Sex In the News

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Communication Fails: www.HeTexted.com

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Last week, I stumbled upon HeTexted.com, a website devoted to “interpreting” cryptic text messages from men. Here’s how it works: a user sends in a text message, includes their own comments giving necessary background information, and leaves the decision up to the internet. Anyone in the blogosphere can vote in one of three ways regarding the sender’s intentions: either he’s into you, he’s not into you, or the verdict is still out. Sound familiar? My first instinct was to hate it, to repost the link with some snarky comment about the novel idea of actually asking your partner what they meant.  My second instinct was to hate it more, wondering why these people couldn’t just ask their friends what they thought rather than airing all their dirty laundry on the internet. Continue Reading →

Filed under: Communication, Technology, Warnings

Gender Theorists Are The Enemy (According To The Pope)

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In a recent speech, Pope Benedict XVI asserted that heterosexual marriage is a sacrament of creation, and that because gender theorists seek to disrupt marriage and similar institutions, they pose a danger to humanity. Riiiight. Here come the gender theorists, who will DESTROY EVERYTHING YOU HOLD DEAR. I would instead argue that the pope should be taken to task for giving his blessing to Ugandan legislation that institutes a death penalty for homosexuality. Who’s doling out the harm, here? Continue Reading →

Filed under: Gender Issues, GLBT, catholicism, gender theories, the pope

Hasbro to Produce “Gender-Neutral” Easy-Bake Oven

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McKenna Pope, a 13 year-old girl from New Jersey, is a bad-ass. After searching for an Easy-Bake oven for her younger brother for Christmas and discovering that the Hasbro product only comes in pink and purple, Pope decided to make a change. She headed over to Change.org (you know, the people behind those daily emails with inflammatory headlines that you can’t quite figure out how to unsubscribe from) and started an online petition, which received over 40,000 signatures. Hasbro recently announced that they would be releasing an Easy-Bake oven in “gender-neutral” colors (black, silver, and blue), and have promised to include boys as well as girls in their advertisements. This is great news! Continue Reading →

Filed under: Gender Issues, GLBT

Challenging Rape Culture In India (Trigger Warning)

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A 23-year old medical student was gang-raped on a public bus in Delhi, India, leading to nation-wide protests. Protesters point out the pervasive rape culture in India, such that rape is horrifyingly common and the legal consequences are few. Many protesters are hopeful about both cultural and legal reforms, using this latest incident as a means of opening a public dialogue about a troubling problem. I’m hopeful on their behalf, too. Continue Reading →

Filed under: Sexual Assault & Rape, india, rape culture

Holiday Giving? Think Again About The Salvation Army!

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Love it or hate it, the holiday season is here. That means (along with being bombarded by Christmas music every time you’re out) being forced to choose between dodging and acknowledging the people who are out asking for money in front of stores. Even if the idea of giving to charity appeals to you, think carefully about where your money might be going. One of the most prominent charities, with their distinctive red buckets and bell-ringing, is the Salvation Army. However, one of their media relations directors said outright that gays deserve death. Continue Reading →

Filed under: GLBT, charity, holidays, homophobia

Way To (Not) Go, Ohio

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photo courtesy of Ben at Lifehacksimmediately
In general, I love Ohio. I’ve mentioned before that I am also a huge fan of Cleveland, so my only consolation with this story is that it’s from another city in Ohio. A dry cleaner in Cincinnati has decided to share their opinions regarding abortion via their hangers. RH Reality Check refers to Springdale Drycleaners’ hangers as the “worst marketing decision ever,” and I have to agree that it’s not the best choice. The paper covering the hanger includes a picture of a smiling child, and the words “choose life!” Continue Reading →

Filed under: Sex In the News, Abortion, ohio, pro-life

Peaceful Pee

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This is a first, at least in my experience – not only have I found a gender neutral bathroom but it’s also sponsored! I’m at the Center for Family Life Education’s annual Sex Ed Conference, and attendees have the option of bucking the gender binary and using the gender neutral restroom sponsored by Pee in Peace. Pee in Peace is an app that helps users locate gender neutral bathrooms, although it unfortunately is only for Ithaca, NY. I’m hoping that more gender neutral bathrooms will start popping up – and maybe with enough attention, Pee in Peace will expand to nationwide. Any thoughts on sponsoring bathrooms? Continue Reading →

Filed under: Gender Issues, Gender Inclusive, Transgender

Women’s Progress In Academia

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Caroline Walker Bynum’s memoir-like essay of being a female professor in the 1960s and 1970s strikingly explains some of the cultural factors that allowed women to begin advancing in academia. At a time when women were not allowed to dine in the Harvard Faculty Club or join certain learned societies, there was of course backlash when women began breaching those bastions of old boys’ clubs. Yet as Bynum points out, “Women, who had never been in the club, didn’t notice much when it disappeared. Sometimes quietly, sometimes aggressively, they began to fill some of the few places that were available.” This is true in other spheres of society as well – and it carries warnings to women, not to get so caught up with in-fighting that we let distrust of each other weaken our already-tenuous positions. Continue Reading →

Filed under: Gender Issues, Academia

Unconscious Gender Bias Among Academics

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While we may tend to think that educated and open-minded people are less likely to hold unconscious biases, a study by Yale found that scientists responded to the gender of names assigned to CVs as much as a control group did. They judged the men to be more competent candidates and deserving of higher pay. The female as well as male scientists made these assessments, demonstrating that both genders have internalized gendered values. Hopefully openly discussing the prevalence of gender bias will make people more aware of its influence on them. Follow us on Twitter @mysexprofessor. Continue Reading →

Filed under: Gender Issues, Academia, Gender

Straw Feminists: Do Feminists Really Hate Men?

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The stereotype of the man-hating feminist is quite pervasive in contemporary American culture, as exemplified in this brilliant cartoon, Straw Feminists. But do feminists really hate men? How can we find out? Turns out that empirical research will go a long way toward dispelling such stereotypes. A study published in Psychology of Women Quarterly [pdf] reported on college students’ attitudes toward men, as measured with the Ambivalence toward Men Inventory (AMI). Continue Reading →

Filed under: Gender Issues, Feminism