Chaz Bonno

Chaz Bono further introduces himself/herself to the world by appearing on Dancing with the Stars this past season. Throughout the show she/he speaks about encouraging others to be who they are and not care about what others say. I believe she/he is a great role model to others thinking about getting sex changes; it shows support.

Pregnant Nun?

Over the past years Halloween costumes have gotten more and more extreme and creative. The costume that has caused some controversy is the pregnant nun costume. Many people find it humorous while some get offended because it deals with religion. What’s your take?

Real World San Diego

In this seasons of the Real World there is a Lesbian Woman that dresses and acts like a man. I think this was a great way to show the gender roles that are built in society, and a great way to show young viewers to be themselves regardless of what gender they were born into.

Virgin Mary Controversy

A Mexican edition Playboy was decided to be published for a December issue. They thought it would be great to have the model Maria Florencia Onori pose as the Virgin Mary, but instead caused such a big controversy. Do you think that this is just an act of Renaissance, as stated from Playboy? Or do you think that Playboy should have known the mother of god should have not been shown this way?

Three Veils

Three Veils is a movie that came out this year about three Middle Eastern women dealing with the boundaries their culture has given them. It shows how culture plays a strong role in modeling what is expected from each gender, and how difficult it is for women specifically to be their own person. Here is the link to the trailer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgj2Fl7kpZw

Thinking about Sex

In "Thinking About Sex, or Not" Pamela Paul showcases a study called “Sex on the Brain?: An Examination of Frequency of Sexual Cognitions as a Function of Gender, Erotophilia, and Social Desirability,” by Terri D. Fisher, Zachary T. Moore and Mary-Jo Pittenger, The Journal of Sex Research
which asked college-aged people to note whenever they thought about sex, food, or sleep. Instead of men thinking about sex "all the time" the average guy thought about sex 19xs a day and women 10xs. This dissipates the notion of men (or women depending upon the cultural context) being sexual ravenous and insatiable beings.
The most notable part of the article was the "finding" that "gender...is not the major determinant of how often students think about sex. More influential is a person’s self-measured degree of erotophilia or comfort with sexuality. People who like sex and feel comfortable with it think about it more." (Paul, 1)
I think that this is such an undervalued and invaluable statement that many adults don't even realize. I believe that gender norms and expectations likely contribute to the discomfort and confusion surrounding sex and sexuality. Being comfortable in oneself is the first step towards being comfortable with others, both intimately and sexually.

Article: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/11/fashion/sex-on-the-brain-studied.html?scp=2&sq=sex&st=cse

Teaching Good Sex by Laurie Abraham

Abraham's article showcases a comprehensive and wholistic high school sex ed program that far from the abstinence only or abstinence-emphasis programs, plays to the needs and sincere questions and needs of the teenage audience. I found it almost shocking to believe that sex ed was initially started with a very similar bent in mind, informing kids about healthy relationships, knowledge about their bodies,
It wasn't until the 1980's that 'abstinence' even existed in the context of the sex ed conversation. And now, that is near exclusively what is taught/emphasized in schools. But none of the conservative methods really address the issues that teens are dealing with. Pressures of gender roles and sexuality are stronger than ever in high school and having a reliable and trustworthy source of information could be crucial for kids becoming healthy, well-adjusted sex-partakers. Perhaps if more high schools adopted such policies, the US would ditch it's bipolar, Puritan sex obsession/revulsion and grow up.
Just as importantly, the more open style of sex ed would allow girls to break the cycle of socialization in gendered sex roles. Instead of being concerned with what her parents, boyfriend, friends, and peers want, she can focus on and pursue what SHE WANTS-- as an agent.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/20/magazine/teaching-good-sex.html?pagewanted=1&sq=sex&st=cse&scp=5

