Sometimes we do something really amazing and feel like you didn’t really notice? Or maybe you noticed, but even more of you should have noticed? The team knocked their heads together and came up with some of the posts from this year that we thought deserved more attention than they actually received.
25 Awesome Posts You May Have Missed
25 posts whose page views and/or comment numbers do not reflect the posts amazingness
1. Everything Happens Elsewhere: Northern Ireland in the ’90s
by Nine
March 28, 2012
“A few years later, spending my weekends waiting around amusement arcades for older boys to finish playing pool so they’d go and buy cider for me, I thought of this again. I was still waiting and sometimes I felt as if I could burst.”
via flickr.com/photos/sugarspiceverythingnice
This was just so beautiful. It was written by a guest writer, Nine, and it has lots of comments but actually deserves even more than 36 comments. I just want to crawl around in the hills with her words.
2. Idol Worship: Ten(ish) Questions With Eileen Myles, by Carmen
November 27, 2012
“Coffee as a religion. Tea is maintenance.”
I feel like people somehow missed that we INTERVIEWED EILEEN MYLES.
3. Herstory Live: The Lesbian Avengers School You On Their Ass-Kicking Roots, by Kelly
October 12, 2012
“When we were all there, the sixty of us marched down Metropolitan Avenue to the elementary school, P.S. 87, singing at the top of our lungs, “Oh when the dykes, oh when the dykes, oh when the dykes come marching in.” We revised a few other Dixieland standards, and proclaimed, “We are family. I’ve got all my sisters with me.” One banner read, “Teach About Lesbian Lives” and another “The Lesbian Avengers.””
So this is actually one of the coolest things we’ve ever published.
4. Sally Kohn, Badass Extraordinaire, Gays Up Fox News And Believes In You, by Laura
November 7, 2012
“One of the things that really upsets me is when people on either side get in each other’s faces and are just mean and nasty and dismissive. …I understand that people have really strong opinions and deeply-held passions, and this stuff matters, right? Lives are at stake, and the future of our country. But I just feel… like we should be able to find our common humanity and aspire toward a higher level of engagement with each other, as opposed to always just rolling down in the mud.”
Sally Kohn is a liberal lesbian who writes for FOX NEWS. Fox News you guys.
5. All the Cunning Stunts Queer It Up At Street Level, by Krista (Effing Dykes)
February 24, 2012
“There’s this bit in the music video where Perry picks up a cat and strokes it in her lap. I’m all for double triple bypass innuendo but at the same time I want to stand in front of YouTube and shout like a person with pride, ‘No, k8ty perry! Thou shan’t put a cat where my pussy is!’”
Remember when Effing Dykes wrote about these kickass queer ladies? Probably not. You should look into that.
6. Ladies Who Rap: The Playlist and Guided Herstory Tour, by Gabby, Carmen, Katrina & Rachel
July 17, 2012
“We’re about to explore female rap from the roots right up to the turn-of-the-century. We’re about to take an ambitious journey with women wearing tank tops, leather, athletic gear, and combinations of all of those things. We’re about to learn something and we’re about to have feelings about the world we live in. You’re gonna wanna be a part of this.”
I’m pretty sure this took about 50,000 hours to complete and is pretty rad, therefore deserving ~50,000 comments.
7. Bonnaroo 2012: Travel Diary & Feelings Atrium, by Laneia
October 10, 2012
“I don’t think I have to tell you that I didn’t go on the Big Ass Waterslide or get my boobs painted. I mean, right? We’re all friends here.”
This post is just super-fun and has loads of awesome photographs in it, too.
8. Jewelle Gomez, Lesbian Trailblazer: The Autostraddle Interview, by Fonseca
August 22, 2012
“Activism needs art as much as it needs anything else. And if you can understand where you are within the context of social change, your writing will be strong. Whether you are writing directly about social change or not, you will present a face of change that will be valuable, and inspiring.”
via REDROOM
Jewell Gomez is a big deal and has words of wisdom for y’all.
9. Queer Your Wedding Wardrobe: Last-Minute Grooms, Center of Center, Boi-Girls & Classy Cocktail Dresses, by Ali, Whitney, Alex & Croce
September 7, 2012
Anna may wong
“Wedding-wear tips for queers” has always been one of our number one requests and so we put together an amazing multi-part series on queering your wedding wardrobe, of which this is but one installment. There’s also DapperQ’s East Coast Wedding post kickoff, solutions for dressing in the heat, picking shoes, queering dresses, finding MOC wedding-style, dressing in dresses under variant circumstances, butch bridesmaids and short people.
