Lady Gaga expresses her hopes for the end of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, bans on gay blood donors, and restrictions and discrimination faced by teens in the American education system.  (She’s not super well-spoken, but she has some inspiring points – it’d be great to hear more of this type of thing from public figures in pop culture who, whether they like it or not and whether they admit it or not, are role models for many youth and adolescents.)

“There are so many archaic things floating around in the the government right now that are so misinformed and so wrong and it’s very confusing.  It’s very confusing for young people, especially, you know, 14 year-olds in high school that are getting sent home because they have t-shirts that say ‘gay’ on it, as if gay is a curse word or somehow inappropriate.  I just think that, in terms of education – sexual education, political education, and social education in schools – I think that it’s important to be specific about civil rights and a person’s worth.  No person’s worth any less than another human being based on their sexual orientation.”

You can check out more moments of Lady Gaga’s Larry King interview over at Jezebel.

Eve Ensler is best known as the woman who wrote The Vagina Monologues.  Although I have not read The Vagina Monologues or seen them performed live, I have seen them on film a few times (including an awesome Logo documentary called “Beautiful Daughters” in which Eve wrote a new set of monologues for trans women).  Eve has a very direct style, but also works a great deal of beauty, imagery, and personality into her art.  She recently released a new series of pieces entitled I Am An Emotional Creature: the Secret Life of Girls Around The World.

I Am An Emotional Creature is similar to The Vagina Monologues in many ways, but focuses on the experiences of adolescent women.  It is deeply personal and contains many stories of many different young women: girls on the basketball team, girls who dream of horses, girls with body image concerns, girls with pregnancy concerns, girls who have been raped, girls who have been slave, girls who work in sweat shops, girls who want a new pair of UGGS.  The pieces are each works of fiction, not inspired by personal interviews, which I found somewhat disappointing.  Although the passion and personality that Eve wove into these stories would certainly make them engaging when performed by young women, there is a slight hollowness to knowing they were written by an adult woman stepping into the mindset of an adolescent, rather than adolescent voices themselves.

At times it gets a little painful.  Like the dramatic Mean Girls scenario of the pressure to be (and stay) popular.  The teen panic about deciding whether or not to carry a pregnancy to term, ended with concerns about not liking it very much when the baby won’t stop crying.  There is mention of the dreaded “sexting.”  What I mean to say, is that it sometimes feels as though some freaked out moms from a 20/20 special got a hand in this.  At other times it gets very painful.  Not in the 20/20 way, but in the tingles down your spine as you read about female genital mutilation/sex slavery/kidnapping and torture sort of way.  Some of the stories might be too much to stomach if we did know that they came directly from interviews.

But being an emotional creature, being a girl, being a woman, isn’t all pain and suffering, even if it appears that way through the first two thirds of the book.  There are a few positive pieces tucked in at the end, but they feel… different.  This is not to say that they aren’t all empowering in some way: stating these experiences, validating the reality and emotion inherent in them is empowering.  However, it starts to feel a little gloomy and a little dramatic and extreme from time to time.  (I would love it if we could just not ever use the term “sexting” in a tsk-tsk concerned-grown-up kind of way again.)

My favorite part of the book were the lists of descriptors of what it is to be a girl.  Lists like “What don’t you like about being a girl?,” “What’s a good girl?,” “Things I heard about sex,” “Things I like about my body.”  Here the simplicity of little phrases and words illuminate the complexity of being female in today’s world: the variety of experiences and attitudes and values.

I Am An Emotional Creature is a quick read, but probably something to be revisited many times to truly soak in.  I would love to see this performed by young women as a high school or community production.

The Planned Parenthood feed on facebook brought this chart to my attention today.  The chart is pretty big, so it’s hidden behind the jump.  The diagrams are pretty clear (and shocking, and saddening) on their own, but what I’d like to talk about are the ways that some of the findings were illustrated.  Let’s start with basic STD rates.

One in five people in the US has an STD.  One in four high school girls has an STD.

Question: What is a little off about these images?

Answer: The first, generic finding is represented with the universal male.  “People,” we can assume, refers to human beings: male, female, or any other label one chooses to apply.  But all of these people are represented by the male silhouette.  We know this is the male silhouette because the female silhouette, as displayed in the high school girls illustration, is pink rather than gray, wears a cute little triangle dress, and holds hands with her neighbors rather than keeping her arms to her sides.

