The strange, scandalous power of the hickey

Michelle Tea explores the strange, scandalous power of the hickey. "Hickeys are the physical proof of passion's violent nature – that strawberry-stippled blemish was caused by internal bleeding, an alarming phrase that conjures images of car crashes, not liquid hours of heavy petting, a persistent suck at your throat giving you a shivery thrill. It's a hard sensation to pull away from, even when you know that for the next week you'll be rocking turtlenecks, inventing odd new neckerchief fashions, and telling '80s-era lies involving curling irons."

Posted on Thu, Sep 26, 2002 at 11:26 AM