I am meeting new people on this first work trip since the pandemic and I’m thrilled that when they ask me what I do, I tell them I destroy the patriarchy by writing things I could not/would not before: being childfree by choice feministgiant.com/p/unmothering?…
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Find the places where you are ruled by should not/would not/could not and defy, disobey, and disrupt the patriarchy by knowing—and vowing—that you shall, will and can. feministgiant.com/p/coming-soon?…
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I’ve had one of those magical London nights, heightened by the fact that it’s been so long. And I jus broke the blind in the room where I’m staying, it feels almost silly to say, but it’s part of this upside down great night.
People are—can be—magical.
It was the kind of night where I discussed a book project with publishers—yes yes more info soon!—and anarchist feminism with a German restaurateur and Paula Rego’s retrospective at Tate Britain with a Portuguese waiter.
I miss people. I love people.
I am supremely humbled that people feel comfortable opening up to me.
I don’t always reflect on what a privilege it is but someone asked me tonight “Do people often do that? Open up to you like that?” and I guess they do, especially—intriguingly—cis hey men.
Through Arabic language accounts that are unprecedented in their boldness, sexual radicals in Egypt and the region are targeting shame, taboo, silence, and sexual repression. I interviewed and write about several for my new essay.
Orgasms, masturbation, anal sex, abortion, being queer, how to ask for what you want from a sexual partner, consent – nothing is off limits. feministgiant.com/p/egypts-sexua…
Fatma Ibrahim, a feminist researcher, says she started The Sex Talk after “trying to recognise and understand my own body and sexuality, gaining independence and fighting for agency over them, then realising that every woman should have this independence and this agency too.”
In 2015, I wrote Headscarves and Hymens: Why the Middle East Needs a Sexual Revolution. I wrote this for @africaarguments to say: the sexual revolution has started!
My article was commissioned by & is cross-posted w/ @AfricanArguments as part of the Radical Activism in Africa special series, guest edited by feminist scholar & revolutionary @drstellanyanzi. It was a thrill to work with her & @jamesjwan Check out series africanarguments.org/category/afric…
I am thrilled that FEMINIST GIANT is collaborating with more projects and I'll be announcing more plans soon.
My two most recent essays are part of what I call finding the places where you are ruled by should not/would not/could and vowing that you shall, will and can. This one on menopause, my sex drive, and the importance of moisturizing your vagina #Menopause
If you’re wondering where along my menopause journey I am, it is far enough that if I hear a voice in my head saying "Oh my god, you can't write about that!" I WILL IN FACT WRITE ABOUT THAT. And that is an absolute advantage of being 54 years old. feministgiant.com/p/moisturize-y…
I am upside down with lack of sleep and jet lag (I’d forgotten this part of international travel - ha!), but exciting things coming up at FEMINIST GIANT today!
In collaboration with @africaarguments, and for their series on radicals on the African continent, I wrote about sex positive and sexual wellness social media accounts by women and queer people in Egypt and the region. Publishing soon!
I've long said I would write an essay for those of us who were raised with any version of "purity culture" and who are now going through the menopause transition. Here it is. #MenopauseAwarenessMonth
When I began to notice the impact of perimenopause on my vagina & sex drive, it bothered me more than hot flashes, no longer sleeping through the night, and changes to my digestive system.
Not by menopause, which is “natural” (I rarely use that word because it's often employed by cis heteronormative patriarchy in the name of fuckery) but by an upbringing & socialization that instilled in me something that should be considered unnatural & which took me years to shed