Senegal and the Slow Stamping of Female Genital Cutting

In the article "Senegal Curbs a Bloody Rite for Girls and Women", Celia W. Dugger relays the story of a movement. Over 5000 Senegalese villages have abandoned the practice of female genital cutting. Far from the success stemming from white, Western funds and values, the wave has been largely an educational one, spurred by inter-village linkages and facilitated by organizations such as Tostan, which funds runs the educational program.
Female genital cutting is typically discussed in Western forums as this barbaric practice, and is treated as such when trying to educate people about its risks. Hence why many Western groups have traditionally been so unsuccessful at making their case in such villages. Many people believe that they are helping their daughters when they get the procedure done. Others think that it is mandated by Islamic law (it's not). When people do something out of a love for their god and their children, then talking about it like it's abhorrent and sick is insensitive and creates a stalemate of values. By educating people about the risks and making the distinction between Islamic law and ancient custom, the same village structures that held the practice in place for so long are now dismantling the ritual by communally pledging to stop it.
We spent time talking about how doctors select a gender for sexually ambiguous babies based on genitalia, with larger clitoris' being seen as unseemly (ie too masculine). Here too, the "male-looking parts (those that stick out) are the ones being done away with, but it isn't due to a random man's discretion but a cultural conception that women will be more calm and safer if she has the procedure done. Yet cutting does give the impression that women have a sexuality that if unbridled, is uncontrollable for them. This we have also seen this theme in many of our texts (Malleus Malefucarum, the Cantigas, etc).In both cases, we have a case of cultures catering to men's sexual desires (keeping women's parts un-masculine and ensuring that they won't fuck anyone else). Education, as always, is the solution in both cases. However, this education needs to be framed keeping the cultural context in mind.

Tostan: http://www.tostan.org/

the article: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/16/world/africa/movement-to-end-genital-cutting-spreads-in-senegal.html?ref=thefemalefactor

Sworn Virgins

"Feminization as devalorization" is a phrase that indicates a situation, structure, or value system where the female and things associated with femininity are deemed lesser than males and masculine-identified things. Thus gaining or losing feminine status also determines a respective gain or loss of power, opportunity, respect, etc. Pertaining to much of what we've covered this semester, this idea permeates our culture in ways we may not realize. Oftentimes, to prove the point, professors will have students list off adjectives to describe men and women, and wouldn't you know, the female adjectives are typically less desirable.
Yet many conflate the notion of feminization as devalorization with what is "natural" or "the truth".
Culturally condescended into believing that parts or wholes of women were less.
As a kid I wasn't ever able to get over how women couldn't just "act like boys" to make their goals happen. And I never really ran into it until this class. We talked about Erauso and de Cespedes, where one used masculinity as a means of escaping out of the convent and the other to match her testicles. But the case of the Albanian women is different as their "sworn virginity" is usually due to economic circumstances. Men serve roles as providers and have much more freedom to travel, negotiate, learn skills, etc. If a family doesn't have a male heir, this is a potential decision that can save a family from dying destitute.
For me, this really calls into question the notion of gender role rigidity. If women can swear to not disturb sexual/orietentation roles, they are allowed to become men. Yet the idea that women should not have the freedoms and opportunities that men do isn't even brought up in the conversation. There would be no such virgins if these inequalities were addressed.
Would the situation be different if there were more/better social services in place?

http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/player/places/culture-places/beliefs-and-traditions/albania_swornvirgins.html

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/alice_dreger_is_anatomy_destiny.html

While studying for the final, I chanced upon this video and found it very interesting. The speaker, Alice Dreger, studies history and anatomy and talks about her experience with intersexed people. She met a person with XY chromosomes, but because the individual suffers from androgen insensitivity syndrome, the individual's body does not respond to testosterone. Thus, she grows towards the path of a woman, she looks like a woman. It was not until puberty when she did not get her period when she saw a doctor and realized that she has the genetic make up of a man. After this revelation, people felt that she is a man. But innately, she grew up as a feminine girl and even had breasts.

Another encounter she had was with an individual who suffers from congenital adrenal hyperplasia. He was born a boy, raised a boy and had sex with his girlfriend. However, he found out he had ovaries and a uterus and subsequently, realized that he has XX chromosomes. The reason for his masculinity was because the adrenal glands were very active in the wombs, thus creating a masculine environment internally, which causes the genitals and mind of the individual to be masculinized too.

This video was very interesting as I did not know or hear anything about intersex people. In the above-mentioned examples, the individuals were brought up in a gender that is opposite of their genetic make-up. However, because of their upbringing and internal body environment, they feel the same as the opposite sex, causing the society to question the true identity of the individuals. However, quoting Alice Dreger, we are too used to the notion that "one kind of anatomy comes with one kind of identity." This is a oversimplistic portrayal of the entire issue of sex, as unconventional situations have proved that sex is a very complicated concept. Therefore, the whole notion of gender is actually a social construct built upon our deeply rooted perception of what it means to be a man or a woman. Does it depend on our genetic make up or our upbringing and how we feel internally? Dr Martin Luther King said in his "I have a dream" speech, "We should judge people based not on the color of their skin, but on the content of their character." This attitude should be applied to the way we judge people too. We should transcend beyond the anatomy, and view them as who they are as a person, instead of expecting them to fulfill the societal expectations of gender.