10. Girl-On-World: Coffee and Cakes in Bosnia and Herzegovina, by Anita Dolce Vita
August 21, 2012
“It was so amazing to be united with a bunch of queers screaming the lyrics to “I’M GONNA MARRY THE NIGHT!” on the dance floor.”
Queer life in Bosnia and Herzegovina: something you probably don’t know very much about, but totally could, if you wanted to. Anita opens it with a helpful FAQ (sample “Q” – Is there, like, shooting on the street? Like, is it all war-torn?) , talks about the environment for LGBTs in the area, and then takes us on travels through Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia (did you know they’re filming Game of Thrones there? I did not) and Montenegro. I think there are a lot of misconceptions about that area of the world being basically a non-stop warzone of intolerance and that’s not the case at all.
11. Writing Dirty With Rachel Kramer-Bussel, by Carolyn
February 12, 2012
“When people can [write about bondage] really well, it speaks to people who are into bondage, but it also speaks to a wider meaning, because it taps into so much more than just our sexual side — it taps into ideas about power and giving up power and who you’re willing to do that for and why.”
In celebration of NSFW Sunday’s Bondage Month, Carolyn interviewed the extraordinarily prolific editor & writer Rachel Kramer Bussel.
12. Julie & Brandy Do The Olympics: Gymnastics, Bikini Volleyball & Synchronized Slapfights, by Julie & Brandy
August 14, 2012
“April Ross is one of the most feared servers in the world. When I was a waiter that’s what they said about me, too.”
Now that The Olympics are Over, this piece is less relevant, but it’s still funny and honestly, Intern Geneva’s graphics are 4Ever.
13. More Than Words: Láadan, by Cara
December 25, 2012
“Tongue-tied readers, meet Láadan, the constructed language designed to let us express ourselves so perfectly that we blow up the patriarchy. “‘More than words’ is right.”
I realize that this just happened like four days ago, but it’s really just so interesting that you must check it out.
14. Emma McLaughlin & Nicola Kraus Wrote A Novel About Britney Spears, by Riese
July 11, 2012
“As a culture, we’re particularly conflicted about adolescent female sexuality, like the moment of becoming a woman — and when there are conference tables of people packaging that moment, it’s like throwing gasoline on the fire.”
15. Latina Queer Democrat Mary Gonzalez Voted Into Texas House of Representatives, by Gabby
May 30, 2012
“Gonzalez honors her Mexican heritage, takes pride in being queer and is studying ways to properly educate and empower others. The combination all of these things makes her more than a candidate; she’s part of a movement.”
Mary ended up coming out as pansexual/queer in the comments and said it was one the most “real” pieces written about her. The follow-up interview Gabby did with her was also great.
16. Listicle: If You Give A Vegan A Cover Song, by Rachel
March 6, 2012
“Slow Like Brown Rice Syrup”
photo credit: Teatime by House of Sims
17. Ann Bannon, Queen of Lesbian Pulp Fiction, by Carolyn
June 15, 2012
“But when the women writers — and there weren’t very many of us, fifteen or twenty were active during that period — when we wrote the books, it was of far more interest to us to explore the characters themselves, the feelings and the emotions and the interconnectedness and the struggle to communicate without offending.”
18. Here/Queer: Boogie Down Bronx Edition, by Gabby
March 20, 2012
“So finding homolicious thangs to do in the Bronx takes a little creativity and some fearlessness. Without exclusively homo safe spots, we’ve got to exist in the open at all times and not give any fucks. But that’s what Bronx life is like for all of us: Not giving ANY fucks. The Bronx is the birthplace of salsa music, hip-hop, break-dancing and the best damn pizza on the planet. Eat that, Brooklyn.”
The thing is that this was fully entertaining in its own right, regardless of your intentions regarding ladies and The Bronx.
19. Charlotte Bunch is Important: The Autostraddle Interview, by Jamie
June 9, 2012
“I think that the dilemma that we as feminists are always facing is when you can get the governments to define one piece [of human rights] that’s a victory, you want to do that but how to make sure that doesn’t start to narrow the whole picture?”
