
I took the morning after pill two months ago. Could my body be super unbalanced from that life saving little package? I've taken that pill many times before and this has never happened. FUCK.
can I get some sympathy?
love, crazy and bloated in queens ny

i've been bleeding for two weeks
the doctor says "it's probably hormonal"
no fucking shit it's hormonal
there's a problem here
and i'm not pregnant

i wait in the "waiting room" for two hours
maybe i'm dying
they tell me nothing
except "you're twenty pounds overweight"
thanks a fucking lot

i love to booze it up
but i think it's making me fatter
now i need a sonagram and AA
and a can't fuck as much
because i bleed through my sheets

where will i find a release...
no booze
no sex
only hairs on my chin
and love handles

r u coming?

If IKEA had their Swedish designers make vibrators, they'd make this one. The Cone is a new vibrator for a new time. Alright so I haven't tried it but I stumbled upon it at Smitten Kitten and was intrigued.

I checked out The Cone website and it was actually kinda fun. They have a crazy virtual 3-D Cone that you can unpack, turn on, and play with the settings (check out orgasm mode!). You can also watch their advertisement and browse pictures, which reveal that The Cone is the biggest freakin' vibrator you've ever seen. Plus, the critics are pleased. It even won Best Adult Product at the 2007 Adult Industry Awards. Nice. It's a little pricey ($129 at Smitten Kitten), but sounds worth it for anyone with the cash.

Which Western Feminist Icon Are YOU?

More proof of my amazing skills of procrastination. Feel free to post your results in the comments. I'm gonna get some work done now, I swear. It's only my first week of school and already I'm sick of reading.


You are Kathleen Hanna! Poster child of the riot grrls, you've grown up a little in the last few years. You've brought rape, feminism, sexuality, and wymyn surviving hard shit into the mainstream through art, music, and spokenword. You're PUNKROCK! But, like, for real.
Take this quiz!

Santa Cruz Dykes: Taking Over YouTube?

Just a moment ago I was browsing YouTube for an interesting video for LG&PS (read: procrastinating) and I stumbled upon this. I had searched "gender queer" and a few videos came up, I scrolled down, and oddly freakin enough this was the first video I played. I watched it for a bit and then all of a sudden it hit me. I know these people. These are Santa Cruz people!

So for all of you Santa Cruz folks, check this shit out. You know these women!

Full Frontal Feminism Book Review

Written September 1st - I have now been in Boston for four days!

After a full 23 years as a pure Californian beach town gal, I am currently on my way to being an East Coaster. Well, physically anyway. Just over the wing and with Cactus at my feet, my window view boasts the fertile tapestry that is the middle of this country. Yeah I know, shut up. To accompany me on this journey I brought along my must-read-before-school-starts non-fiction, Jessica Valenti’s Full Frontal Feminism. Subtitled “A Young Woman’s Guide to Why Feminism Matters,” FFF is clearly targeted toward 13 to 17-year-old should-be feminists. As an avid reader of Feministing.com, however, it was a mandatory read for me as well.

First, I have to address the infamous cover. If you do not frequent the feminist corner of the blogosphere (outside of LG&PS, of course), you may have missed the Great FFF Cover Debate of 2006. When Jessica posted the cover of her new book on Feministing, all kinds of hell broke loose. A skinny, white woman’s flawless torso serves as the cover’s background image, with a perfect hand on her perfect hip and “Full Frontal Feminism” splayed across her in thick lettering. This was, of course, very controversial and everyone within reach of a keyboard had something to say about it. I didn’t participate much in the discussion because my feelings about it were continuously fluctuating. From the moment I saw it posted online to when I finally began reading the damn thing my feelings changed tremendously. My initial reaction was surprise and confusion; why would Jessica choose such a picture? Finally though, once I opened it up, it made perfect sense. This book is about feminism today and if feminism is not completely tied up with images of skinny-ass white women’s torsos, I don’t know what is. Of course I never believed, as many said or implied at the time, that Jessica was participating in the objectification of women’s bodies in a racist, fatphobic way. I have more faith in Jessica than that. Now I realize that the photo makes sense in the context of the content so before the cover turns you off, open it up and check out the text.

If it hasn’t become glaringly obvious, I love Jessica. She has a Master’s in Gender Studies but, being a 20-something herself, she is very connected to her audience. This is unlike pseudo-feminist writers like Laura Sessions Stepp, author of Unhooked (this year’s other non-fiction for young women), who discusses young women’s sexuality from a judgmental outsider’s perspective. The only real bone I have to pick with FFF is Jessica’s choice to use slang and expletives in every other sentence. I mean, yeah I talk like that, and no I don’t think it should read like a textbook, but I wonder if it was wise to go so far in the slang direction. I think it’s great that Jessica felt confident to use her voice, but I hope that young women perceive it as genuine. I worry that young women, especially those unfamiliar with Feministing.com, might read the slang as condescension or a fake, superficial tactic to create a sense of sameness and equality. I am confident that Jessica was simply speaking in her language about her ideas on her terms and I totally respect that. I just hope others recognize it as such.

Besides the possible misunderstanding of her loose use of language, I have very little other criticism of Jessica’s work. She covers all of the biggest topics, from birth control to pop culture to intersectional oppressions, and she doesn’t shy away from the personal or the political. Even for a seasoned feminist, the book is a great review. I recommend picking it up and passing it on to that favorite (or least favorite) young woman in your life. Bravo Jessica!

FYI: I refer to Ms. Valenti by her first name throughout the post as she has created such a warm, down-to-Earth identity through her website and her book that I feel like I know her. It’s one of those weird Internet celebrity things I guess.

tribute to summer

goodbye sweet summer
is it time to leave so soon?
lying here
putting caps on empty bottles
i can't find my sweater
and i'm not ready to go home

the shortest season
of the most delicious freedom
rolled past hot and slow.
on the stairs blowing smoke into the night
i feel inflated with the emptiness
of saying goodbye

so long sad summer
i know you're gonna miss me
your naked heat invites my vices
and i wish we could stay here
forever together
making promises to the dark

no more melting alone
in my breathless cage
together or apart
we sweat
summer you have flung me
and i don't know where i'll land

so here's to you
queen of all seasons
to short hot months
and long hot nights
popsicles, martinis, sunburns and heels
and the green seed of yearning we'll carry through the cold