With hook up apps becoming more commonplace in gay male culture, so has a problematic pretense of sex. I will admit that I have been on both the receiving and giving end of this. Just as in the face-to-face world of sex, there is no guarantee for an encounter unless consent is obtained from all parties involved.
Painted Cakes Do Not Satisfy Hunger -Be Here Now, by Ram Dass In researching the phenomena of Facebook, I came across this article on how it is negatively altering our minds. In it, the author describes the social network as an addiction, ensnaring us in a dopamine...
“One is not born, but rather becomes, a woman.” Simone de Beauvoir revolutionized our understanding of the self by detaching sex from an innate and essential way of being. With her lengthy study of the sources of women’s oppression in her book The Second Sex, she laid...
I sometimes write as a form of meditation, one in which I attempt to make sense for myself in a vastly unknown world. I use it to convey ideas to other people about what, why, and how it is that I know what I know. It is a delicate balance of what I’m thinking, and...
I’ll never forget that most awkward day in the women’s bathroom at Nordstrom. At the time, I was not yet on hormones but very masculine presenting. I avoided public bathrooms at all costs, opting to hold it even if it caused me an infection. As I squeamishly pushed...
I trace my love affair with women and electronic music back to one definitively haunting and timeless record, Portishead’s Dummy. From there, I developed a passion for abrasive beats, experimental synths, and the pervasive passion of female vocals. As my taste...
My year began with an overwhelming sense of nausea and a frightening feeling of purposelessness as a result of the pressure from an absurd and amorphous, yet very tangible world. Instead of running away from it into the safety net of society’s roles and realities, I...
A year ago, I joined the staff of a grungy little alternative bar/theatre/nightclub known as Re-bar. Since it’s inception, it has been a place that has welcomed artists on the fringe of normalcy. It’s a spot where in one evening you can snuggle up and see the surreal...
Contracting a sexually transmitted infection is not only taxing on your body, but your mental and social health. Over the summer I was exposed to my first STI, HSV-1, without my knowledge. My partner was a cis-female friend, and our encounter included a lot of mutual...
As a transgender person who can fit relatively well within normative masculine and male standards, it is easier for me to come into a space like Steamworks. But it doesn’t always mean I will be embraced by everyone. Being a visible transgender person is an important aspect of my life, and I do things to constantly push myself outside of my comfort zone.
by Braedyn Ezra November 17, 2015 Always the best man, never the groom. Friends, I am genuinely happy to see all of you entering into successful, loving, romantic relationships. I appreciate being the one you turn to in times of need and distress when your mate is...
It seems like, almost since conception, my gender-nonconforming behavior was no secret.