Studio Notes

Leather Contests: Pageantry, Power, and the Rul...

To someone outside the scene, a leather contest can look like a beauty pageant in black boots.There’s a sash. There’s a title. There’s a stage.But that reading misses the point.Leather...

Leather Contests: Pageantry, Power, and the Rul...

To someone outside the scene, a leather contest can look like a beauty pageant in black boots.There’s a sash. There’s a title. There’s a stage.But that reading misses the point.Leather...

What Makes a “Leather Bar” a Leather Bar (And W...

At some point, every city gets a bar that calls itself “leather.” Black walls. Maybe a harness behind the bar. A Tom of Finland print in the bathroom. One night...

What Makes a “Leather Bar” a Leather Bar (And W...

At some point, every city gets a bar that calls itself “leather.” Black walls. Maybe a harness behind the bar. A Tom of Finland print in the bathroom. One night...

From Leather Bars to Circuit Parties: How Codes...

There was a time when what you wore into a bar could change the course of your night. In leather bars of the 1970s and 80s, clothing wasn’t decoration —...

From Leather Bars to Circuit Parties: How Codes...

There was a time when what you wore into a bar could change the course of your night. In leather bars of the 1970s and 80s, clothing wasn’t decoration —...

Dress Codes Aren’t About Fashion — They’re Abou...

Dress codes are rarely about aesthetics. They’re about power. They decide who belongs, who looks “appropriate,” who gets let in without friction — and who gets read as disruptive before...

Dress Codes Aren’t About Fashion — They’re Abou...

Dress codes are rarely about aesthetics. They’re about power. They decide who belongs, who looks “appropriate,” who gets let in without friction — and who gets read as disruptive before...

Why Gay Bars Care What You’re Wearing

Walk into enough gay bars and you’ll eventually notice something that doesn’t show up on the chalkboard drink specials or the Instagram grid: clothing matters here. Not in the glossy,...

Why Gay Bars Care What You’re Wearing

Walk into enough gay bars and you’ll eventually notice something that doesn’t show up on the chalkboard drink specials or the Instagram grid: clothing matters here. Not in the glossy,...

“God Hates F*gs” to “God Hates ICE”: Parody as Moral Weapon

“God Hates F*gs” to “God Hates ICE”: Parody as ...

When Fred Phelps and the Westboro Baptist Church popularized the phrase “God Hates Fgs,”* the goal was not theological debate. It was provocation. The slogan was engineered to wound, to polarize,...

“God Hates F*gs” to “God Hates ICE”: Parody as ...

When Fred Phelps and the Westboro Baptist Church popularized the phrase “God Hates Fgs,”* the goal was not theological debate. It was provocation. The slogan was engineered to wound, to polarize,...