“Tumblr made me realize that queer intimacy could be soft, non-performative, and diverse.”
“Generally, Tumblr allows users to create blogs, share content they like (typically images or text posts), and build communities around subjects that matter most to them — from fandoms to health and fitness to sexual preferences. The ease at which users can anonymously collect, curate, and experience the things that turn them on has led Tumblr to become a safe place for queer women to explore their sexuality, often for the very first time. Searching tags like “softcore” or “fingering” would yield pages of porn GIFs, sensual black and white images, videos, erotic fiction, fanart, and more. And while there’s plenty of porn on the internet, the adult content on Tumblr was often sensual and intimate, focused more on desire — a radical shift from what’s typically available on explicit porn sites like PornHub. Though made-for-women porn sites exist and are growing in number, many are membership-based or have inhibiting pay walls. Tumblr quickly became the place where women could easily explore what turns them on and discover sexual content that didn’t feel alienating or degrading.”
Super proud of my friend Julia for this piece she wrote for OUT about what Tumblr means to queer women.
