Waiyee Loh

Waiyee Loh

Waiyee Loh received a PhD in English and Comparative Literary Studies from the University of Warwick and is now a postdoctoral scholar at Warwick. She works on World Literature topics with a focus on East Asia and contemporary popular culture. Her research has appeared and is forthcoming in the scholarly journals Textual Practice, Mechademia, and the Journal of Postcolonial Writing.

Fifty Shades affective labor

Fifty Shades of Affective Labor for Capital

Fifty Shades of Grey sells an absurd fantasy version of a romantic relationship—as between man and woman, so between capitalism and female workers.

Editors' Picks

Education & Society

Gay Culture: Ancient Wonder or Modern Creation?

Even at more open-minded times, gays and gay culture is always seen as a frivolous—a decorative, added bonus of civilization.

Science & Technology

How Poison Ivy Works

Where poison ivy comes from, why it gives some people such terrible reactions, and why—unfortunately for hikers and gardeners—its future is bright.

Business & Economics

Selling the Men’s Wedding Ring

How changing mores, cultural pressures, and, yes, the jewelry industry made two-ring wedding ceremonies the norm in America.

They’re Here, They’re Genderqueer, Get Used to Gender Neutral Pronouns

Ongoing study and debate about gender neutral pronouns.

Politics & History

Celebrating Immigration on the Fourth of July

For many immigrants to the U.S. in the late 19th century, July 4th was deeply significant: Their own home countries were fighting for independence.