Also.Also.Also: Bad News Gays, You CAN Drink Too Much Water

I’m tired. I have one more piece to edit tonight and one more to write, so keep some good thoughts for me!


Queer as in F*ck You

Pride Has Always Been A Glorious Mess. Say that again!

It’s not every day that Autostraddle gets a link back in the New York Times, but when it happens you sure can bet I’m gonna include it in this round up — The Lesbian Avengers Will Not Be Commodified (At Least, Not by the Gap), which of course references the piece of reporting I’m most proud of us publishing this month: What Really Happened With The Gap Lesbian Avengers Pride T-Shirt by our Community Editor Vanessa Friedman

Oh you want some more Lesbian Avengers this Pride because of course the fuck you do, how about An Oral History of the Lesbian Avengers over at The Cut, which includes this very real gem of a line “I also think the internal fucking fucked the Lesbian Avengers.” Highly relatable content for anyone who has their own dyke drama.

Also(also.also): Pride Merch Won’t Save Trans Youth

There’s a new queer Astrology/Tarot podcast “Sitting With The Stars” that quite a few members on our team are excited about, hosted by Rachel Relman and Aunty Chan

This seems very cool! (Here’s the link to the shop)

Lesbian Social Creates a Safe Nightlife Space in Downtown Detroit (I’m going to one of these parties next month and I for one CANNOT WAIT!)

The Incredible True Adventure of Five Gay Activists in Search of the Black Panther Party (I don’t love this title, but the piece itself was interesting!)


Saw This, Thought of You

Bad news for that meme about lesbians always telling you to hydrate! Can I Drink Too Much Water?

How the Pandemic Got Us Addicted to Longing – and Why It’s Bad For Us

Seeing People For The First Time In A Year? Don’t comment On Their Bodies (I have excellent faith that none of y’all would’ve done that anyway, but just in case)

WNBA Leads Professional Sports World in COVID-19 Vaccinations

5 Pads for 2 Cellmates: Period Inequity Remains a Problem in Prisons. I can’t stop thinking about this.


Political Snacks

Black Activists Take Voting Rights Battle to Joe Manchin’s Backyard. I really do fucks with LaTosha Brown and Black Voters Matter! They get the job done.

Want to support? Start here.

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Carmen Phillips

Carmen Phillips is Autostraddle's former editor in chief. She began at Autostraddle in 2017 as a freelance team writer and worked her way up through the company, eventually becoming the EIC from 2021-2024. A Black Puerto Rican feminist writer with a PhD in American Studies from New York University, Carmen specializes in writing about Blackness, race, queerness, politics, culture, and the many ways we find community and connection with each other.  During her time at Autostraddle, Carmen focused on pop culture, TV and film reviews, criticism, interviews, and news analysis. She claims many past homes, but left the largest parts of her heart in Detroit, Brooklyn, and Buffalo, NY. And there were several years in her early 20s when she earnestly slept with a copy of James Baldwin’s “Fire Next Time” under her pillow. To reach out, you can find Carmen on Twitter, Instagram, or her website.

Carmen has written 716 articles for us.

8 Comments

  1. To comment on the drinking too much water, that’s actually something my basic training instructors made sure to tell us. They told a story of a recruit who drank too much water and just died in the middle of an obstacle course. Too much of even a good and necessary thing. Also, the whole “8 glasses of water a day” thing has always been BS created by the major beverage bottlers (bottled water in the US, unless you live one of the VERY few places like Flint, MI, is a complete scam; get a filter for your tap or a pitcher if you like, but tap water is perfectly safe, stop buying bottled water). [/rant]

    • You had better basic training folks—back in 2000 mine would make everyone drink a whole canteen or two at different times. I was like, “I’m sorry—I’m 5’2”, there’s no way I need the same amount of water as the 6’2” person next to me.” No one was impressed with my reasoning.

  2. That’s awesome about the Lesbian Social in Detroit, especially since Rosie O’Grady’s just announced it’s closing so no more first Wednesdays in Ferndale.

    Might have to try one at some point, but I am sober and not a night owl lol so idk how much I’ll enjoy myself.

    Also re: water, Decoder Ring did an episode about hydration recently that was really interesting: https://slate.com/podcasts/decoder-ring/2021/04/decoder-ring-the-history-of-hydration

    I definitely drink more water than all these debunking articles say you need but I really am that thirsty!! I should probably break it up with some electrolytes though. Get some juice or something in there.

    • I was just typing up an answer about that same episode! I listened to it today.

      It really is one of the most pervasive medical myths out there. And it’s absolute nonsense that everyone needs a set amount of water or fluids. Food totally count in fluids btw, if they contain water, like fruits.

      Personally I have a dry mouth all of the time due to meds, and I drink so much water and tea, just because I’m uncomfortable. But I have found that I can go without water for a decent time before this becomes actual thirst, they’re just hard to differentiate.

      • As a fellow dry-mouth-due-to-meds person, a few suggestions, YMMV:

        1. Breath mints with xylitol help. Xylitol won’t bother your stomach and is good for your teeth.

        2. Speaking of teeth: dry mouth can be murder on your teeth/gums. The aforementioned mints help, so does sipping water all day, but also it’s worth considering switching your toothpaste to one with stannous fluoride instead of sodium fluoride. It’s a lot better for your gums!

        • I will check that out, thank you!

          I was at the dentist recently after 3 years or so and he was really pleased, so I think I just lucked out on having good teeth and gums.

  3. I knew about the tampon tax and how hard it can be for homeless and lower income period havers to have access to pads/tampons, but I honestly didn’t know about this bullshit going on in prisons. I mean honestly, who the hell would do this to a person? They are seriously punishing these women for bleeding.

  4. I drink a ton of water to prevent migraines and now I’m worried I might be causing them with over hydration??

    Honestly I drank over 200oz of water yesterday and felt like trash so this makes a lot of sense.

Comments are closed.