29 Comments

You have outdone yourself with this giant, thick, throbbing, spurting riposte!

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Lollll thank you!!

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You bring such light to the “phallacy” of the beauty industry.... I tell my clients the beauty industry not about your well being rather your wallet. You are salt and light, Jessica! ♥️

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Ha! Thank you <3

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👏🏻

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It’s amazing to me how people continue to insist that the reason young people are having less sex is because we live in a “sexually repressed” society, when a plain, obvious truth is staring us all right in the face: women are no longer forced to enter into relationships with men, as we have been in previous generations. And given that the majority of men are virulent misogynists (or at the very least, do not respect women and objectify us), do not do their fair share of domestic labor, cannot emotionally connect, etc, it’s no shock that women are choosing to forego relationships with men. Even disregarding the idea of a a relationship, casual sex has very little benefit for the average heterosexual, cisgender woman - most men cannot make us come, and in addition to that, we have to worry about the potential for violence to occur or for men to force us into sexual acts we have not consented to (choking, slapping, “accidentally” slipping into our anus). No, it couldn’t be any of the very real, very apparent issues that women constantly face when engaging with men. It’s just sexual repression. I think obviously these companies must realize what they are spewing is absolute bullshit, but sexualization is beneficial to late stage capitalism, so they have no incentive to point out the real issues that exist and are contributing to a decline in sex.

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Jessica,

First, I'm a huge fan of your work! Thank you for speaking to the misogyny in all things beauty.

Please do not legitimize Emily Morse, she is NOT a Ph.D, she is NOT a doctor and is not qualified to use that term. She received a CERTIFICATE from The Institute for Advanced Study of Human Sexuality which WAS (past-tense) a private, non-accredited, for profit grad school. It was established in 1976 and closed in 2018; her certificate is from a non-accredited now defunct school.

Everything I've read from her, watched in her classes (her 'Masterclass' was like nails down a chalkboard) and interviews is plagiarized directly from real doctors and sex therapists like Dr. Emily Nagoski (she rips from Nagoski's books endlessly), Dr. Lori Brotto, and Dr. Peggy Kleinplatz. Morse is a fraud who steals other women's research. And it appears you can see through her bullshit when she does have an independent opinion "The way Dr. Morse describes male objectification as a woman’s “choice” is an affront to the feminist movement and an egregious dismissal of consent." Exactly.

Please do not give this woman any free publicity, her views that aren't plagiarized are harmful.

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Thanks for that feedback! I definitely don't think my commentary legitimizes her, though — it exposes everything she said in the BoF article as bullshit :)

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Your newsletter is so freaking good. That’s all. Thanks.

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Thank you!!

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sorry but “HEY LOOK! THERE’S A WIENER UNDER THERE!!” made me laugh out loud

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Lollll it was my favorite line to write

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Great article. If someone wants to have a fun/funny little lipsdick, that's their prerogative, but the idea that dick imagery is subversive and feminist is so wild as to be perplexing to me. Like... the patriarchy loves dick imagery!!!! Even straight cis boys seem to love dick imagery, what with how much they doodle dicks on lockers and desks. In what alternate universe does society not CONSTANTLY celebrate dicks?

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I hate everything about this "lipsdick". Well done as always! You've left nothing unsaid. Thank you!

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"She could have ushered in an era of yonic symbolism! Instead she chose, as NYLON put it, to “celebrate the male form.” Why?"

Exactly. And I have a good guess as to why: a dick-shaped lipstick is possibly the easiest, laziest path to press coverage. Like, the marketing team might as well have been a class of 4th graders. As you thoroughly proved, lipstick as penis is nothing new. And also, there are already lipsdicks on the market: https://images.app.goo.gl/6DpJEahcAD3hp1j7A

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Great piece! Because feminism or not gazing on actual male organs isn’t um...particularly pleasant. Dicks just aren’t inspiring (unless sex is in the offing, maybe). Otherwise Playgirl would’ve made it. We’d be salivating for dick pics.

So...make it as pretty as the women who’ll wear it?

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Freakin' brilliant! Would that ANYONE in the mainstream beauty industry and the journalism outlets that cover it had your level of integrity and skill at word play.

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This just became my favorite corner of the internet... I turned 32 this year, and caught in the whirlwind I too fell victim to a bout with Botox and cheek filler to replace the very "baby face cheeks" I had lost in my 20s, the very cheeks I once despised as a young girl. I couldn't have discovered your insightful, powerful commentary on this industry — a light VERY much needed in this darkened space — at a better time. Thank you, Jessica, can't wait to follow along.

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Aw thank you! I'm so glad you're here ;)

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I hate it here

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As always - you are spot on!

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That L'erin advert..... I mean.... just.... incredible

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My husband says this piece reminded him of the art of Janine Antoni. Are you familiar? She did a piece involving lipstick, chocolate, fat, and a lot of spitting. I guess it made her famous. Called “Gnaw.”

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Ooh I'm not familiar! Going to look it up now — thanks for the rec!

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