Category Archives: academic
The Dangerous Powers of Witches: Spirituality, Autonomy, Community and Literacy
In Essex, England, in 1645, a group of five women were put to death for witchcraft. The first of the group to be accused, Elizabeth Clarke, was an eighty year old, poor, single woman with one leg. She and five … Continue reading
Filed under academic, critical disability, essays, history, old age, rape culture, sexuality, spirituality, violence, vulvas, witches
Vaginal Intercourse: A Process of Intelligibility
When people say sex they generally mean vaginal intercourse with a penis. It is the experience of this act and not any other that signifies loss of virginity. If this act has not taken place it is often thought that … Continue reading
Filed under academic, critical disability, essays, genderqueer, heterosexuality, queer, sex education, sexuality, violence, vulvas
A Reflection on Patricia Hill Collins’ “Defining Black Feminist Thought”
“Rather than raising consciousness, Black feminist thought affirms and rearticulates a consciousness that already exists.” Patricia Hill Collins’ “Defining Black Feminist Thought” sees Black feminist thought as the product of Black women’s standpoint, developed out of an Afrocentric worldview and … Continue reading
Filed under academic
A Reflection on Luce Irigaray’s “This Sex which is Not One”
“For when “she” says something it is already no longer identical to what she means” “If you ask [women] insistently what they are thinking about, they can only reply: nothing. Everything” These two quotes describe me very accurately. In fact, … Continue reading
Filed under academic, sexuality, vulvas, writing on writing
A Reflection on Iris Young’s “Throwing Like a Girl”
Iris Young’s “Throwing like a girl” was like a light bulb turning on. The hesitancy and self-doubt that Young describes as characteristic of feminine motility is all too familiar to me. As a feminist who is self-confident in many aspects … Continue reading
Filed under academic, bicycles, skateboarding
The definition of ‘sex’: A Reflection on Amy Kaler’s “Unreal Women: Sex, Gender, Identity and the Lived Experience of Vulvar Pain”
Hegemonic heteronormativity defines sex as penile-vaginal intercourse and the performing of this intercourse allows men and women to understand themselves as men and women, and thus also as persons. It is rather disturbing how prevalent, persistent and insidious these ideas … Continue reading
Filed under academic, genderqueer, vulvas
Victorian Femininity and Anorexic Culture: Starvation as the Suppression of the Monstrous Feminine
The Victorian ideal of femininity demands the control of female appetites and the submission of the female body to will. Contemporary advertisements that shame women’s appetites are not a new phenomenon but part of a tradition that can be traced … Continue reading
Filed under academic, disordered eating, essays, gothic/horror, history, sexuality
Sheela-na-gigs: from Crone to Church
Sheela-na-gigs are stone carvings of old, naked women displaying their vulvas that are often found near the entrances and windows of churches in Ireland. Created between the twelfth and sixteenth centuries, a time of patriarchal Christian rule, the overt female … Continue reading
Filed under academic, essays, goddess worship, gothic/horror, history, old age, sexuality, spirituality, the crone, witches
Sexuality in Old Age: An Adventure Worth Taking
this is an essay i wrote for a course i took on women and aging. the course, taught by professor ruby newman, was an amazing experience for me. i learned a lot. the book A Round Heeled Woman that i … Continue reading
