Al Washburn

Today’s post is not about Thanksgiving, but rather, about the violence and colonialism that indigenous people (especially women and two-spirit folks) have been facing for hundreds of years. My gratitude is not for turkey, but for indigenous remembrance and resistance.

We explore the dark history of the foundations of surgical gynecology and its “father”, J. Marion Sims, inventor of the vaginal speculum, who performed experiments on enslaved women without anaesthesia in the mid-1800’s, and learn about the ways in which the legacy of racism and sexualization towards black folks has persisted and developed to have a measurable effect on health outcomes.

Today we take a look at Forward Together, an amazing comprehensive activist resource that fights for the rights, recognition, and resources for families everywhere (including non-nuclear families, weird families, anti-families, mamas, trans and gender nonconforming folks, and also mermaids).

Welcome to our reboot of Scarleteen’s Sexuality in Color series: our weekly post features resources and pieces about sex, sexuality, sexual health, identity and relationships written by and for women, queer and trans people of color.

A guide to accessing hormonal contraception (regular and emergency) via online mail-order pharmacies and other helps when access in the United States is looking grim.

In Part 1 and Part 2 of our intersectionality series we spoke about how identity and the way it intersects is personal. So, to explore that, we (Jacob & Al) decided we would have to get specific, we would have to get personal, and we would have to write about ourselves. Part 3 is a conversation between two people who somehow find themselves asking, “Are we like pies?”

In Part 1 and Part 2 of our intersectionality series we spoke about how identity and the way it intersects is personal. So, to explore that, we (Jacob & Al) decided we would have to get specific, we would have to get personal, and we would have to write about ourselves. Part 3 is a conversation…

So we’ve talked about what intersectionality is in Part 1. How can you put this idea into action?

Our identities and histories can be important and awesome, but they can also be a little difficult to figure out. What happens when your ideas about who you are clash with each other, or when you don’t feel like you fit anywhere at all? Perhaps you think you identify with words like ‘bisexual’ or ‘black/white’ or ‘man/woman’ but nothing feels quite right. Who is the real you? It can sometimes feel like everyone else knows who they are while you’re wearing clothes that don’t quite fit. Amidst that confusion it can be a struggle to navigate relationships with family, friends, and community. Intersectionality is here to help!