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One in two sexually active youth will contract an STD by age 25

Then there are the youth of the US.  Like “people,” we’ll assume that “youth” is intended to refer to individuals of any gender, likely under the age of 18.  We have returned to the universal male figure, but now the non-infected figure is pink rather than gray.  Who knows what to make of this.

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Fifteen new STD cases are reported every week from porn actors and actresses

Ah, then we bring porn into this and our gendered but sexless little figures bust out the hip-out, blowing hair, stiletto-heeled pose.  Suddenly the generic leaps from male imagery to female imagery, and a very sexualized female at that.  Because this is the image that porn brings to mind.

What else did you notice in these illustrations?  Any other hidden stereotypes or assumptions that I didn’t pull out?  (Hint: One statistic on race?  Really?)  Full chart down here

Friday Night Lights is an amazing TV show, and if you’re not watching it, you should be.

I’ve been in love with the show since about halfway through the first season. I, like many fans, grew a little concerned as the early part of second season brought in some elements that seemed out-of-place, but I chock that up to the network getting involved and since those few missteps the show has returned to being one of the most sweet, gut-wrenching, beautiful, raw, poignant and genuinely optimistic shows on television. While I can try to articulate its awesomeness, however, I know others have already said it so much better…

Read the rest of this entry »

A friend of mine has been keeping me up to my ears in links, and they’re of quality material so I figured, why not share the wealth?  However, all of this information can be pretty overwhelming, so what can you do?  First, share this information with other people in your lives – and not just the feminists: we know this and how important it is, so pass it on to someone who might not otherwise be thinking about these issues, too.  Secondly, get involved. College campuses usually have student advocacy groups, and communities often have sexual assault and domestic violence shelters that can always use free help.  You can volunteer as a crisis call advocate or get involved in educating the community about rape, sexual assault, domestic violence, and healthy relationships.  You can also contact your local congresspeople and senators and advocate for more attention to be paid to the rape culture that extends to the military.  But most importantly, don’t forget about this a few days after you read the articles.  Empower yourself and others by facing the facts and working towards change.

56% believe some rape victims partly to blame for attack [the independent]

Dr Jan Welch, clinical director at the Haven in Camberwell, south-east London, said: “Unfortunately, women have bought into the idea that sometimes the rape victim is to blame. Under no circumstances is a woman at fault for being raped.  Coping with the emotional trauma of rape or sexual assault is made even harder when the victim is made to feel responsible for what’s happened.”

Violence against women is justified, says pupil study [bbc news]

A study of schoolchildren has found that most of those questioned thought violence towards women was acceptable if there was a reason behind it.  The majority of the pupils said it was justified if the woman had an affair, or if she was late in making the tea.

Myths That Make It Hard To Stop Campus Rape [NPR]

What Lisak found was that students who commit rape on a college campus are pretty much like those rapists in prison. In both groups, many are serial rapists. On college campuses, repeat predators account for 9 out of every 10 rapes.

Women at war: How roles are changing [bbc news]

“You’re supposed to carry your weapon at all times in a combat zone,” she said.  “But I put my weapon down and walked away to smoke a cigarette and that was when I was attacked.”  She was then dragged behind some power generators and raped.  “If I had kept my weapon maybe I would have been able to prevent it,” she says.  “But if I had used it I would probably have ended up in jail.”

This post is a soapbox, but bear with me.  I didn’t hide it behind a cut because it’s not something that I feel like I should hide behind a cut, in my mind, my life, or my blog.  I beseech you to stick with it, it was an important experience for me.

Yesterday I gave a lecture on sex to 250 college students at a college that is 80% LDS (Latter Day Saints aka Mormon).  Then I gave it again to another 250 students.  The night before my lecture I did some feminist reading to pump myself up.  This was apparently a bad idea, as I proceeded to pass the night restlessly, having nightmares about my lecture turning into a riot over abortion.  The class wouldn’t listen to me, and parents of kids from my high school youth group harassed and condemned me.  Whoa.

The lecture itself went fine (both times).  About two thirds of the students attended, and probably only 8-10 got up and left in the midst of the lecture (less than when I gave the same lecture last semester).  A handful stayed after each period, some to challenge what I had said (which is both fair and welcome), and others to shake my hand and thank me for discussing what is here a very (very) taboo subject.

