Feminism
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
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
10 Things We WON’T Miss from the Fifty Shades Franchise

We finally got closure on our seriously unhealthy relationship with the Fifty Shades juggernaut this past weekend. Fifty Shades Freed, the third and final cinematic adaptation of E.L. James’ best-selling erotica trilogy, was released on Friday — much to the chagrin of hardcore fans and to the relief of movie critics everywhere. The success of […]

Personal Essays
4 Dating Myths We’re STILL Stuck With

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. There is no question that the dating game for young people has changed dramatically in the last decade or so, thanks to social media and quick, instant-decision […]

What's Up Doc?
How Can Women Protect Themselves Against Creepy or Abusive Doctors?

You wish  Dr. Kate were your gynecologist.  She’s an OB/GYN at one of the largest teaching hospitals in Boston who lectures nationally on women’s health issues and conducts research on reproductive health.  She regularly (and generously!) answers your health questions here on EMandLO.com. The following on abusive doctors is part of a continuing series inspired by the #MeToo movement. To ask […]

Celebrities
A Tale of Two Dates: 15 Lessons from the Aziz Ansari Case

To read the Tweets and comments on the Babe.net story about one woman’s horrible night with actor & comedian Aziz Ansari (read it here if you haven’t already), you’d assume there were only two possible, mutually exclusive conclusions to draw: either you believe that Ansari is a sexual assaulter who’s career should be over OR […]

News
Roy Moore, Hebephile

Here’s the definition of hebephilia, according to Psychology Today: Hebephilia is the sexual preference for early adolescent children (those roughly ages 11 to 14). Some evidence suggests that hebephilia is a distinct and discernable erotic age preference. But whether it qualifies as a disorder is the source of debate as critics believe including it in the DSM […]

Confessions
Comment of the Week: Unpacking the Sexual Misconduct of Unattractive Male Celebrities

Reliable commenter Dave had some provocative thoughts on the motivation behind some of these acts of sexual misconduct. [Note: his comments have been collated and edited for concision]: I’m sure the reasons behind the actions of [many of the male celebrities being accused of sexual misconduct lately] vary widely, but I do find it interesting that […]

Pop Culture
Let’s (Not) Play Sexual Misconduct Bingo!

The #MeToo movement has proven that basically every woman you know (and too many men) have suffered at least one if not several incidents on the sexual misconduct continuum. You can play Sexual Misconduct Bingo, but it’s not a game and nobody wins. The only way to win is for witnesses of inappropriate conduct, victims […]

Advice
The Unbearable Lightness of Blowjobs

Miranda Levy is a major in Women, Gender & Sexuality Studies at Elon University where she pens a sex column for its student-run lifestyle magazine, The Edge.  “Popping her cherry” “Swiping my V-card” “Going all the way” All of these phrases — and countless more — connote one single, sexual act: intercourse. Given its reproductive implications, our […]

Pop Culture
Your New Favorite Book: “The Power” by Naomi Alderman

The Power by Naomi Alderman, which won the Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction earlier this year in England, has already been hailed as “our era’s ‘Handmaid’s Tale,’” it’s that good.  The novel imagines women suddenly having the ability, thanks to environmental pollutants, to emit from their hands electrical charges of varying degrees — from prickly […]

Videos
Roy Moore: Right Winger (Hair Band Meets Hypocritical Politician)

  Roy Moore: Right Winger (Hair Band Meets Hypocrite) https://t.co/CrcenZF1Su pic.twitter.com/Y27Zjvo6bQ — Em & Lo (@emandlo) November 16, 2017   For more on shitty sexual predators:   Is What Louis CK Did Rape?   The Power and Pitfalls of Consent (Louis CK Part II) The Weinsteins of the World Get Permission in a Million Little […]

News
The Power and Pitfalls of Consent

A lot of strides have been made in educating people, especially college students, about consent. Many now understand you have to ask for it throughout a hookup, it must be given enthusiastically and verbally as you go, it can’t be given by people impaired by drugs or alcohol, and it can’t be given by minors. […]

News
Is What Louis C.K. Did Rape?

This past weekend, over takeout and then later texts, some friends and I were discussing the Louis C.K. allegations. (Talking about sexual misconduct, assault and rape has become regular cocktail party conversation these days, which is a good thing.) One friend shared the following social media post by the writer Emily Bracken: As a feminist […]

Pop Culture
When Your Son Wants to Wear Nail Polish…

Show him this! Em’s six year old is a cool, creative kid who occasionally likes to wear nail polish and hair dye. He also happens to be a boy. This — surprise, surprise! — means he’s been teased multiple times at school for it with the refrain “Only girls do that!” It’s a narrow world-view […]

Pop Culture
The Myth of Women’s Sacredness

We don’t want special treatment, just equality and justice. On October 19th, 2017, Chief of Staff John Kelly gave a fiercely personal defense of President Trump’s failed attempt at a sympathetic call to the grieving widow of one of the four soldiers recently killed in the Niger ambush. Having lost his own son to combat, […]