Episode 17: The Cult of Marriage with Gaia Morrissette
When Gaia Morrissette decided to get married, it was to game the system. But she discovered that people didn’t like it when she told them that. Instead, she realized that everyone around her was a member of a cult—the Cult of Marriage! So she undertook a grand experiment: Getting married to see how the rest of the world would react. And the results have been stunning. From high-pitched squeals to lovers getting squeamish to clients finding her more “trustworthy.” And that’s not even to mention all the weirdness about “consummation”!
Holistic Sexual Wellness Specialist Gaia Morrissette believes the keys to a happy, healthy, wealthy, magical and EPIC orgasmic life are: sexual wellness, embracing the human experience and releasing fear, shame, guilt and self-loathing. Gaia supports people living with pleasure through holistic sexual wellness and trauma recovery. She is also a BDSM wellness expert, high priestess and pro-dominatrix. For over 13 years she has been a renowned international speaker, trainer, facilitator, podcaster and coach who makes the world a happier, safer and sexier place for us all. Gaia is the founder of Healingoftrauma.com, SucculentLiving.com, Empressgaia.com & Succulent Living Online Learning and Training Centre. Her education and training consist of sexology, trauma recovery, life coaching, tantra training, sex coaching and lots of practice in the areas of play, healing and exploring. To learn more visit her website hub, www.gaiamorrissette.com.
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Episode 16: Decolonizing Disability with Amanda Barr
We welcome Amanda Barr—artist, teacher, and disability advocate—to talk about the experience of disability in a colonial society that often seems as though it would prefer if people with disabilities would vanish from public life. We touch on the impact of being disabled in everything from education to parking to work to dating and sex education. And we make connections between the colonialist state and disabled folks’ lives every step of the way.
Amanda Barr is an artist, writer, educator and activist currently working on her MFA in ceramics/MA in Art/Art History at the University of Montana in Missoula. A habitual nomad, she has lived in six states and four countries in the past 15 years; most recently she enjoyed several years in Seattle.
Learn more at AmandaMBarr.com.
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Episode 15: Sex Work and Decolonization with Nikki Darling
We’re joined by the incandescent dancer, poet, spiritual abolitionist Nikki Darling to talk about how sex work both is and is sometimes not a force for healing and decolonization. From porn to private sex work to stripping and beyond, we break down the systems that oppress people, and how to divest your own energy from them. Along the way, we visit adult time-outs, energy exchanges, roots, floaters, and destroying the goddamn mothership.
Nikki Darling, otherwise known as Paisley Parker, is a Black, queer, nonbinary human being. They come from a sex work background, and are a dancer, a poet, and a healer in training. They define themself as a spiritual abolitionist.
@paisley__parker on Instagram
Paisley Parker on Patreon
@nikkidarklingxo on Instagram
@nikki_darlingxo on Twitter
NikkiDarling on OnlyFansListen to the embedded audio above, or on your favorite podcatcher! You can find us on Spotify, iHeartRADIO, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon, YouTube, Spreaker, Listen Notes, Soundcloud, and more!
Episode 14: Periods
The Red Badge of Courage. Moon Time. Good ol’ Aunt Flo. Call them what you will. Periods are a part of life. A very big part of it for people who menstruate, in fact. But it’s not helping anyone if we pretend they don’t happen just to make people who don’t menstruate more comfortable. Lenny and Lynsey talk about why it’s in everyone’s best interest to normalize periods, and share their favorite snacks when they’re Surfing the Crimson Wave.
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Show Notes
- Jonathan Banks (aka Mike Ehrmantraut from Breaking Bad) in a 1970s sex ed PSA
- Etymology:
- 7 myths about tampons to stop believing ASAP
- 5 Tampon Myths That Could Be Messing With Your Health
- How your hormones impact your moods, health and behavior
- Why do women have periods when most animals don’t?
Listen to our latest episode over here!
Episode 13: Ageism
The rules are all made up, so let’s make everyone valid—especially the elderly. Thus spoke Lenny and Lynsey in this episode all about ageism, discrimination against older people. Your favorite decolonizers talk about issues faced by elders in the dominant culture: silencing, media invisibility, medical discrimination, and the repression of their sexuality. Plus side quests into MILFs, cougars, Blanche Devereaux, J-Lo, and more!
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Show Notes
- Life Stages of Native Women: Memory, Teachings, and Story Medicine by Kim Anderson
- Critically Sovereign: Indigenous Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Studies edited by Joanne Barker
- “Indigenous Hawaiian Sexuality and the Politics of Nationalist Decolonization” by J. Kēhaulani Kauanui
- “Does Mainstream P//rn Have an Age Problem?” by Lynsey G.
