“I’m a Feminist, but …”

This drives me crazy. There is this perception that feminists are haters of men. This just isn’t true. Sure, some feminists hate men but so do people who don’t identify as feminists. There is no real correlation here.

But what makes it worse is when people who identify as feminists say they’re feminists, but don’t hate men. Celebrities, average people, and even feminist bloggers are guilty of this. When you say “I’m a feminist, but I don’t hate men” you help to feed the assumption that most feminists do hate men. The same could be true if you say “I’m a feminist, but I’m not a lesbian” or “I’m a feminist, but I shave my legs” or “I’m a feminist, but I still like to wear dresses.” Although, the bigger problem with all of those is the idea that the opposite is undesirable and somehow bad. These are all the things that the oppressive majority uses to keep feminism, and women in general, down. Nothing shuts down an argument quicker than completely dismissing someone because they are an ugly, fat, hairy lesbian. Because apparently if you are those things then you do not deserve to have an opinion.

But what they’re really saying is that you have these opinions because no man would want you anyway and here is where we get to the root of the problem with sexism. If you want a mate you have to appeal to men (lesbians and queer women are supposed to appeal to men as well) and apparently if you appeal to men then you have no desire to be a feminist. Because all your dreams are fulfilled in getting married and having your man’s babies?  I’m not really sure how all of that works. This is quite possibly the case because I’ve always been a strong feminist woman who does not back down. The mates I have had were interested in me because of these qualities, not despite them. And believe it or not, I’ve had way more male mates than female.

And this brings us full circle. Feminists don’t hate men, they hate the culture of male dominance. This is a big distinction that the mainstream doesn’t seem to understand.

So please, for the love of all things equal, stop saying “I’m a feminist, but …”

How Do You Define Your Sexuality? Contest!

Sexuality is an extremely complex thing that we try so hard to define in one or two word answers. But it’s just not that easy. There is who you are attracted to, what you are attracted to, what turns you on, what you fantasize about, what you wish didn’t turn you on, who you become romantically interested in, how high or low your libido is, how you achieve intimacy, how many partners you prefer to have, how your body responds or does not respond, etc etc etc. And unfortunately, most of us are not taught to explore what our sexuality is beyond straight/gay/bisexual or kinky/vanilla. And some people don’t even get that much exploration.

So I’m curious, how do you identify? What makes up your sexuality? Do you just choose to use simple words or do you feel that your sexuality is more complex and maybe even fluid? Have you not given it a whole lot of thought? Why not?

Leave me a comment letting me know exactly how you currently identify and maybe even the path in which you’ve traveled to reach your sexual identity. To make the deal a little sweeter I’ll throw in a copy of Fluid: Women Redefining Sexuality. One of you will be chosen at random to win this sexy DVD which I reviewed a couple months ago. The DVD is provided by Good Vibrations, but unfortunately does not have the DVD case, just a paper sleeve. But really, you just want the porn anyway. Who needs a case?

You know what? Lets make this deal even sweeter. The second runner up will receive a free hour of video on demand porn from HotMoviesForHer. Yeah, I just decided that right now. That’s how I roll.

For more ways to enter check out Mistress Kay’s blog. She’s the one who motivated me to throw together this contest anyway. In her contest post she also explores what her sexual identity is and what it means to her. So what are you waiting for? Enter!

Or stick around and read about how I define my sexuality and then enter. Either way.

Like I said earlier, sexuality is complex and mine is no different. In fact my sexuality has often frustrated me. You see I’m more physically attracted to women, but more emotionally attracted to men. This has often made relationships difficult for me since I often fell in love with men, but was more attracted to women. At one point I was completely madly in love with a man but when we’d have sex I’d sometimes lick his perineum like it was  a clit and finger his asshole like it was a vagina. He never seemed to mind, but I don’t think he really knew what was going through my head anyway.

Don’t get me wrong though. I love having sex with both men and women. And in fact, often enjoyed having sex with men more. I blame this on the fact that I just had so many more male partners than female ones. When you have a bigger pot you’re picking from you’ll probably get more fantastic lovers … as well as awful ones.

