The crowdfunded romance only bookstore that won't stock Fifty Shades of Grey

I interviewed Bea and Leah Koch, book-loving sisters who are crowdfunding via Kickstarter to open The Ripped Bodice, a romance only bookstore, in Los Angeles. Check it out to read about why they want to overcome stereotypes about romance readers, how the bookstore will function as a community space, and why they won't be carrying Fifty Shades of Grey.

At Salon: Q&A with creator of sex ed graphic novel for teen boys

My latest for Salon profiles Colin Adamo, his sex education for teen boys website HUSH and the graphic novel he's funding via Kickstarter, which I called "the opposite of a pickup artist guide."

Here's a snippet:

Young straight men are usually involved in one way or another in matters of unplanned pregnancy, STI transmission, sexual assault, dating violence, or homophobic/transphobic bullying. While there were a number of resources that I could point to that were specific to young straight women or queer youth, I hadn’t seen anything that was built for straight guys. If no one is speaking to young straight men directly about these issues it is too easy for them to ignore the importance of their role in the movement.

Read the whole interview at Salon

10 Cupcakes Take the Cake posts you should read

Cupcakes Take the Cake is my pride and joy, and my bread and butter. I think many of you already read it daily but if you don’t, here are some great cupcake posts to check out (yes, I wrote them, but read the site regularly for our now fairly large roster of writers covering cupcakes all over the country, and the world).

LePetit Cupcakery mini cupcakes in Brooklyn and Kickstarter popup shop campaign

Can these cupcakes tell you how to get to Sesame Street?

Bug cupcake cuteness from Flour & Sun Bakery

The Obamas missed out on peanut butter and Nutella cupcakes at Sweet E's Cupcakes

Philadelphia cupcake truck Buttercream shut down by city

Hello Kitty cupcakes with glitter barrettes

Sprinkle with Murder cupcake mystery book trailer

Peanut butter and raspberry jelly cupcakes, daisies and sunflowers and piña colada and s'mores

Fluffer-Oreo cupcakes

Giraffe, elephant and Hello Kitty cupcakes

Back How to Lose Your Virginity on Kickstarter

More info:

HOW TO LOSE YOUR VIRGINITY is the new
documentary-in-progress by Therese Shechter, director of the
award-winning and provocative I WAS A TEENAGE FEMINIST.

When a bridal consultant effusively tells Therese, a
40-something sex-savvy feminist planning her first wedding,
she looks virginal in her white wedding dress, it sets
her on a journey to uncover why virginity still holds
such importance in our hyper-sexualized society.

Her growing tension around chastity-based wedding rituals
is the narrative backbone of the film, but the true target
is idealized, fetishized virginity: its historical role in
U.S. culture, its power to mold and damage a girlºs
self-image and self-worth; its commodification as something
manufactured, sold, given away, taken.

On this quest she engages abstinence ideologues, hymen
specialists, sex educators, porn producers and teenage girls,
to dig beneath the no-win double-message of our hook-up
culture that cynically encourages virginity but sells promiscuity.

What is behind this strange American cultural moment where
Disney starlets flaunt purity rings while writhing on
stripper poles, brothels hold million-dollar virginity
auctions, and artificial hymens can be had for $30 on Chinese
websites?

Therese plays the audience's navigator, decoding a landscape
of conflicting and hypocritical messages about what it means
to be a 'good girl' or a 'bad girl' - and why it matters. In the end,
she follows the white organza road, not only to her own non-white
wedding, but also to a place where young women can have open,
non-judgmental conversations about their own sexuality.