The lecture begins with myths and truths about sexual motivation factors, such as hormones, drugs and alcohol, erotic materials (porn!), attraction to partner, cultural values and meaning, and evolutionary perspectives.  Part two of the lecture targets sex crimes: the differences between sexual assault (umbrella term for many sexual offenses) and rape (specific form of sexual assault).  I discuss prevalence rates, stats about the relationships between victims and rapists (stranger rape vs. date rape, acquaintance rape, marital rape, etc.).  I emphasize that rape is about power and control and their arousing properties, not sexual desire, citing the example that in this state the youngest reported rape victim is 2 months old, the oldest 94 years.  I discuss how to help a survivor, what to say, what not to say, and list campus and community resources.  Then shit hits the fan.

Some people leave when I bring up porn.  Some people leave when I indicate that rape is not a rare crime.  But the real exodus begins when we start discussing sexual orientation as a spectrum rather than a binary system.  I discuss the differences between biological/physical sex and gender identity.  I discuss the differences between sexual identification and sexual orientation or attraction.  I discuss how these constructs don’t always “match.”  Then we experiment with the Kinsey scale, discussing the possible 0-6 ratings of a series of individuals in vignettes (including research findings that suggest greater arousal to gay porn in homophobic versus nonhomophobic straight men – another exodus from the classroom) to illustrate the point that fitting people into boxes isn’t as easy or effective as we’d like.  Next, I ask students to generate a list of factors that they consider to be involved in determining sexual orientation.  What makes someone gay?  What makes someone straight?  I don’t ask students to discuss these ideas out loud, because things get wildly out of hand when this occurs.  Instead, I discuss the evidence for and against elements like environmental, biological, and cultural factors.  I conclude that these research findings suggest that “reparitive therapy” – attempts to cure someone of same sex attraction – is not possible, and does more harm than good: a stance that is supported by numerous professional associations including the American Academy of Pediatrics, American Psychological Association, and National Association of Social Workers.

Is it a perfect lecture?  Certainly not, and I’d give just about anything for the department to let me teach the sex and gender class (which is offered only once every-other year).  But its worth it.  Terrifying at times, but worth it.  And once I’m up there talking about sex, sharing new perspectives, and shaking up taboos I love it.  I love the students that stay after to ask more questions respectfully.  I love the students that shake my hand and thank me for introducing and briefly discussing rape and GLBTQ issues respectfully.  I love that I can create an atmosphere for 50 minutes in which students can feel safe.

But yesterday there was a moment that I didn’t feel safe.  Between the two lectures an older gentleman in the second section approached me about what he heard during the tail end of the first lecture.

“So this is a lecture about being gay, then,” he said.

“Actually, it’s about sexual drives -” I began.

Dude: “Are you gay?”

Me: “- sexual motivations -”

Dude: “Are you gay?”

Me: ” – sex crimes -”

Dude:  “Are you gay?”

Me:  “Will you let me tell you what the lecture is about?”

Dude:  “Will you answer my question?”

By this time other students were trying to get the guy to back off.  “Why does it matter?” they kept asking him.  I held my own – I explained what the lecture was about, that the professor had asked me to present on these topics (Dude: “This is not in the syllabus, you know that?  This is not in the course description,” repeat x10), and that he was not by any means required to stay.  He kept asking if I was gay.  He wanted to know my “angle.”  I wish I had said “Sir, would you feel comfortable answering that question with such interrogation?”  I wish I had said “Sir, can you explain to me how that is relevant?”  Instead I said “I’m currently in a committed relationship -” he has a knowing and disapproving look on his face “-with a male.”  Commence eyes bugging out of said dude’s head.  I continued, “I have never been in a relationship with a woman, but I see no problems with that.”

He concluded that I was an “advocate” (apparently that’s a bad thing?) and proceeded to inform me that this information is not in the textbook (it is) and won’t be on the test (it may) and is not outlined in the syllabus (neither is classical conditioning, Freudian theory, or a multitude of other specific Psych 101 topics), and that he would be leaving.  I thanked him (and thanked god that that was over and I wouldn’t have to put up with him through the next 50 minutes).

Students thanked me after class for this and apologized for their classmate.  I was happy to face off with him – defending my sexual orientation or my beliefs about sexual orientation is something that I rarely have to do and a burden that I will gladly bear when I can in the hopes that others might not have to, even for five minutes.

