By sadi ranson-polizzotti

The place of my youth was not what one would call a beautiful part of town. It was North East London and the houses were simple and mostly built brick and each street had a pub on each corner that served as a bookend, hemming us in at every turn; around every turn there was a sweets shot offering Wall’s Ice Cream and long, black licorice whips that looked like shoelaces. Our other home was in Paisley, Scotland. We once ran into some Americans there and asked, excitedly, So what brings you to Paisley, to which they answered they were “Doing a study on economic deprivation.” That should give you some idea of my youth, and I’ll leave out the neighborhood fights, the Skinheads (the real deal, not the fashion kind but the movement as it began in the 70s in east London). All you need to know is that we did not have all that we wanted because nobody in our neighborhood did and that was okay. It was life and you adjusted. Read the rest of this entry »

BY SADI-RANSON POLIZZOTTI

There is just so much to say about marriage, relationships, being a wife, being a mistress, being the husband or the lover, the abandoned, the abandonee and i can tell you from all ends, no matter where you are at this moment in time, the situation is difficult for all concerned. Read the rest of this entry »

BY AMBROSIA BIERCE

With this contribution we continue our exploration of scatological mysteries in everyday life, suggested by our resident pop anthropologists. For further reading on our everyday scatological challenges, see: INTER FECES ED URINAM

We’ve all been there but don’t like to admit it. We’ve all kicked back in our cubicles and suddenly felt something brewing down below.

As much as we try to convince ourselves otherwise, the WORK POOP is
inevitable. For those who hate pooping at work, following is the
Survival Guide for taking a dump at work. Read the rest of this entry »

MANY WOMEN HAVE ALWAYS BEEN SELF-CONSCIOUS ABOUT DISCHARGING THEIR NATURAL FUNCTIONS IN PUBLIC, EVEN IF THEY DON’T FEEL THE SAME ESTHETIC PANGS WHEN FULFILLING THE UNIQUELY MESSY TASK OF BIRTHING. BELOW, TWO REPORTS FROM THE MOST RECONDITE OF FRONTS. WILL THE INCONGRUITY BETWEEN THE FABLED ETHEREAL CONNOTATIONS OF THE “GENTLER SEX” AND THE INEVITABLE BIOLOGICAL REALITIES EVER BE RECONCILED?

Take One

BY STEPHANIE FAIRYINGTON

Another Problem With No Name: Gals in Public Stalls //•\ ||

There’s no doubt that the bad-ass, brazen Betty Friedan and her 1963 declaration of women’s independence, The Feminine Mystique, helped galvanize the modern-day feminist movement. But the other night, fact-checking a tribute to this grand dame at the glossy women’s magazine where I’m employed, it hit me that Friedan and her successors failed to address an ever-present problem in women’s lives: the excruciating anxiety we experience when “nature calls” in bathrooms where we work. Read the rest of this entry »