September 2011
2 tags
2 tags
A Very Tiger Mom-ish Response
Me [in Chinese]: So, I'm giving a talk at Yale tomorrow.
Mom [in English]: Okay, be successful!
I'm just going to assume she meant "good luck".
1 tag
2 tags
Anonymous asked: Hi Lena! I've really appreciated your discussion of various BC methods on your blog. It's great to be able to get input from real people who have actually used a method when making your decisions. I've been thinking a lot about the IUD lately. I seem to remember you mentioning shortly after you got yours that certain kinds of sex were painful with the IUD. I'm just...
3 tags
2 tags
2 tags
Mookychick | Interview With Lena Chen →
Magda Knight from the UK alternative women’s site Mookychick did an interview with me on sex blogging and feminism. Here’s a snippet on the politics of coming out:
Magda: We were really interested by something John Barrowman said recently in a Metro interview, that he felt it was totally reasonable to stay in the closet if you weren’t ready to come out for personal reasons, but...
1 tag
MOONROOT: An Awesome New Zine For Asian Womyn →
MOONROOT: An Exploration of Asian Womyn’s Bodies
READABLE PDF | PRINTABLE PDF
MOONROOT is an ongoing collective project about race, gender, and bodies that debuted its first issue at the Baltimore Book Festival.
They encourage you to print, distribute, and share the zine with your friends. Also, if you are a self-identified womyn, trans, or genderqueer person of Asian decent (whether you’re...
1 tag
1 tag
“Role modeling language assumes that inequality exists due to lack of imagination...”
– Melissa Harris-Perry, reminding folks that marginalized populations are marginalized due to structural reasons (i.e. institutional racism), not because there haven’t been enough black presidents for little kids to look up to. I saw MHP in the flesh yesterday, talking about her new book...
1 tag
Freelance Friday | Writing Opportunities: Edition...
Did you check out last week’s editorial opportunities? Here are two more feminist websites — international ones! — I thought you guys would also be interested in writing for. Neither gig comes with compensation, though I can attest that both sites do fantastic coverage. I’ve interviewed with Dollmag, Rhubarb’s predecessor, and will have a Q&A out in Mookychick...
3 tags
Where Can I Buy Pepper Spray In Boston?
My college roommate got mugged at gunpoint in Williamsburg last night. Now is probably a good time for me to get new mace and/or pepper spray. I brought some when I first got to college, but I later learned that because I’m a Massachusetts resident, I have to obtain a Firearms Identification Card to legally carry it with me. (This is the ONLY state that requires this.)
Pepper Spray and...
2 tags
Rookie | I Was a Teenage Activist →
Sady Doyle interviewed me a while back for this just-published feature in Rookie, a new online publication started by Tavi Gevinson, the 15-year-old fashion blogger behind Style Rookie. Rookie is unlike anything I’ve seen for the teenage girl demographic, by which I mean that it’s actually relatable and doesn’t assume that girls need make-up tips. (How To Turn Your Life Into A...
2 tags
Anonymous asked: Thanks for speaking so openly about HPV and STIs! I recently contracted HSV-1 genitally from oral sex with a partner, and I felt guilty about it for a long time (even though it's basically a common cold sore!). People need to stop being so ignorant about STIs (including making jokes about them), grow up, and realize that with sex comes risk and that, as you said, 80% of people will contract...
1 tag
I've Had HPV. Have You? Share Your Story! →
I’ve had HPV. I’ve written about it. I’ve been mocked and criticized for it. But because of that entry and my admission, I’ve had countless readers reach out anonymously over the years to share their own stories with me, stories that they haven’t always felt comfortable telling to anyone else. Well, today is HPV Day, a campaign organized to raise awareness and...
1 tag
Freelance Friday | Writing Opportunities: Edition...
Trying to mix it up with Freelance Friday this fall! This week and next week, I’m going to be a bit more service-y and post some curated writing gigs that I’ve found via my own network of freelancers, feminists, and friends. (You know you love my alliteration.) Check out the following opportunities, the first from Morgane Richardson, who organized the Ain’t I A Woman event which...
3 tags
Dealbreaker: He's Got an Asian Fetish | GOOD →
As promised, here’s my essay for GOOD. An excerpt below:
I was born in San Francisco and raised in Los Angeles. If you heard my voice without knowing what I looked like, you’d probably assume that I was a teenage white girl. My idea of fashion is a pair of skinny jeans, not a kimono. My parents are immigrants, but I am, for all intents and purposes, American through and through....
2 tags
“Guys try to discern what my ethnic makeup is, and my friends even take bets on...”
– Rachel Khona, “Dating And Race”, AskMen.com I was highly amused by this piece! (And I say this as someone who typically scoffs at the stuff published in men’s magazines.) The above article is chock-full of ludicrous examples from Rachel’s love life (as well as my own), all...
2 tags
Today At My Pap Smear
Doctor (while between my legs): You have a perfectly healthy-looking cervix!
Me: That's comforting.
1 tag
Bedsider: Love Your Birth Control? Tell Me About... →
Bedsider.org is the newest project from The National Campaign To Prevent Teen & Unplanned Pregnancy (those lovely folks for whom I produce the SexReally videos). Check out this awesome contest promoting awareness of long-acting reversible contraception! As an IUD user, I might just submit a photo myself!
Bedsider wants to know what you love about your birth control. And if you’re 18 to...
2 tags
1 tag
Free Week Of Yoga At Local Studios →
So, y’all should get on this: right now, you can get a one-week pass to free classes at 1,600+ yoga studios across the country for National Yoga Month (September). Just a quick form and you get an email for a redeemable voucher :) I’ve done yoga on and off throughout the years. I tried Bikram for the first time earlier this summer, and that sort of got me addicted to the mat. Not to...
2 tags
Anonymous asked: Hi Lena, I was wondering if you/anyone you know or any of your followers have had any experience with the FemCap?
2 tags
Freelance Friday: My 2011 Media Goals
So, after the completion of the Progressive Women’s Voices program, the participants were asked to submit three “specific, measurable, achievable, and realistic” media goals to accomplish before the end of this calendar year. In December, someone will be checking in with us to see which goals were achieved. The pressure is on!
I’m going to post my goals on this blog as...
A Few Lists For Horny Wordsmiths
By Kennedy, the only person I know who’s geeky enough to get a tattoo of a linguistic joke
Pleasurable words to pronounce:
concision
misanthropic
melancholic
tempestuous
Awesome words due to their economy and precision:
crepuscular
recalcitrant
confute
heretofore
balkanize
intransigent
quip
Words that sound so sexy you might mistakenly whisper them in someone’s ear...
2 tags
Legitimate Question
X: He closed his last message with "What is your position on the interrobang?"
Me: Is that when someone interrogates you and then fucks you?
X: HAHAHAHA. I. Wish.