Many found sexually active in 70's

I found this old article in the New York Times where it describes how many American where found to be sexually active in the 60’s and 70’s. In a study actually Dr. Butler states that sexual relationships are important. What really resonates with me in this article is the carefree 60’s and 70’s the “hippie movement” where protesting and having sex was considered rebelling. What I remember from our reading is where Prince Magogul describes that we all have been living under a spell of immense curiosity of sex and are bent to question it. We all have an insatiable desire to speak about it. The individuals that would speak about it would get punished by the church as shown as nuns in the covenant. Although this sex is forbidden because it same they are nuns. To relinquish yourself to god means relinquishing your sexual desires makes no sense. It is within us to be sexual beings and accept one another on his or her gender desires.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/23/us/23sex.html?adxnnl=1&ref=sex&adxnnlx=1323690245-Z9pWODhF7jIciSFXmlinFQ

Fashion and Vagina Dentata

http://www.mydaily.co.uk/2011/11/30/miranda-kerr-victorias-secret-viewing-party/

I came across this article when looking up vagina dentata, which according to some fairly recent posts is a real-life condition. The statement it made about the condition was super casual, but absolutely unexpected at the same time: "An unfortunate effect of Alessandra's metallic dress is that it looks like her crotch has fangs. Although we suppose she could be making a sociological point about the vagina dentata." Society may be fairly aware of vagina dentata at this point because of all the films that have broadcasted the condition, but as seen with our own class which is actually studying the subject in some detail, most are not aware of how real it actually is. This offhand comment embodies that exact ignorance, and without the proper education and knowledge, many of us are actually making light of a situation others may find hurtful or insulting. Misunderstanding vagina dentata can be attributed to how rare the condition is, but it does not excuse the fact that those who suffer from it also face these seemingly innocent jibes.

China's One-Child Policy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndWuq6AznmQ

Although China enacted the one-child policy in order to control the overwhelming population growth rate, it has backfired in terms of gender imbalance and other similar issues. The belief that a male child is more valuable has been reinforced since B.C. ages, because only males can carry on the family name while females lose their last names when married off. The one-child policy caused many households to become one-minded on only producing male heirs, hence creating a gender imbalance in China, especially rural areas. The question today due to the national situation is still hotly debated: should the policy be upheld in order to continue to slow down population growth, or is it more important to begin reversing the gender imbalance?

Another interesting point that the video presents is how parents are forbidden from finding out the gender of their child through ultrasound tests. Even though they can still figure it out anyways through other means, the steps that the government has taken to restore the gender balance is raising more questions. Is it worth encouraging immoral behaviors, such as lying, in order to balance things out once more? In fact, one may go so far as to ask why the government does not find other means to handle the population and gender balance situations instead of establishing strict controlling measures over the largest national population in the world.

There are many videos on youtube criticizing the methods of advertisement industries and their portrayals of woman. They all try to show the sexuality that is prevalent through the media, and the effect it has on the audience. One video in particular chose a set of provocative, but demeaning advertisements, and coupled them with statistics about sexual assault. After several of these, a quote by Oscar Wilde appears on screen, stating “Life imitates art far more than art imitates life.” This quote totally changes the viewers perspective on everything they just saw. At first you saw the add portraying two pale, gaunt young women with heavy black eye makeup, dressed in fancy stylish dresses, snorting lines of white powder that has been arranged in the form of a cute tank-top, and you think “it is disgusting that advertisements take advantage of that culture to sell clothes.” But after reading Oscars quote, you start to wonder how much of that culture exists because of advertisements that glorify it. how do we separate the two? Is it possible to tell weather culture is influenced more by the adds we see, or if the adds we see are influenced more by culture? There are two adds depicted which both portray women with bodies that are simply physically impossible (one depicted above). One shows nothing more than a topples anorexic photographed from the back, with her fingers wrapping around her stomach and appearing on the left side of her spine, caressing the bones which shoot through her back. The only thing visible in the background is a toilet bowl, and she appears to be sitting on the ground. The word, obsession is printed at the top, and “for women” at the bottom. While I imagine this must be sexy to someone, to me it appears disgusting. Are these ads imitating what society has deemed appealing, or are they telling society what should be appealing. Do most people who view it think the same thing I did. “Well that’s kinda gross, but she must be sexy because it’s on an advertisement.” do we actually develop attraction for our selves, or does society just make the decision for us?

