Laws
News
NYC Passes Legislation Making Tampons & Pads Free in Public Restrooms

The Council of the City of New York released a press release on Monday, June 21st, 2016, which read in part: Feminine hygiene products are essential for the health and well-being of women and girls. Inadequate menstrual hygiene management is associated with both health and psycho-social issues, particularly among low-income women. Access to feminine hygiene […]

News
How We (Finally!) Got to Marriage Equality

by Nathaniel Frank for Slate When I was in college and first realized I might be gay, I was terrified. I pictured living in a remote cabin with a dog, the better to avoid the rejection of a society where I didn’t feel I could ever belong. My shame—my wish to flee instead of to […]

How To
Should Marriage Vows Expire Every Seven Years?

photo via flickr Driver’s licenses expire. Professional licenses expire. Even dog licenses expire. But marriage licenses are for life! On the one hand, this is kind of the whole point of marriage, right? That you can’t just walk away from each other, that you are committed, even when things get tough, even when your kids are […]

Sexual Health
German Court Rules Circumcision a “Bodily Harm”

This week a court in Germany ruled that circumcising boys for religious reasons is “bodily harm.” The ruling came as a result of a court case about medical complications following the circumcision of a four-year-old boy. The doctor was acquitted, but apparently the court felt like stirring up a shit-storm anyway.  The ruling isn’t binding […]

News
Guns for Dildos in an Alabama Sex Toy Shop

image via John Haynes Photography Bumper stick rage can seriously ruin a sex writer’s day — like yesterday, when Em was stuck at a traffic light behind a pick-up truck boasting a Confederate flag and the bumper sticker “Licensed Illegal Immigrant Hunter” (amongst about 15 other bumper stickers, none of which, it goes without saying, […]

Pop Culture
What We Talk About When We Talk About Boobs, Part 2

On Monday here we introduced the book Uncovered by Jordan Matter, and featured four of the women in the book. Today we feature four more portraits and interviews. Em & Lo: How did you two end up taking part in this photo shoot? Mike: I heard about the project somewhat based on my working as […]

Pop Culture
What We Talk About When We Talk About Boobs

We have to admit, when we first heard about Jordan Matter’s book Uncovered — topless portraits of more than 80 normal women (i.e. not models), all shot in public in NYC — we were cynical. First of all, it’s hard to get past the fact that Jordan Matter is a dude, who spent six years […]

News
Heartbroken Fiancee Fought the Law and the Law Won

Late last year we published an excerpt from our friend Robin’s book (So Sue Me, Jackass! Avoiding Legal Pitfalls That Can Come Back to Bite You at Work, at Home, and at Play) about who gets to keep the ring after a broken engagement. The lawerly response? “While common courtesy dictates that the ring should […]

News
No sex? Deal-breaker. No turkey together? That’s okay, says New York court.

photo by walknboston We hope that you’re sitting down to enjoy turkey (or tofurkey) with a loved one today. But if your loved one refuses to partake in the holiday celebration, we thought you should know that — acccording to a New York court, at least — that’s not as bad as refusing to partake in […]

Pop Culture
Who Gets to Keep the Ring After a Broken Engagement?

Our friend Robin Epstein and her sister Amy Epstein Feldman just wrote a hilarious (not to mention helpful) book called  So Sue Me, Jackass! Avoiding Legal Pitfalls That Can Come Back to Bite You at Work, at Home, and at Play. Over the past few weeks, we’ve published excerpts answering questions like “Can you keep […]

Pop Culture
Living Together 7 Years = Common Law Married?

photo by adactio Our friend Robin Epstein and her sister Amy Epstein Feldman just wrote a hilarious (not to mention helpful) book called So Sue Me, Jackass! Avoiding Legal Pitfalls That Can Come Back to Bite You at Work, at Home, and at Play. Over the past three weeks, we’ve published excerpts answering questions like “Can […]

Pop Culture
Can You Keep an Ex from Posting Your Nudie Pics?

Our friend Robin Epstein and her sister Amy Epstein Feldman just wrote a hilarious (not to mention helpful) book called So Sue Me, Jackass! Avoiding Legal Pitfalls That Can Come Back to Bite You at Work, at Home, and at Play. Over the past two weeks, we’ve published excerpts answering the questions “Can you get […]

News
The First Amendment and Betty Dodson’s Genital Art

photo via erix! We admit, genital art isn’t really our thing. We’ve seen our share at downtown art shows (and, ahem, on our own TV show in the U.K.), and, while we’re glad that people are out there creating work like this, we don’t have any hanging on our walls. That said, we totally, absolutely, 100% understand how […]

Pop Culture
Books: I Was Drunk When I Wed; Is It Legal?

photo by kalin9999 Our friend Robin Epstein and her sister Amy Epstein Feldman just wrote a hilarious (not to mention helpful) book called  So Sue Me, Jackass! Avoiding Legal Pitfalls That Can Come Back to Bite You at Work, at Home, and at Play. Last week we published an excerpt that answered the age-old question, […]

Pop Culture
Books: So Sue Me, Jackass!

So Sue Me, Jackass! is on sale everywhere starting today You know all those questions that you really want to ask when you meet a lawyer at a cocktail party? But you restrain yourself because you figure it’s not polite to ask a complete stranger whether you could get sued if you broke someone’s penis […]

News
Alabama Supreme Court Upholds Sex Toy Ban

We have a special place in our hearts for Sherri Williams: the owner of a sex toy store called Love Stuff in Hoover, Alabama, she has been fighting her state’s ban on sex toys since the law was enacted in 1998. Yep, you read right, 1998: this isn’t an antiquated law Williams is trying to […]