- “The ‘Cougar’ Phenomenon: An Examination of the Factors That Influence Age‐Hypogamous Sexual Relationships Among Middle‐Aged Women” by Milaine Alarie and Jason T. Carmichael
- “How Sex Drive Changes Through the Years” by WebMD
- “Gender and Ageism” by Linda M. Woolf, Ph.D.
- “Blanche vs. J.Lo: On Memes and Aging” by Claire S.
- “Ageism and Sexuality” by Ateret Gewirtz-Meydan, Trish Hafford-Letchfield, Yael Benyamini, and Amanda Phelan
- “Ageism And Gender” by Ageing Equal
Listen to our latest episode over here!
Episode 12: Fashion
Lenny and Lynsey sit down over some beer and cider to talk about fashion! From a brilliant form of self-expression and rebellion to a tool of the patriarchy and colonization, fashion is where art meets utility, and it’s part of literally every human society. So let’s talk about it, and talk a little sh*t about it, too. From corsetry to hypersexualized headdresses to vablazzling (!?) to Dandyism, this episode touches on a little bit of everything.
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Show Notes
- How Pink and Blue Became Gendered Colors
- Clothes maketh the gender stereotypes
- Why Corsets Are Still The Most Misunderstood Garments In Fashion History
- Racism is at the heart of fast fashion – it’s time for change
- how can fashion be decolonized?
- Decolonizing Fashion: What It Means + How We Can Get There
- Understanding Sustainability Means Talking About Colonialism
- DECOLONISING FASHION
- THE DANDY
- Fashion History: Dandyism
- “Dandy,” Wikipedia
- What Decolonizing Fashion Has To Do With #BlackLivesMatter
- Meet The Women Decolonizing Sustainable Fashion
- Fashion industry’s carbon impact bigger than airline industry’s
Episode 11: Gender Roles in Ancient Rome with Jenny Williamson
Are we all living in ancient Rome? Because it kind of feels that way to us. We’re joined by Jenny Williamson, co-host of Ancient History Fangirl, to dig into how weirdly familiar gender and sexuality were 2 millennia ago in ancient Rome, and how a lot of those ideas were passed down to us today (hint: it was colonization). Along the way, we hit a lot of questions about public bathrooms and underwear, why the Roman public was so nosy about sexual positions, and dark foundational myths that kept Roman women “in line.” We also visit gender-bending religious cults and their roles in slave uprisings, a mermaid goddess and feminist ducks, and our favorite Roman women: Vulvia and Cervixia. And, hey, if you don’t want to live in constant fear of slave revolts, maybe don’t build a colonial empire on slavery? Just a thought.
Jenny Williamson (she/her) is the co-host and co-creator of the Ancient History Fangirl podcast, which discusses true stories and tall tales of the ancient world. She attended St. Lawrence university, where she did not major in history or classics or any such thing. She is a fiction writer, poet, and actress living in New York City; has published a poetry chapbook with Finishing Line Press; and is currently obsessed with improving her motorcycle handling skills.
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Show Notes
- You can hear lots more about most of the topics we discusssed in this episode on Ancient History Fangirl!
- Don’t miss “Sobbin’ Women,” the (musical) retelling of the Roman myth, from Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. Sounds like a great time…
Episode 10: Beauty Standards
Lenny and Lynsey get personal about beauty standards as they’re applied to female-identified folks in America—including themselves. They also discuss how modern beauty is tied to colonization, how whiteness came to be considered supremely beautiful, and the lengths people have gone to in different time periods and culture to be considered beautiful.
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Show Notes
- Dynamic Beauty: Cultural Influences and Changing Perceptions – Becoming Prettier or Erasing One’s Own Culture?
- Beauty: Culture-Specific or Universally Defined?
- How White Supremacy and Capitalism Influence Beauty Standards
- Is Beauty In The Eyes Of The Colonizer?
Episode 9: Polyamory
Monogamy is not the only option for romantic relationships, folks. Lenny and Lynsey start the second season of Hourgasm by breaking down what ethical non-monogamy means to them, why it makes sense for human beings, how monogamy was forced on indigenous groups by colonizing forces, and why Pagans are so horny for polyamory.
