Autostraddle Autostraddle Autostraddle Autostraddle

  • About
    • About Autostraddle
    • Meet The Team
    • Advertise
    • Press
    • Events
    • Contact
  • Shop
  • Sign in
    • Register
    • Lost Password?
  • Support Us
    • Buy Our Merch
    • Become an A+ Member
    • Give Us Money
    • Shop Our Affiliates
  • A+
    • All A+ Posts
    • The Autostraddle Insider
    • S L I C K Erotica
    • Into the A+ Advice Box
    • Some Answers to Some Questions
    • Sex Diary
    • Interview With My Ex-Girlfriend
    • Excerpts From My Secret Diary
    • Annual Report
    • Personal Essays
  • Television
    • All Television Posts
    • LGBTQ Television Guide: What To Watch Now
    • The L Word: Generation Q
    • The L Word: Generation Q recaps
    • The L Word
    • To L and Back Podcast
    • Recaps
    • Boobs On Your Tube
    • 202 Dead Les/Bi TV Characters
  • Film
    • All Film Posts
    • The 200 Best Lesbian, Bisexual & Queer Movies Of All Time
    • Movie Reviews
    • Best-Of Movie Lists
  • Arts+Pop Culture
    • All Arts + Pop Culture Posts
    • Books
    • Vapid Fluff
    • Fashion/Style
    • Music
    • Comedy
    • Theater
    • Visual Art
  • Sex+Dating
    • All Sex + Dating Posts
    • Lesbian Sex 101
    • How To Be Gay
    • NSFW Sunday
    • Shibari 101
    • Sex Toy Reviews
    • Tops & Bottoms
    • #PolyamoryProblems
  • Politics
    • All News + Politics Posts
    • Extra! Extra
    • COVID-19
    • This Is Not The Church of Social Justice
  • Community
    • The Autostraddle Yearbook
    • Roundtables
    • Herstory
    • First Person
    • Queer IRL
    • The QTPOC Speakeasy
    • Advice
    • You Need Help
    • Events + Meet-Ups Hub
    • Queer Girl City Guides
  • Columns
    • Things I Read That I Loved
    • Queer Horoscopes
    • No Filter
    • Year Of Our Lorde
    • Come Vibe With Me
    • Straight People Watch
    • The Dyke Kitchen
    • For Your Consideration
    • Queering Disability
    • Find Your Fit
    • Butch Please

Life

  • Food and Drink
  • DIY / Crafting / Food / Home
  • Health + Athletics
  • Travel
  • Business + Work

Geekery

  • All Geekery Posts
  • Drawn to Comics
  • Queer Your Tech
  • Saturday Morning Cartoons
  • Notes From A Queer Engineer
  • Gayme Corner
  • Video Games

LGBT Culture

  • Politics + Activism
  • Herstory
  • Marriage Equality
  • Coming Out
  • International News

Our Best Work

  • Greatest Hits
  • Ranked By Lesbianism
  • Epic Lists
  • Research/Investigations
  • Personal Essays
  • Longreads
  • Photo Essays
  • Shopping Guides
  • Listlings Without Commentary
  • Serious Business
  • Playlists

Etc.

  • Special Issues
  • Things I Read That I Love
  • Events
  • Lists/Top Tens
  • Calendar Girls
  • Autostraddle Merch

