STIs aren’t a consequence. They’re inevitable. [Ella Dawson’s TEDx Talk With Transcript]
I don’t care how you got herpes. An STI is not a reflection of your character or a consequence of a bad decision.
Read MoreTag: herpes stigma
Why I Don’t Call Herpes a “Gift”
We need to make space for nuance as the conversation about STIs becomes more than the occasional personal essay on a lady blog.
Read MoreHow to Give a TEDx Talk When the Internet Wants You to Shut the Fuck Up
The abuse we received for #ShoutYourStatus was intensely gendered, violent, sexual and dehumanizing.
Read MoreI Am Not “Suffering” From Herpes
I’m exhausted today. Someone I’m seeing came over late last night to, in his words, “fuck the shit out of me,” and by the time he left it was just shy of 1:30am. I took a shower and then lazed around in bed, smelling him in my hair and remembering how he kissed my neck, how […]
Read MoreWhy Should I Date Someone With Herpes?
Here’s another pet peeve of my email inbox: when a man (because it’s almost always a man) asks me if he should continue seeing this woman he’s been dating who just told him she has herpes. Sometimes the question is data-based, about what transmission statistics are real. Sometimes the question is esoteric, about whether or not […]
Read MoreBachelorella: We Need To Retire The Las Vegas Herpes Joke
I haven’t been writing Bachelorella recaps this season of The Bachelor because I am busy and tired and nothing interesting has happened. And then tonight The Bachelor put Ben H.’s harem of girlfriends on a jet (or, possibly, on a passive aggressive party bus) and dragged them to Las Vegas. And I cringed, because I knew what was […]
Read MoreWhy Having A Boyfriend Doesn’t Cure Herpes
We’ve all read that essay: the woman who gets herpes because she caves to temptation just once and has a regrettable one-night-stand, but goes on to find happiness because she meets that one man who loves her just as she is, STI and all. You can find it in glossy women’s magazines and anonymous chat […]
Read MoreWhy STDRegistry.com Is Disgusting, and Outing Your Ex as STI+ Makes You an Asshole
I stopped. I went back and read the paragraph again. STDRegistry. STDRegistry. No. Absolutely not.
Read MoreDear VICE, Stop Using This Photo of a Smashed Banana on Your STI Articles
Look, VICE. We need to have a quick chat. You’ve been on the STI beat this year, and I respect that. One of your journalists wrote a great piece about me over the summer and she was super lovely and considerate. It was a positive experience. But then the article used a repulsive image of […]
Read MoreTo The Teenage Girls Who Have Herpes
This world will tell you that you are worthless: because you are a girl, because you are sexually active, because you have a virus, because you have a voice. Don’t listen to it.
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