Hourgasm

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 slowly realized that everyone around her was a member of 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 finding that clients find her more "trustworthy," the experience of marriage has shown  her that Western culture still clings to the way women were treated in the past. And that's not even to mention all the weirdness about "consummation"!

We welcome Amanda Barr—ceramicist, teacher, and disability advocate—to the show to talk about the experience of disability in a colonial society. A 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, making connections between the colonialist state and disabled folks’ lives every step of the way.

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 the mothership.

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.

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 aging. Your favorite decolonizers talk about issues faced by the elderly in the dominant culture: silencing, media invisibility, medical discrimination, and unacceptable sexuality. Plus side quests into MILFs, cougars, Blanche Devereaux, J-Lo, and more!

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.

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 use 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 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.

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 times and cultures in order to be considered beautiful…whatever that means.

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 many human beings, how it was forced on indigenous groups by colonizing forces, and why Pagans are so horny for polyamory.

First of all, we cannot spell or pronounce this word. Secondly, it's 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 feminine icons Dolly Parton and Morticia Addams. Because, seriously.