Autostraddle Autostraddle Autostraddle Autostraddle

  • Support Us
    • Buy Our Merch
    • Become an A+ Member
    • Give Us Money
    • Shop Our Affiliates
  • A+
    • All A+ Posts
    • The Autostraddle Insider
    • S L I C K Erotica
    • Into the A+ Advice Box
    • Some Answers to Some Questions
    • Sex Diary
    • Interview With My Ex-Girlfriend
    • Excerpts From My Secret Diary
    • Annual Report
    • Personal Essays
  • Television
    • All Television Posts
    • LGBTQ Television Guide: What To Watch Now
    • The L Word: Generation Q
    • The L Word: Generation Q recaps
    • The L Word
    • To L and Back Podcast
    • Recaps
    • Boobs On Your Tube
    • 202 Dead Les/Bi TV Characters
  • Film
    • All Film Posts
    • The 200 Best Lesbian, Bisexual & Queer Movies Of All Time
    • Movie Reviews
    • Best-Of Movie Lists
  • Arts+Pop Culture
    • All Arts + Pop Culture Posts
    • Books
    • Vapid Fluff
    • Fashion/Style
    • Music
    • Comedy
    • Theater
    • Visual Art
  • Sex+Dating
    • All Sex + Dating Posts
    • Lesbian Sex 101
    • How To Be Gay
    • NSFW Sunday
    • Shibari 101
    • Sex Toy Reviews
    • Tops & Bottoms
    • #PolyamoryProblems
  • Politics
    • All News + Politics Posts
    • Extra! Extra
    • COVID-19
    • This Is Not The Church of Social Justice
  • Community
    • The Autostraddle Yearbook
    • Roundtables
    • Herstory
    • First Person
    • Queer IRL
    • The QTPOC Speakeasy
    • Advice
    • You Need Help
    • Events + Meet-Ups Hub
    • Queer Girl City Guides
  • Columns
    • Things I Read That I Loved
    • Queer Horoscopes
    • No Filter
    • Year Of Our Lorde
    • Come Vibe With Me
    • Straight People Watch
    • The Dyke Kitchen
    • For Your Consideration
    • Queering Disability
    • Find Your Fit
    • Butch Please
  • More
    • Life
      • Food and Drink
      • DIY / Crafting / Food / Home
      • Health + Athletics
      • Travel
      • Business + Work
    • Geekery
      • All Geekery Posts
      • Drawn to Comics
      • Queer Your Tech
      • Saturday Morning Cartoons
      • Notes From A Queer Engineer
      • Gayme Corner
      • Video Games
    • LGBT Culture
      • Politics + Activism
      • Herstory
      • Marriage Equality
      • Coming Out
      • International News
    • Our Best Work
      • Greatest Hits
      • Ranked By Lesbianism
      • Epic Lists
      • Research/Investigations
      • Personal Essays
      • Longreads
      • Photo Essays
      • Shopping Guides
      • Listlings Without Commentary
      • Serious Business
      • Playlists
    • Etc.
      • Special Issues
      • Things I Read That I Love
      • Events
      • Lists/Top Tens
      • Calendar Girls
      • Autostraddle Merch
  • About
    • About Autostraddle
    • Meet The Team
    • Advertise
    • Press
    • Events
    • Contact
  • Shop
  • Sign in
    • Register

      Lost Password?

Support Autostraddle

Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom

Viola Davis and Chadwick Boseman in Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
Film

The Drop: The Unapologetic Black Queerness of “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”

“I’m always clamoring for more lesbian kisses on screen but the scene where she is singing in her lover’s ear gave me chills. I miss intimacy!”

By Shelli Nicole| December 29, 2020 | 4 Comments
Viola Davis as Ma Rainey, in a gold headdress and a feather boa on stage. This is a still from Netflix's "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom" the latest entry into a queer history of the Blues legend.
Film Herstory

Viola Davis Towers in “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” Giving Life to a Black Queer Legend

In Viola Davis’ hands, “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” becomes a complex portrait of a queer Black woman hurricane whose footprints loom large over the last 100 years.

By Carmen Phillips| December 22, 2020 | 18 Comments
Viola Davis stars as Black queer Icon Ma Rainey in "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom" on Netflix.
Film

Viola Davis Is Iconically Queer Again in “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”!

The “Ma Rainey” Trailer Drop is THEE most important Black queer pop culture news this week, and I’ve broken down 5 reasons why… then I shall be proceeding directly to my fainting couch.

By Carmen Phillips| October 20, 2020 | 12 Comments
I want more content for queer parents, for people in long term relationships and marriage (or finding themselves after divorce). A lot of queer culture is youth culture, but learning how to be your best, full self doesn't end in your 20's. - by Carmen, Interim Editor-in-Chief. Support Our 2021 Goals!

