CATEGORIES: HIV/AIDS Science Sexuality Education
November 30, 2007
World AIDS Day
Tomorrow is World AIDS Day. Yes, another year has gone by and we still have such a long way to go. I don’t know what it was about the community that I was raised in, but in the early 1990s, when HIV was being recognized as an indiscriminate virus (one that didn’t care about your sexual orientation, race, or religion), parents became consumed by the thought of their children being affected (and infected) with HIV. Even if your parents never talked to you about sex, they did tell you one thing: "Use a condom". That was it. Condoms, condoms, condoms. To be perfectly honest, I have never considered not using one. It was just so ingrained in me. It still is.
So why is it fifteen years later and the epidemic hasn’t lessened its grasp on the world? Why is it that 6,000 children lose a parent to AIDS or an AIDS-related illness every day? Why are there 33.2 million people who are living with HIV globally? There were 2.5 million new infections of people 15 and older in 2007 and 2.1 million children and adults have died this year from AIDS. (21,000 from North America!)WHY WHY WHY?
HIV is preventable. We know what it takes. Use a condom. Be tested. Don’t share needles or blood related products. And most importantly, don’t be complacent. HIV is still as important an issue as it was twenty years ago.
For more information (and for additional HIV/AIDS resources), please check out POZ.com.
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CATEGORIES: Abstinence Only Book Tour Books Current Affairs Sexuality Education Television
November 27, 2007
News for November
Sorry I have been out of touch, so to speak. Between work and the holidays, I have been running a bit behind. Not that there hasn’t been a wealth of items to talk about:
1. Prude: How the Sex Obsessed Culture Damages Girls - the frightening book by Carol Platt Liebau which was brought to my attention by Rachel Kramer Bussel
2. Another scathing review of abstinence only programs in this country; This time, brought to you by The National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy.
3. New hypocrisy related gossip: What does Trent Lott’s retirement have to do with Hustler magazine?
And for fun, some new Third Base Ain’t What it Used to Be press:
Check out VickyandJen for their podcast with me - chock full of parenting tips!
and The Chicago Tribune’s feature 5 Things I Learned From....
For some fun videos, check out the Relationship 101 segments from The Morning Show with Mike and Juliet : Relationship Survival Durings the Holidays and Secrets Your Shouldn’t Keep (though if you ask my co-contributor, he thought that the title should me "Why Men Should Keep Secrets").
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CATEGORIES: Abstinence Only Bloggers Book Tour Sexual Language Sexuality Education
November 12, 2007
Say it Ain’t So
Hmmm...looks like abstinence only programs don’t work. Oh, have I said that before? Sounds familiar, but now there is a new study that is saying the same thing. Last week, the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy released a study confirming that ab-only programs don’t delay sex. Even more exciting, the review of teenage sexual behavior also concluded that comprehensive sexuality education does delay the initiation of sex, reduces a teen’s number of sex partners, and increases condom and contraceptive usage. Hurray!
Needless to say, this is terrific news. So I ask you all this: Why have we spent over $1.5 billion in the last ten years on abstinence only? And why is Congress even considering a bill to spend another $141 million on it?
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CATEGORIES: Bloggers Book Tour Sexual Language Sexuality Education
November 03, 2007
Vajajay? I Think Not.
If you read last week’s New York Times article you know that our pop culture icons are talking about vaginas...or are they? No, they are talking about vajajays and if you know anything about me, you know that I don’t like it one bit. In fact, as soon as I read the article I started my Letter to the Editor campaign, which I am pleased to say, has resulted in my first published Letter.
Not that this should be a surprise, but I am completely dismayed by the idea that we have to have a more "palatable" term for vagina (and BTW, most of the time that word is really describing the vulva - so how confusing is that?). What message does that send to girls and women - are our parts so dirty that we have to use an alternative term for them? What do you think?
In more positive news, Denise over at Fast Times at Club Mom has posted a review of Third Base Ain’t What it Used to Be, and has posed a great question to her readers. Check it out. What do you have to say?
