34 Search results for "vagina"

Your vagina deserves better than cishet patriarchal myths
by JeCorey Holder
Vagina's Not a Dirty Word
On Friday night, in the basement of a local church next door to my high school, young people (including myself) gathered together in a positive environment in protest of the violence against women and children around the world. OPRF high school’s Students for Peace and Justice organization rallied students to participate by performing songs and […]
I became a sex and consent educator with Black youth in mind
by Maya Williams This essay mentions r/pe. One day, in the fifth grade, I was playing outside and fell on my crotch. I ran inside crying to my mom, “I hurt my…my…” gesturing to my pelvic area, “bad part.” The one thing I can appreciate from my mother was how she immediately responded, “No, your […]
Protecting Black children should never mean re-injuring them, owning them, or denying their sexual autonomy
by Donnie Moreland This essay contains discussions of domestic violence and sexual assault Ruminations of my daughter’s hypothetical death play on repeat, ever since her birth. I’ve accepted them as inescapable conditions of parenthood—Black parenthood especially. I also believe the story of Julia Martin’s death in 2016 partially informs my anxieties in raising a daughter. […]
Virginity and hymen myths must be challenged to protect Black teens like Deyjah Harris
This essay contains discussions of sexual coercion & violation, as well as invasion of sexual/medical privacy I used to go to church when I was in college. Not because I wanted to, but because I felt obligated to. I grew up in “the church”—of the Southern, Black Non-denominational Christian variety, and I hadn’t yet escaped […]
I don’t find PIV sex pleasurable, and that’s okay
by Joyline Maenzanise In my late teens, I became aware that there were some cis women who I tended to admire in a rather intense way. I never acted on this because I assumed the feelings were nothing more than fleeting admiration—albeit intense—and, frankly, I didn’t know that I could act on them. Growing up […]
Learning to love myself despite the struggles of dating and sex as a diabetic Black woman
Editor’s Note: This Sexual Health and Awareness month, we will be exploring related issues at BYP, and we are interested in publishing works that address these topics. What does sexual health look like outside of cishetero norms? Where does the #MeToo movement go from here? What can we do to better support survivors, including survivors […]
Shame and fear prevent Black teens from going to the gynecologist
By Victoria Daniels Editor’s Note: This Sexual Health and Awareness month, we will be exploring related issues at BYP, and we are interested in publishing works that address these topics. What does sexual health look like outside of cishetero norms? Where does the #MeToo movement go from here? What can we do to better support […]
Social stigma and jokes help to create misinformation about herpes
by Vanessa Maki Editor’s Note: This Sexual Health and Awareness month, we will be exploring related issues at BYP, and we are interested in publishing works that address these topics. What does sexual health look like outside of cishetero norms? Where does the #MeToo movement go from here? What can we do to better support […]
Queer Black folks talk about masturbation, confront shame, and affirm their right to self-pleasure
Editor’s Note: May is Mental Health Awareness Month and National Masturbation Month. This is also the month that we celebrate Mother’s Day. At BYP, we will be exploring these topics alongside the theme of Imagination and the Arts, and we are interested in publishing works that address these topics and the things surrounding them. Science […]
Reflecting on GayL Jones’ ‘CoRregidora’ and its excavation of transgenerational traumas on the body
Editor’s Note: May is Mental Health Awareness Month and National Masturbation Month. This is also the month that we celebrate Mother’s Day. At BYP, we will be exploring these topics alongside the theme of Imagination and the Arts, and we are interested in publishing works that address these topics and the things surrounding them. This […]
Menstrual cups are for Black people, too
by Neesha Powell-Twagirumukiza I’m on a self-ordained mission in the name of periods. A few months ago, I came across a story in Teen Vogue about Black people who menstruate and are disgusted by menstrual cups. As a Black menstruator whose quality of life improved once I began using menstrual cups, I charged myself with […]