For a very long time I was only attracted to people with pretty standard gender presentations. I didn’t really understand being attracted to people who defied gender norms until a)I became a gender and women’s studies major and b)I met my wife. Both opened my mind a whole bunch and led me to change my orientation label from bisexual to queer. I love the word queer because it is all encompassing. Now I tend to be attracted to a lot of different gender representations. I even often find that when people play with gender it’s fucking hot. I’m really only not attracted to douchebags and sorority girls. And yes, I actually think of those as gender identities even if they don’t. It makes sense to me.

On the spectrum of monogamy and non-monogamy I’m not really sure where I’m at. I’ve always tended towards monogamy in my serious relationships, but my relationships have often been very short lived. Now I find myself in a marriage with a woman I have been with for almost 4 years. That’s a long time. So we plan to explore. I figure that infidelity ruins a lot of relationships and I don’t want it to ruin mine. It just seems so unlikely to expect someone to be able to remain completely faithful for such a long time. I prefer to avoid that all together by opening things up and creating that trust.

My turn ons are things that I am not supposed to be turned on by. That’s what really gets me going. I like inappropriateness. If I’m supposed to be somewhere else, if I should be doing something else, if the location is all wrong, if it’s really really bad porn, or a stranger I don’t even find attractive whose body is pressed up against mine in a crowded train. All of these things make my genitals tingle probably because I keep yelling at them in my head to stop.

I’m also really turned on by seeing other people turned on. It doesn’t tend to matter who it is. I just love to see the look of ecstasy on people’s faces. Mix this with inappropriateness and we have a whole new game of awful things to be turned on by. You have no idea.

I’m turned on by sex toys, Old Spice deodorant, necking, big round booties, suggestive visuals, laughing, feeling powerful, the way different fabrics feel on my naked body, intelligence, longing, playfulness, flirting with cute strangers, being seduced, dorkyness, trashy boys, and androgyny.

I don’t tend to consider myself to be kinky, but am open to kinkiness in general and have participated in many acts that are far from vanilla. I have no interest in group sex as I prefer to focus my attention on one person at a time.

I have chronic pain that interferes with my sex life a great deal. At the top of that list is having arthritis in my hands and wrists. This can make sex very difficult especially on days with lots of pain. Luckily for me, I have a very understanding partner who doesn’t need a whole lot of warming up and doesn’t mind finishing herself off.

So that’s just the tip of the iceberg with me. How about you? You don’t have to go into the detail that I did if you don’t want to.

Oh and the rules:

  • contest ends at 11:59PM CST on 6/6/10
  • winners will be picked at random
  • leave a comment here telling me how you define your sexuality
  • leave a comment on Mistress Kay’s blog telling her why you want the DVD
  • Tweet up to twice per week (on different days) mentioning the contest with a link to either mine or Mistress Kay’s blog as well as an @ on one of us (I’m GarnetJoyce and she’s mistress_kay). If you tweet more than this you will have points deducted for being annoying.

Get crackin!

EDIT: Apparently comments have been getting caught by my spam filter. If this happens, just send me an email with your comment and I’ll post it myself. I will look into fixing this, but it may be difficult since I get a TON of spam and I don’t want to turn anything off.

Speakeasy

Here’s my latest installment on XCritic. I reviewed Speakeasy which won a Feminist Porn Award for most tantalizing trans film. My advice: rent it, but don’t spend the cash to buy it. Here’s a snippet:

“This is the pairing we’ve been waiting for! Or at least I have. Lorelei with her epic hotness and Billy Castro with his rugged handsomeness. This should be a scene that causes all to wank. And maybe, just maybe, had I muted this scene I might have loved it. But I made the mistake of keeping the sound on. At first Billy’s deep rumbly moans were totally hot. That is until his very breathing became moaning. Every breath in and out was a moan. A low, hoarse moan that sounded more like a 3 pack a day smoker who just climbed a couple flights of stairs. Combine this with Lorelei’s whinnying moans and we have a chorus of annoying which completely detracts from the sex.” Read more

My Identity is Erased

I hate that this even needs to be said, but apparently it does. I am not a lesbian. I have never been a lesbian and I will never be a lesbian.

