Winter 2018

Poetry

Coital Exposure–Vi Khi Nao

Three Poems–Kailey Alyssa

this highly flammable 1970s neon orange two-piece suit set–Zoe Nefouse

Three Poems–Zack Corpuz

Nonfiction

The Search for Non-Capitalist Pleasure by Ansley Clark

Queering a Path through the Universe: Sex & Love in Sci-Fi by Courtney E. Morgan

Feminized Rastafar-I, Adaptive Diaspora, and Embodied Resistance in Marcia Douglas’ The Marvelous Equations of the Dread by Stephanie Couey

Fiction

Rua do Salitre by Ian E. Watts

 

IMAGE by Mish mishmurphy.com

Spring/Summer 2017

Poetry

Poems by Willy Palomo

Gemini Rising—Poems by Christie Ann Reynolds

Press Play by Lexi Schwartz

THE LIT LINES OF YOUR PALM [IN THE ONLY DARK WE KNOW OF THE ROOM] by Michael Wasson

 

Essays

Dear FetLife Tourist: An Open Letter by AB

I Don’t Want to Look How They Want Me to Look: On Tininess and Sexuality by Ansley Clark

 

Fiction

Exiting on Bell Road—Flash by Doni Shepard

 

Erotica

When I See His Pretty Eyes by Jelly Zhang

We Won’t Be Silent–Voices Raised Against Hate

January 20, 2017 Issue

On this Inauguration Day, we are raising our voices for justice, equality, diversity, unity and empathy.

 

Essays

Mariam Williams “Radical Self-love: Writing Intimate Spaces in the Trump Era”

Loie Merritt “in the orchard of unmentionable”

Alysia Sawchyn “Feeling the World Askew”

Courtney Udischas “Un-President-Ed: The Trauma of Trump”

Eric Mueller “On Dick: How Materialism Caught Up with My Queer Life”

Caitlin Scarano “Tell Me How to Be”

Rose Heredia “No Time for Apathy: Processing the 2016 Election”

 

Poetry

Vanessa Angélica Villarreal “BALLOT BALLET BULLOT BULLET”

Jessica Lawson “Oath of Softest”

Torrin Greathouse “Body/Language”

 

Fiction

Erin Armstrong “A Southern Mythology: Tales from Georgia”

 

Interview

with Jennifer Williams, creator of “The Better Feminism Workbook”

 

IMAGE: Shepard Fairey, www.theamplifierfoundation.org

Fall 2016 Issue

Poetry

Emma Erickson

Joy Ladin

Caitlin Scarano

Scherezade Siobhan

Essays

Modern Love and the Trouble with Soulmates, by Melissa Brooks

Why Audrie and Daisy is Required Viewing in a Age of Slut Shaming and “Locker Room Talk”, by Courtney Morgan

Bad Mommy–a Flash Memoir, by Diana Odasso

Fiction

Layover, by Colter Ruland

Interviews

“There Is No Normal”: A Chat with Couples Therapist Jane Ryan on Sexuality and Relationships, by Ansley Clark

Recipes

Pico de Gallo

Other

Call for Submissions for Spring

Call for Submissions

1

The Thought Erotic is open for submissions for Winter/Spring 2016!

We’re looking for stories, poems, essays and art about sex and sexuality—narratives and images that shake up what our ideas of erotica and porn look like, of what they are and what they have potential to be. We’re looking for celebrations of sex while acknowledging that it can be fraught with fear and trauma—recognizing that the sexiest thing might be a reclamation or flat out rejection of current definitions and expressions of sex. We are looking for authors and characters that are underrepresented and unheard, especially around ownership of body, self and voice—for stories from and featuring people of color, people who identify as LGBT, queer and/or gender nonconforming, women and people with disabilities. We’re looking for a spectrum of sexual expression, from vanilla to kinky. We’re looking for fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction (from lyric essay to cultural critique) and visual art. Right now we are looking particularly for erotica short stories.

We have upcoming issues around the following topics, but are also accepting open submissions: consent is sexy, speculative erotica (sci-fi, fantasy, etc.), femme porn (strong female protagonists [cis and trans]) and women writers of color.

The Thought Erotic features stories and essays where sexuality is a site of empowerment, of ownership of one’s own body, identity and story. It is a place to re-story and reclaim some of our cultural ideas around sex + sexuality. To take back/undermine/undo the heteronormative, sexist, racist, cissexist, patriarchal narrative of what sex is and looks like.

Our open reading period is October 15 – January 31. Please see our submissions page for more details and to submit your work!

The Myth of the Hymen: A Social And Medical Mystery

hymen female anatomy 3

by Fei Cai

Hymen. Maidenhead. Cherry.

For something that people do not seem to know much about, it definitely has a lot of names.

I am not sure when I first heard about the hymen. Like many growing up, I thought it would hurt to tear it, and that it was some kind of physical sign that a woman had lost her virginity. I was convinced that the first time I had sex, there would be bleeding and pain, which of course, added to the already huge amount of anxiety I had about having sex for the first time.Continue Reading

Feminist Porn: Imagining Beyond Western Patriarchy

Édouard Henri Avril

by Kathleen J. Woods

Pornography has long been a topic of impassioned debate among Western feminists. Anti-porn feminists argue that porn’s representation of degrading language and behavior is harmful to women. They believe that porn is a tool of the patriarchy that normalizes the subjugation of women and the violent power of men. As Robin Morgan concisely stated, “Porn is the theory, rape is the practice” (The Feminist Porn Book 10). Anti-porn feminists have supported legislation banning or drastically limiting the production of pornographic materials.

Continue Reading

Kiss Off: How We Use Our Mouths On The People We Love

Kissing

by Matt Lurie

A man and woman once told me they no longer kissed because “they had better things to do.” The man and woman were Stephen and Amy, my girlfriend Elizabeth’s parents.[1] Elizabeth, who sat with us at the dinner table, said she couldn’t imagine it—not kissing.Continue Reading