Charlotte Bunch is an out lesbian and an International human rights advocate and organizer, the founder of the Center for Women’s Global Leadership at Rutgers and the author of Passionate Politics: Feminist Theory in Action. It’s a really fascinating interview, talking mainly about how the UN and activists have to negotiate different aspects of the women’s rights and LGBT rights “agenda,” the hierarchy of oppression and other things for smart people who care about important things.
20. The Malaya Project And Liberating Images Of Queer Filipino America, by Whitney
February 20, 2012
“The word “Malaya” means “to be free,” and these images are truly liberating — how often do you see queer people of color feeling proud of themselves, doing well for themselves, and fighting for themselves?”
21. Home Is Where The (Queer) Heart Is, by Fonseca
December 4, 2012
“This is why I’m constantly chasing after other Southern-reared queers; the kind who also had “Home Is Where The Heart Is” wood- or needlework somewhere in their childhood homes; who understand what Allison meant when she wrote, We claim our heritage with a full appreciation of how often it has been disdained; whose bodies are familiar with manual labor; the kind with at least one family recipe that is not a secret but a national treasure which is shown off whenever the opportunity to entertain presents itself.”
22. Six Lesbian Magazines That Changed The World And Then Disappeared, by Riese
September 5, 2012
“Grier would later note that “no woman ever made a dime for her work, and some … worked themselves into a state of mental and physical decline on behalf of the magazine.””
23. Where To Put Vibrators Other Than On Your Naughty Bits, by Ali
October 28, 2012
“When Dr. Queen told me, “I so agree with you about the fuzz, FYI,” it confirmed all our suspicions.”
So practical, so helpful.
24. Carmen’s Concert Diary: Drake In DC, by Carmen
May 28, 2012
“I had left the party earlier in the night to smoke a cigarette with Danny because of my impending anxiety attack about capitalism, and talked a little bit about how weird it felt being in such an unaffirming environment.”
I’m not really into Drake and sort of react with lukewarm enthusiasm to most things we publish that are totally about men with nothing queer going on whatsoever. But this piece was actually just really interesting and good in its own right, seriously.
25. Prairie Homo Companion: Snow is a Gender-Neutral Pronoun, by Malaika
December 13, 2012
It occurred to me that I started feeling cold around the time I started feeling self-conscious, which was at about 12.
Now more timely than ever.
Pages: 1 2See entire article on one page
I’m still thinking about “Snow is a Gender-Neutral Pronoun”. While reading it the first time, I had all these, “Wow, that is a beautiful and amazingly true insight” moments. I don’t think I commented then, I can’t really remember. So, thanks again for the first time Malaika.
So the following parts of this article made me think:
“but actually deserves even more than 36 comments”
“is pretty rad, therefore deserving ~50,000 comments”
So often I read an article and have thoughts and/or feelings about it, but don’t comment. My reasons for not saying anything usually fall into one of five categories.
1) I don’t have much knowledge of the subject being discussed.
2) It’s too late to say something by the time I read the article.
3) There’s already so many intelligent/interesting comments that I feel I have nothing to add.
4) I have nothing better to say than “OMG this is so cool!”
5) I’m afraid I’ll sound stupid.
But this article is making me realize that commenting when I have something to say (even if I feel like it’s stupid) is one of the most important ways of giving back to this community. And that an article with lots of comments isn’t a burden to the author of the article, but rather a way of starting a dialogue with her. Like if everyone says what they think/feel then our whole community can grow.
So my new New Year’s resolution is to comment on Autostraddle more :P
approved!
Ha, I am pretty erratic about commenting on articles I like, for pretty much the reasons you outline here. But I just got a new comment today on my article here, and the comment made me glow all over again – as did inclusion in this list. So, thanks Autostraddle and thanks lovely readers! You folks have a great community here, and now I have a whole bunch of reading material that I missed first time round, too.
Read your article the first time and loved it, but had to go back today and read it all over again. Seriously SO good
Alright, alright… you snagged me with the adorable wedding wear. To the archives! *capeflutter*
as it turns out, I actually didn’t notice some of these articles. will read now.
I missed half of these articles, so this reminds me to browse the archive more often.
PS. The link to “25. Prairie Homo Companion: Snow is a Gender-Neutral Pronoun, by Malaika” does not seem to work?