For most of my life I identified as bisexual, but for the past few years I have identified as queer because bisexual didn’t feel like it fit anymore. I identify as queer because it is a big old umbrella term that allows me to be me. Bisexuality implies there are only two sexes and I do not agree with that. There are more than two biological sexes. If you don’t know this then I highly recommend you read through this website. Educate yourself. Also, sex and gender are two separate things and I believe that there is a whole spectrum of different gender representations and identities and I’m attracted to a whole lot of them. I do not believe in limiting myself. And I believe that sexuality is a complex and fluid thing.

I also stopped identifying as bisexual because I felt like it was a pejorative word. I was judged a whole lot when I would tell people that I was bi. Lesbians didn’t trust me, heterosexual men always asked stupid questions, and society as a whole thought I was going through a phase.

But even if I did identify as bisexual it wouldn’t really matter because the truth is that when I’m in a serious relationship my sexuality is always erased. When I was with a man I was assumed to be heterosexual and being married to a woman means that I’m  assumed to be a lesbian. It is so frustrating to have your identity erased.

Am I qualified to teach about how to please men? Um yeah! Hello! I have sucked more cock than probably 90% of you reading this.

Porn for a Cause

Image from Jiz Lee's new project: Karma Pervs

You know what makes me feel good, like in my pants? Porn. You know what makes me feel good, like in my heart? Helping those in need. Now, if only we could figure out a way to do both at the same time we could have warm fuzzies in our belly AND in our hands!

Lucky for us we don’t have to work too hard on this one because Jiz Lee is doing it all for us. They (god I hate incorrect grammar, but damn it if I won’t use it for the one and only Jiz who is genderqueer) has started a new project where you, the audience, can buy exclusive porno sets of hotties and the proceeds will go to a charity of Jiz’s choice. Each month its a different charity. This month’s charity is the STOP AIDS Project which works to … well … stop AIDS in the gay and bisexual men’s communities in San Francisco.

Its $7.99 per month to join. That seems a bit steep for just one set of pictures (50 in the current set), but you have to remember that really you’re supporting the charity of choice and getting porn out of the deal. Each month you have re-join so you are actively supporting the cause. What I can’t tell though is if you get access to all the pictures or just that month’s pictures. It’s not too clear. And it would also be nice to be able to sign up for recurring charges if you want to. But this is new so I’m sure the bugs will get worked out.

Speaking of new sites, there are a couple of other sites out that are pretty new and pretty damn hot. They aren’t necessarily doing the same good work that Jiz is doing, but we can’t all be do-gooders all the time. Sometimes we just want to wank.

Do you like fat women? Do you like BDSM and other fun kinky stuff? Are you horribly disappointed at the lack of the two of them together in porn? Well your dreams have come true with Padded Kink!

Click the picture for a free gallery

Or maybe what you really really want is cock. Lots and lots of cock. I mean who doesn’t love cock, right? But this cock is all strapped-on all the time. Check out CockSexual for all the cock you could ever want. They’re stroking their cocks, they’re fucking people with them, cocks are getting sucked. There’s even a real cock or two sprinkled in for fun. Its a cock-fest over there and I couldn’t be happier.

Yeah, thats another picture of Jiz Lee. I couldn’t help myself. They is everywhere!

All this nakedness is … inspiring!

Cisgender vs Transgender

This is the best explanation I’ve seen on the meanings of cisgender vs transgender and why we use these words to describe someone’s gender.

… Cisgender refers to people who experience and present their gender in a way that’s aligned with the gender of their body. It contrasts with transgender, which refers to people who experience their gender as different from the physical gender they were born to.

… The prefix cis means “on the same side” while trans means “on the other side”.

… The reason that the word cisgender is important to use is that it takes away the idea that being cisgender is “normal.” When we assume that man = cisgender man unless we use the term transgender, we reinforce the idea that cisgender people are normal and transgender people aren’t. Of course, being cisgender is more common but when we use language that reinforces the idea that more common equals normal, we marginalize people who are well within the range of diversity that exists in the world. (Read more)