So, I write a lot about Doctor Who on this blog, and there’s a question that I haven’t addressed yet. One that, with the end of Peter Capaldi’s tenure as the show’s lead drawing to a close, has been asked more and more: why is the Doctor always a white dude?
It’s bisexual pride day today! Let’s celebrate by addressing some fuckin’ biphobia.
What does deconstructing femininity look like?
Because I know how we construct femininity – the same way we do masculinity, through a collection of social, historical, and cultural influences that tell us that if we are born with a certain body type or identify with a certain gender than we should act a certain way. That’s not hard to understand. But what I want to know is what a deconstruction of that would look like through the lens of pop culture.
Hello, everyone, and I hope you’re having a great week so far. Mine is going brilliantly, thanks in no small part to the fact that today is the release date for my new novella, Trouble Clef!
Maya has spent decade putting her time as one quarter of a world-famous girl band, Trouble Clef, behind her, along with the intense romance she shared with her closeted bandmate Kyra. But now, ten years after their last controversial show, Trouble Clef has a chance to pick up where they left off with a reunion tour, and Maya is forced to face the past—and the undeniable feelings she still has for Kyra—once more.
As some of you may know, I write romance and erotica under the pen name Kara Lowndes. Trouble Clef – yes, that title is a straight-up shameless pun and I’ll never apologise for it – is a contemporary lesbian romance novella, and it’s very gay and pretty funny and I’m very excited for you to read it. It’s available as an ebook and is Kindle compatible, so if you’re looking for something short, sweet, and sexy to get you through till summer, I have just the thing for you…
Trouble Clef is published by Evernight Publishing, and is available through Amazon (UK and USA) as well as the publisher’s website. If you’re looking for something shorter, I released a contemporary lesbian short story (Amazon link) last year that might hit the spot (pun more than intended).
Let’s just get this straight.
For a long time, critiquing pop culture was my job. And I loved it – that’s the reason I still run this blog after moving on to other things that didn’t involve getting far, far too passionate about Glee. Being an intersectional feminist, it seemed obvious to look at pop culture through that lens and frankly, if you’re looking, it’s not hard to find dozens of examples of TV shows, movies, and books that exhibit sexism, racism, transphobia, homophobia, etc, etc. Even the finest shows have problematic content just by virtue of existing in a society where a lot of the above listed stuff is pretty well accepted. I love Outlander to death and think it’s a striking look at gender roles, femininity and masculinity, but that doesn’t make that child rape scene they threw in season two in any better taste, you know?
So, I get asked a lot about how I got into freelance writing for a living, so I thought I’d write a blog post covering that, plus the pros and cons of freelancing as a full-time job.
How do you describe sex?
Fucking, screwing, banging, boning? Making love? Being had, being taken? Dicking? Ravaging? Slamming? Rutting? Shagging?
As someone who writes sex for a living, I spend a good chunk of most of my days thinking about the words we used to describe getting down. Not just the actual verbs, but the words surrounding them – cock, dick, pussy, cunt, slit, hole, erection, length. If you haven’t figured it out by now, maybe stop with the reading this article out to your elderly relatives. Or continue, maybe they’re into that. But to return to my main point: writing erotica and romance, I’ve been thinking a lot recently about the dichotomy of the words we use to talk about sex.
Before you ask: yes, I am getting enough protein.
I’ve been vegetarian for most of my life- my Mum was for most of my childhood, and I never particularly loved meat (I’ve never eaten steak in my life, which so many people seem to think is a legitimate black mark against my character), so I just…didn’t eat it. Eventually, as I got older, I found some vague moral reasons to back up my choice and that became my primary purpose for continuing to avoid meat.
About a year and a half ago, I wrote an article about body image-my relationship with my body, feminism, and the value we place on the way we look. I was really proud of that article, and the responses I got from so many people-many of whom confirmed that they had or did feel the same way I did- made me realize that body image issues plague pretty much everyone, even though they often manifest themselves in completely different ways.
And, eighteen months later, my attitude towards my body has changed hugely. I’d be an idiot to say that all my issues surrounding the way I look were done with- I don’t think they ever really will be, honestly. But things have improved in leaps and bounds since then, and I think that’s worth talking about.
The Cutprice Guignol 