Was is as bad as my nightmare?  No, it was fabulous.  It was empowering.  It was inspiring.  But it sucktd that that could happen.  It sucks to be bullied by a student.  It sucks to face off with hatred, because it sucks that that kind of hatred exists.

I’ll admit it – I’m a sucker for SyFy original movies.  The wild plots, hyper-hyperbole, and fantastically noticeable CGI crack me up and hook me at the same time.  Two of my personal favorites include Mega Shark Vs. Giant Octopus and High Plains Invaders (which happened to star Buffy’s James Marsters as a wild-west sharpshooter killing giant alien-insect-robots in shoot’em ups).  But I’m willing to argue that their recent Alice in Wonderland tribute was actually pretty good, and not just for laughing at.

I’ve always loved Alice in Wonderland. Alice is typically portrayed (and pretty accurately to the book) as a little girl whose adventures in Wonderland primarily consist of her allowing things to happen to her or eating and drinking strange items simply because their labels tell her to.  At worst, this makes her appear foolish and as though she needs a protector, at best this makes her a compliant little girl.  But something about the fantasy and adventure and the fact that Alice is rarely shaken by her experience has always appealed to me.

SyFy’s Alice takes it to a new level.  Alice is now a young adult teaching karate classes and navigating the dating world.  When her new boyfriend Jack gives her a special family ring, she finds herself falling through the looking glass into Wonderland.  Here she sets out (with the help of the Hatter) to rescue Jack and escape back to her world.  Although Hatter really wants to be Alice’s hero, she often ends up using her karate skills to help them escape and really holds her own throughout the movie.  Hatter just wants to save Alice, but Alice is set on saving Jack (a nice twist on the “damsel in distress” trope). Spoilers, more analysis and a little bit of romance after the jump.

So I stumbled across thatsnotcool.com yesterday over on the Bitch blog, and thought I should pass it along.

Relationship and friendship control and abuse has all kinds of new ways of affecting the younger generation, and the more tech savvy we are the more forms of harassment emerge.  But, thatsnotcool.com has a bunch of great resources for teens and young adults coping with these new problems, including videos, discussion forums, and advice for individuals who are or know someone who is being abused.  Topics include “textual harassment,” “pic pressure,” “privacy problems,” “rumors,” and more.

I highly recommend checking it out for yourself, whether you or someone you know needs these tips right now or night, chances are sooner or later this is going to be a relevant concern to someone in your life and it never hurts to be prepared.

The following stats from the Center for Disease Control’s latest report are pretty sick (emphasis mine):

• 1.2 million cases of chlamydia were reported in 2008, up from 1.1 million in 2007.  Nearly 337,000 cases of gonorrhea were reported.
• Adolescent girls 15 to 19 years had the most chlamydia and gonorrhea cases of any age group at 409,531.
• Blacks (12% of the U.S. pop.) accounted for about 71% of reported gonorrhea cases and almost half of all chlamydia and syphilis cases in 2008.  Black women 15 to 19 had the highest rates of chlamydia and gonorrhea.
• 13,500 syphilis cases were reported in 2008, an almost 18% increase from 2007.  63% of syphilis cases were among men who have sex with men. Syphilis rates among women increased 36% from 2007 to 2008.
• 19 million new sexually transmitted infections occur each year, almost half among 15- to 24-year-olds.

And this includes nothing about rates of other diseases or unplanned pregnancy rates.  What is going on with sexual and reproductive health in the US?  We’re so busy getting riled up about the Stupid Stupak amendment (as well we should) that we continue to ignore the issues of comprehensive sex ed and funding for reproductive health service provides, such as Planned Parenthood, which in my humble opinion are preventative solutions to these increasing numbers.

After all the hype, coverage, and controversy regarding Teeth around the feminist blogosphere, I had to add this to my marathon list.  I’ll admit, I was worried.  Would it be as scary as I had convinced myself it would be?  Would it be overly gross?  Would there be too much sexual assault?

Whether or not Teeth has been the scariest film I’ve watched for our Halloween Movie Marathon, it has certainly been the most disturbing in many ways.  It made me laugh, it made me cringe, it made my stomach turn, it made me feel empowered, it made me feel angry.  Consider this your warning: Brace yourself for some pretty graphic themes and plenty of spoilers after the jump.