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“Homeowner”, “renter” or “squatter” – whatever the label, these occupants take the Offbeat wherever they go.

Let’s talk about polyamory research: QUALITY OVER QUANTITY?

An article was recently published about how polyamorous people are supposedly less sexually satisfied than monogamous people. Who did we ask to weigh in on this? Why, our favorite philosopher of love, of course: Carrie Jenkins, author of What Love Is

There were no books for an African American girl in a wheelchair, so I wrote one

When I went looking for a bedtime book that I felt my child could relate to, I came up short. Actually, I came up empty. I searched local independent bookstores, well-known chain bookstores like Barnes & Noble, and even online looking for a book that had an African American girl in a wheelchair on the cover, and quickly discovered there was nothing. It simply did not exist.

So, I decided to take matters into my own hands…

Learning from Jerry Seinfeld and Kesha: How to politely decline a hug

Learning from Jerry Seinfeld and Kesha: How to politely decline a hug

I recently watched a video of Jerry Seinfeld rebuffing a potential hug from Kesha with some serious awkwardness. The question is: how does someone who doesn’t want a hug (a totally okay thing for lots of legit health/social/psychological/whatever reasons!) go about politely decline a hug without seeming like a dick who doesn’t know who Kesha is?

How I made peace with the fact that I will never make my father happy

Realizing that I will never make my father happy was a very momentous revelation. And while I’m sure you’re all very happy for me, I couldn’t objectively understand the pressing urge to write my story. And yet, it wouldn’t stop. I needed to get this realization out there.

And then I finally understood why…

What Love Is: My review of Carrie Jenkins’ book (+bonus story about mutual fangirling!)

I’ve mentioned it several times here, but I finally need to write my official review of Carrie Jenkins’ What Is Love: And What Could It Be. I started reading the book in March and immediately adored it… not because I agreed with everything, but because it’s so interesting to watch someone apply their super analytic, logic-based brain skills (the author’s background is in the philosophy of MATH, for fuck’s sake) to something as squishy like love and relationship structures.

I want my son to understand that he can wear, do, or play with anything he wants

I have a four-year-old son, and his father is very “that’s for boys and this is for girls,” and “you can’t wear/do/play with that because you’re a BOY.”

My hope is that this beautiful community of families can help me by suggesting books, movies, or other resources that might help us get the point across to our son. I have looked high and low and I’ve nabbed the materials that I feel express my feelings, but I want as many tools as I can to help my son understand that he can wear, do, or play with anything he wants.

The future of marriage is SO GAY: Eavesdropping on a human sexuality professor, Part 3

When I was in New York last month, I sat down for a chat with a friend of a friend who’s a professor of Human Sexuality. Hunter Kincaid is an visiting lecturer at Hunter College and an adjunct professor at Pratt University, and we met up to muse over about how anal sex is like homeschooling, the […]

The ethics of asking consent before you cry on a first date: Eavesdropping on a human sexuality professor, Part 2

Can we talk about consent? A lot of us are hyper aware of consent around physical acts, like, “Oh I’m doing this. Is that okay? Do you like this? Do you like that? Are you okay with me doing this? Is that too hard?” Last night on a date, I got into an interesting discussion about crying during sex and whether that’s something you should seek consent for…