Join A+ Starting at Just $4 / Month!

We're Over 6000 A+ Members Strong! A+ members are the secret gay illuminati keeping us around! It's also just a lot of good, queer fun. A+ starts at just $4 a month. Will you join?

Affiliate of the Month

wet for her logo

Wet For Her is an online sex toy retailer that's a welcoming space for queer women and the folx they love — celebrating a diverse range of bodies, genders, and orientations.

shop Wet For Her →

Support Autostraddle While You Shop!

Illustration of shopping bag surrounded by sparkles. Text reads Visit the Affiliate Marketplace

kickback some of your amazon purchase to us!

From the Archives

  • A Handy Form Letter For That Relative Who Won’t Attend Your Gay Wedding

    A Handy Form Letter For That Relative Who Won’t Attend Your Gay Wedding

  • Ani DiFranco Appreciation Club Meeting #1: Now More Than Ever

    Ani DiFranco Appreciation Club Meeting #1: Now More Than Ever

  • 105 Trans Women On American TV: A History and Analysis

    105 Trans Women On American TV: A History and Analysis

Latest Comments

  • Iarrann mé On The Comment Awards Think They Might Be Kinda Gay "Try pottering around with puns yourself sometime."

  • Chandra On The Comment Awards Think They Might Be Kinda Gay "They crock you up?"

  • Nicky On Ginny & Georgia’s Lesbian Gets a Refreshingly Typical Teen Dating Story "I loved this show at first, but the white mom called the cops on her Black daughter and it was…"

  • queercirque On EXCLUSIVE: A+ Members, Read a Generous Excerpt of Arkady Martine’s “A Desolation Called Peace” Here! "I joined A+ this week and this has ALREADY. MADE. IT. WORTH. IT. tnx to anyone and everyone who brought…"

  • cleo On Into the A+ Advice Box #30: Lonely, Jealous, and Wrapped up in Pandemic Anxiety "I like the IDEA of giving myself an undercut but I’m not sure I’m really ready for the reality. I…"

  • cleo On The Comment Awards Think They Might Be Kinda Gay "The Female Glaze Award made me cackle out loud! I love reading the punny comments."

  • C On Pop Culture Fix: Aspirational Exes St. Vincent and Carrie Brownstein are Making a Comedy About Themselves "Just wanted to say Nicola Adams is a lesbian, not bisexual! She clarified it towards the end of last year."

  • Alice Teeple On Fool’s Journey: The Fascinating Life of Pamela Colman Smith "Her maternal uncle was Hudson River painter Samuel Colman and her mother came from Boston. Definitely not of Caribbean descent…"

Support Us

Latest Posts

  • S L I C K: Plug and Play

    S L I C K: Plug and Play

  • Ginny & Georgia’s Lesbian Gets a Refreshingly Typical Teen Dating Story

    Ginny & Georgia’s Lesbian Gets a Refreshingly Typical Teen Dating Story

  • The Comment Awards Think They Might Be Kinda Gay

    The Comment Awards Think They Might Be Kinda Gay

  • Into the A+ Advice Box #30: Lonely, Jealous, and Wrapped up in Pandemic Anxiety

    Into the A+ Advice Box #30: Lonely, Jealous, and Wrapped up in Pandemic Anxiety

  • Also.Also.Also: Here’s 10 Queer Directors on the 9 Queer Romances They Believe Got the Story Right

    Also.Also.Also: Here’s 10 Queer Directors on the 9 Queer Romances They Believe Got the Story Right

Upcoming Meet-Ups & Events

Submit to our Community Calendar →
View More Meet-Ups & Events →
Autostraddle Autostraddle Autostraddle Autostraddle

Our Network

  • Community
  • Store
  • A-Camp

About Us

  • What is AS?
  • Meet The Team
  • Press
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • Write for Us

Follow Us

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • Tumblr
  • Instagram
  • RSS

Copyright 2009 - 2021 The Excitant Group, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Comment Policy

AUTOSTRADDLE IS RAISING FUNDS FOR 2021 LEARN MORE →