In today's episode, we go into the inglorious history of the glory hole, its queer cultural significance, and what it reveals about ourselves — changing what we mean by 'vulnerable'. 

for updates, follow me on instagram and tiktok: @thingsimeanttosaynaked

Or learn about figs, the therapist and her services go to figstherapy.com

citation and things I read in preparation for today's episode:

 Ashford, C., & Longstaff, G. (2021). (Re) regulating gay sex in viral times: COVID-19 and the impersonal intimacy of the glory hole. Culture, Health & Sexuality, 23(11), 1559-1572.   

Cooper, D. (2007). Well, you go there to get off' Visiting feminist care ethics through a women's bathhouse. Feminist Theory, 8(3), 243-262.   

Drożyński, C. (2022). Holes in Architecture: A Queer Eye on a Design Method. Architecture and Culture, 10(2), 285-303.   

Fuckbox | Kinktionary. Fetlife. (n.d.). https://fetlife.com/kinktionary/toys-equipment/furniture/fuckbox-5jjsl  

Fruen, L. (2020, June 10). “Make it a little kinky”: nyc officials update their guide to having sex during covid-19 pandemic telling new yorkers to “wear masks, create physical barriers with walls and to take part in sexy zoom parties.” Daily Mail. Retrieved from https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8407933/Make-little-kinky-New-Yorkers-told-create-physical-barriers-walls-sex.html.  

Gloryhole | Kinktionary. Fetlife. (n.d.-b). https://fetlife.com/kinktionary/sexual-activities/gloryhole-dyoer  

Hagius, H. (Ed.). (2010). Swasarnt Nerf's Gay Guides for 1949. Lulu. com.  

Holmes, D., O’Byrne, P., & Gastaldo, D. (2007). Setting the space for sex: Architecture, desire and health issues in gay bathhouses. International journal of nursing studies, 44(2), 273-284.   

Houlbrook, M. (2016). On the emptiness of the glory hole, and other non-problems. Modernism/Modernity Print Plus.  

Murphy, R. (2019, July 29). Who do we have to thank for “Glory holes”-glass blowers or gays? Slate Magazine. https://slate.com/human-interest/2019/07/glory-hole-term-origins-gay-culture-glass-blowing.html  

Prior, S. (2021). Going back to the glory hole: An (extra) ordinary story of meeting shame, doubt, and arousal in the therapy room. In The Everyday Lives of Gay Men (pp. 69-78). 

Routledge.  Rictor Norton, "A History of Gay Sex", Gay History and Literature, 24 November 2006 http://rictornorton.co.uk/gaysex.htm

Rictor Norton (Ed.), "Trials of Thomas Vaughan and Thomas Davis, 1707," Homosexuality in Eighteenth-Century England: A Sourcebook. 29 April 2007, updated 15 June 2008 http://www.rictornorton.co.uk/eighteen/1707vaug.htm   | 

Sumerau, J. E., Cragun, R. T., & Mathers, L. A. (2016). “I found god in the glory hole”: The moral career of a gay Christian. Sociological Inquiry, 86(4), 618-640.  

Team, M., By, & Team, M. (2022, June 27). What’s a glory hole? the covid-19 safe sex trend explained. maude. https://getmaude.com/blogs/themaudern/what-is-a-glory-hole?srsltid=AfmBOoopSoEk29IyP3sM5Zf93-ZgHCzEecjyGLyrpJVAJZnMiDZlGPIQ  

Wall, M. A. (2010). " Textual glory holes": genre and community in fan kink memes.

cover art: @bofenglin

I want to hear from you. What are things you meant to say naked— the truths, the questions, the unsent texts?