Pop Culture
Pop Culture
The Best Transgender Books for Kids

Happy International Trans Visibility Day (March 31st)! Unfortunately, it’s not all balloons and supportive hugs: Trump’s list of discriminatory actions against the transgender community so far is too long to list in a single post. Him rescinding the Obama administration’s federal guidelines for schools to allow kids to use the public bathrooms that match their […]

Books
5 Terms Every Parent Should Add to Their Sex-Ed Vocabulary

Cory Silverberg is elevating in-home sex-ed to an art form, one kick-ass book at a time. His first kids’ book on reproduction, called WHAT MAKES A BABY (for preschoolers through 2nd-graders), combines inclusive language, helpful descriptions, and bright, bold and beautiful illustrations by Fiona Smyth (that get us all nostalgic for “Free to Be You and Me“) […]

Pop Culture
In Defense of Maleficent

Since the sequel to 2014’s “Maleficent” — “Maleficent: Mistress of Evil” — is currently out in theaters, my family just rewatched the first one. Five years ago, “Maleficent,” starring Angelina Jolie, received a green-splat score of 53% on Rotten Tomatoes, with a review by the Chicago Sun Times’ Richard Roeper calling it “plodding and utterly unconvincing.” But […]

Pop Culture
If You Challenge Gender Stereotyping, Prepare to Be Vilified

Our journalist friend Diane Stopyra recently penned an excellent piece for MarieClaire.com entitled “Dear Parents-to-Be: Stop Celebrating Your Baby’s Gender,” which argued that gender-reveal parties are misguided attempts at fun which reinforce harmful gender stereotypes (and, let’s face it, are just a tad narcissistic). Why pigeon-hole you’re kid before they’re even out of the womb? […]

How To
10 Steps to Winning Valentine’s Day (with Just 1 Trip to the Grocery Store!)

Short on time? Don’t want to spend a lot of money? But still want to acknowledge your undying affection on Valentine’s Day? All it takes is one trip to the grocery store, a little effort, and a lot of love. 1. NO Red Roses! Go with their favorite flower instead — it’s less cliche, more personal.   […]

Pop Culture
Nipplegate 2: Adam Levine’s Shirtless Superbowl Halftime Performance

There were audible groans among the crowd — especially from the hetero dads — at my friend’s Super Bowl LII party when Maroon 5’s frontman Adam Levine took off his shirt towards the end of their half-time show and spawned Nipplegate 2. The consensus seemed to be that this was not only cheesy, but inappropriate. Levine […]

Pop Culture
The Science/Poetry of Kissing

We once heard an interview on NPR with Sheril Kirshenbaum, author of the book “The Science of Kissing: What Our Lips Are Telling Us.” (It was was timed perfectly to come out about a month before Valentine’s Day). The question came up: Are we the only species that kisses? To which Kirshenbaum answered: …Well, scientists have […]

Pop Culture
Fuck Mistletoe

Thanks to the #MeToo Movement, it’s become clear it’s high time to get rid of some long-standing traditions: sexual predation by men in power, friends and colleagues who turn a blind eye to — or worse, enable — misconduct, useless H.R. departments, answering the door in a robe, secret under-the-desk buttons that lock the office […]

TV
Sex Is Life-Affirming Freedom in “The Handmaid’s Tale” 

[spoiler alert!] When the state controls your body, sex is rape. The “ceremony” scenes in Season 1 of “The Handmaid’s Tale” on Hulu (based on the 1985 seemingly evergreen novel of the same name by Margaret Atwood) made that clear: when a fertile handmaid’s male “master” penetrates her in the presence of his infertile wife, there […]

TV
The Worst Thing About the Stormy Daniels “60 Minutes” Interview

It was a dark and Stormy night….last night, when the highly anticipated Stormy Daniels “60 Minutes” interview about her alleged affair with Donald Trump finally aired. Today, pundits are pontificating on all the questions it raised: Why did Daniels originally deny the affair? Why does Trump regularly use “You remind me of my daughter” as a […]

How To
Vagina vs. Vulva — There’s a Difference, People

A while back we here at EMandLO.com conducted a poll called “Vulva or Vagina?” Readers had two options to choose from (natch): Vulva – If we’re talking about female external genitalia, this is the anatomically correct & accurate term. (Plus, it sounds nicer.) Vagina – That’s what EVERYONE calls it. It’s common practice, common knowledge. Nobody calls it […]

Pop Culture
Happy Spring: Fuck Like Bunnies!

It’s finally Spring! A time of chocolates, pastels, persistent urges, and adorable rabbits fucking like bunnies. As Mark Twain said, “It’s spring fever. That is what the name of it is. And when you’ve got it, you want – oh, you don’t quite know what it is you do want, but it just fairly makes […]

Pop Culture
The Slut Shaming of Stormy Daniels

Stormy Daniels’ important story of who President Donald Trump is and what he has done – an alleged cheater who had an affair while his wife raised their baby and then had his lawyer pay, perhaps illegally, to cover it up with a non-disclosure agreement right before the 2016 presidential election, after having this ex-paramour […]

Pop Culture
Top 10 Funniest Sex Scenes of All Time

  Funny sex scenes — at least, those that are meant to make you laugh — are often the best kind. Ironically, they tend to portray much more realistic on-screen sex than their serious, sultry counterparts. In funny sex scenes, you get weirdness, kink, awkwardness, jealousy, fantasy — oh yeah, and condoms. For some reason, […]

Pop Culture
Best Actor, Best Actress — Why Differentiate?

A 1995 study called “The Role of Classification Skill in Moderating Environmental Influences on Children’s Gender Stereotyping” showed that the simple organizational technique of separating kids by gender in elementary school classrooms has a profound effect on the way those kids think about gender. In her excellent book, Parenting Beyond Pink and Blue: How to Raise Your Kids […]

Pop Culture
Single? 10 Fun Movies to Stream About Platonic Love

Edie Freedman is a student at New York University studying social and cultural analysis, politics and psychology. There she is a writer and editor for The Tab NYU.   Rom Coms are such a popular film genre, they get their own cute moniker. But comedies exploring less romantic and less lusty themes of love often get short […]