Men and Women Cant be friends... Or Can They?

In the video why men and women cant be friends, two young film makers set out to answer the question can men and women really be just friends. The do this by interviewing people at the Utah state university library. The video starts off with the interviewer asking several attractive young women if men and women can be just friends. They all confidently answer yes, and the film soon switches to a series of men struggling with they question. Some of them giggle or scoff, some of them attempt to rationalize there feelings, but the answer they give is ultimately no. The general consensus amongst them men was that they can not control who they are attracted to, and while their behavior may remain friendly, they’re desires do not. Out of the fellows interviewed, one seemed to really convey the point well, in both language and tone. He explains,” I mean were all men, so of cores were going to have those feelings... And we can be content with just friendship… and we can be silent, regarding those feelings, but were gonna have them.” The long pauses between phases, His uncomfortable mannerisms, and the matter-of-factness in his voice all perfectly represent the essence of how it feels to hide intimate feelings for a good friend. The discrepancy in answers between men and woman first appears to point to the conclusion that women like to believe their male friends have the best intentions, and the girls underestimate their true feelings. The interviewer then begins to ask the girls if they have ay close guy friends right now, and if they think he is interested in them romantically, or at least would take advantage of an opportunity to sleep with them. Most of the girls barely miss a beat before saying, “well… yeah”, or “of cores.” They are not at all disillusioned to the fact that their male “friends” desire them sexually, they just have learned to put up with it. ‘learned to put up with it’ is not really accurate. For they do not view it as a burden or as strange, that is simply built into their understanding of friendship with a man. The true difference is that men and women seem to view the concept of “friendship” with someone from the opposite sex as differently. For men, intimate feelings change the nature of the relationship: a world of repressed love and suffering in silence does not equate to friendship. But for women, the two are not mutually exclusive. Maybe it is because for the average women, most of her male friends want the relationship to be intimate, and if she were to reject every one of their friendships, she would have no male friends, and this causes the two concepts to blend together in her psyche. Women and men simply understand the meaning of friendship differently. What do you think, can men and women be friends?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_lh5fR4DMA

Progress for Transgenders in Modern-day Contexts

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Po7MRrRsIYY

Although many people think of races as minorities in populations today, they fail to realize that gender too is another area in which minorities fight to become recognized as groups that deserve equal rights. In Nepal, according to this video, the momentous decision of including a third option under gender categories that people can select for the national census has been made. This step forward for gender minorities indicates that, due to the recent movements involving LGBTQ's, the presence of these gender minorities has become known to the extent where countries are officially recognizing them as a unique group of people. The widespread acknowledgement of transgenders or those who are intersexes educates citizens further about the existence of these populations. At the same time, the government's recognition and acceptance of the populations will eventually lead to the same acceptance among the people of the nation.

Gender Roles and Kids

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWc1e3Nbc2g

I recently found this video on Youtube questioning kids and what they think about boys and girls, their own identity in regards to gender, etc. It's kind of disturbing to realize that, at such a young age, people's ideas about gender are already being established. At the same time, it also reveals how vulnerable we are to accepting gender roles the way they are, because as children, I think most would only question how things work and not the reasons behind the reinforcement of such social standards. Having such beliefs set in at an early age would only make it more difficult later on to change them. As of now, changing the way we raise the members of our future generation would be difficult, but allowing them to realize that they have the ability to change such traditional ways of thinking would permit more room for them to develop their own ideas about gender roles in the near future.

The Life of a Model

When you watch something such as the Victoria's Secret fashion show, it's quite apparent that these are a group of the most beautiful women in the world. The other question, however, is can anyone be that naturally "perfect," or not. Well, apparently not.

Starting 3 months before the Victoria's Secret fashion show, the models must go on a fruits and vegetables "only" diet. Starting 3 days before the show, they go on a liquids "only" diet, and for a full 24 hours before the actual show, they are not allowed to consume any food or liquids at all.

So, clearly this does not seem healthy. However, does it make it socially acceptable for these women to go on such scary diet's when they're getting paid to do so? They are getting paid to look beautiful, and go through the necessary steps to accomplish that goal. However, something still just seems very twisted about the whole situation to me.

Vagina Dentata

Understanding Vagina Dentata.flv