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Show Notes
- “What Is the Difference Between Polyamory and Polygamy?“
- “Four Reasons Why Paganism and Polyamory Are Linked“
- “Three Waves of Non-Monogamy: A Select History of Polyamory in the United States“
Episode 8: Femininity
First of all, we cannot spell or pronounce this word. Secondly, femininininity is a really difficult concept to pin down. We talk about what it meant for some groups in pre-colonial America, what it means now, and how it’s impossible to hit this moving target that’s defined more by what it’s not than what it is. Plus, we spend a lot of time giving lovey eyes to icons of femininity—Dolly Parton and Morticia Addams.
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Show Notes
- “Womanliness,” Merriam-Webster Unabridged
- “Femininity,” Wikipedia
- More to come…
Episode 7: Mawwiage
Lenny and Lynsey dig into the way mawwiage—we mean marriage—functions as a means of population control, from time immemorial up through the Dawes Act of 1887, the post–World War II push toward nuclear families and suburban living, and the expectations we live with today. Why is marriage so damn important in our culture, and why did it get that way? And how do our cohosts feel about this institution of acceptability?
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Show Notes
- “How Polygamy Shaped Who We Are” by Glenn Geher Ph.D.
- “Large testicles are linked to infidelity” by Yngve Vogt, University of Oslo
- “Universal Sex Differences in the Desire for Sexual Variety: Tests From 52 Nations, 6 Continents, and 13 Islands” by David P. Schmitt et al
- “Competition for paternity: The impact of evolution on human genital morphology and behavior” by Gordon Gallup, Department of Psychology, University at Albany-SUNY
Episode 6: Queers in Comics with Charley Macorn
The voice of your generation, Charley Macorn, joins us for a long look into the history of queer representation—or lack thereof—in the American comic book industry. From “Seduction of the Innocent” to the comics code of conduct to the subversive machinations of Wonder Woman to sneaking queer representation into stories by way of villains who broke the rules about gender expression to the visionaries who started blowing up the tried and true limitations in the industry, this episode is very gay…but in the scary way.
Charley Macorn (they/she) is a nationally touring, award-winning stand-up comedian, drag performer, and Missoula’s greatest weirdo. She is the voice of your generation. Follow along on their adventures at CharleyMacorn.com.
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Show Notes
We’re working on it! Come back soon!
Episode 5: Gender in Disney Films
Let’s all take a moment to appreciate Ursula the sea witch.
Now that that’s done, let’s settle in to talk about Disney films. They’ve played a huge part in normalizing gender expression in American youth for decades—so what did they teach us? How do their lessons hit differently for someone who was raised on them (Lynsey G) and someone who came to them later in life (Lenny P)? Plus, our first foray into queer-coded villains and how much we adore them.
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Show Notes
We’re working on it! Come back soon!
Episode 4: Political Sex Scandals (Part 2)
We’ve figured it out, folks. The ingredients of any good political sex scandal (and pretty much everything else) are revealed in this episode, where we look more closely at modern political sex scandals, different kinds of sex parties, and Lenny and Lynsey’s conflicted feelings about Arnold Schwarzenegger.
(Don’t miss Part 1 of this epic two-part episode!)
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Show Notes
- List of federal political sex scandals in the United States, Wikipedia
- Top 10 Political Sex Scandals, HuffPo
- Famous Political Sex Scandals, US News
- 10 Famous Politicians and Their Salacious Scandalous Sex Scandals, History and Headlines
Episode 3: Political Sex Scandals (Part 1)
Politicians seem like they’re always getting themselves into compromising situations and then into the headlines. But why do we care so much? And what should we expect out of politicians? How are women thrown under the bus for male foibles? And what are some examples of female politicians who had their own sex scandals? Lenny and Lynsey dig in.
(And here’s a link to Part 2, just because we’re feeling generous.)
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Show Notes
- List of federal political sex scandals in the United States, Wikipedia
- Top 10 Political Sex Scandals, HuffPo
- Famous Political Sex Scandals, US News
- 10 Famous Politicians and Their Salacious Scandalous Sex Scandals, History and Headlines
Episode 2: Horror Film and Gender
Horror films are a conundrum. They’re both deeply subversive and highly problematic. They rely on gender stereotypes and sexist tropes, but they also allow women and queer characters to take the upper hand in ground-breaking ways. What gives, and how do these films work for or against colonialism? Lenny and Lynsey have thoughts.
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Show Notes
We’re working on it!
Episode 1: Pilot
In HourGasm, we’re here to decolonize sexuality and gender. But what does that even mean? In the pilot episode, Lenny and Lynsey share topics they want to cover, utopian visions for decolonized sexuality, and some juicy personal details.
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Show Notes
We’re working on it! Check back soon!
with Lenny P. & Lynsey G.