Coming Out At Age 14
Coming out of the closet
By Zoe Heringer
I was 14 years old when I began to get in tune with my sexuality.
I had been watching a TV show called Skins, which is a British series that follows a group of teenagers who are confronting different problems in life. Some are dealing with depression or eating disorders or dysfunctional families. Others are coping with abuse or bullying. Each episode zeros in on one character and the struggles they face.
One episode centered on a young woman who was striving to come out and be honest about her attraction to girls. Read the rest of this entry
Share this:
“Yes Means Yes” Is Scary? Rape Is Scary
Consent is sexy
“Yes means yes” is the standard for sexual consent on California’s state college campuses.
That’s because “no means no” isn’t good enough.
After all, a woman may not be able to say, “No” because she is frozen with fear. Or she is asleep. Or she’s had too much to drink. Or for a number of other reasons.
Some guys welcome the change, like a 19-year-old English major who told Emily Brazelon at the New York Times, Read the rest of this entry
Share this:
Why Do Betas Push Theory That Insults Them?
Alpha or Beta?
By Catfish and Georgia
Some guys who call themselves “betas” (gentler, less macho men) complain that women want dominating “alphas,” not them.*
These betas insist that evolution controls the phenomenon: Alphas just have better genes. Sob.
Yet a University of Tennessee study published by PNAS found that most women prefer more generous and reliable “betas.” I know I do.
I’ve wondered why some “betas” push a theory that puts them down and leaves them no hope? Read the rest of this entry
Share this:
Men Not Feeling Much Like Supermen
As Captain Marvel, Okoye, Wonder Woman and Black Widow have emerged, one by one, onto the silver screen I’ve found myself feeling surprisingly empowered as a woman. No wonder men have so much self-confidence, with all the male superheroes out there.
Or not.
A friend of mine, “Bob,” sees things differently: “The downside to the abundance is that men feel like they have to live up to that.” And, apparently, fear that they don’t.
After Bob turned up this more tarnished side of the coin I started noticing a number of songs that seem to reflect the drawback to superherodom. Like Coldplay’s “Something Just Like This.”
Achilles and his gold, Hercules’s gifts
Spiderman’s control, and Batman with his fists
And clearly I don’t see myself upon that list Read the rest of this entry
Share this:
I Look Sexy, But I Don’t Feel Pleasure
Laci Green explains self objectification.
I recently talked about “spectatoring” — watching yourself have sex instead of enjoying pleasure.
After surveying my women students I learned that three-quarters spent at least some of their time in bed distracted by how they looked. Most worried that they weren’t “hot” enough. And most also said that their concerns harmed their sexual experience to some degree.
But some women did think they were attractive. In fact, when I surveyed students about the last time they had sex, one young woman replied, “I think I looked pretty good.” Read the rest of this entry
Share this:
Dominatrix: Worshipped and Objectified
Paul Giamatti of Showtime’s Billions, all tied up as his dominatrix wife looks down on him.
I recently debated two of my readers, Bob and Fred, about whether women like being dominated in consensual sex.
After searching my files I found a sample of my students, 83 women and 63 men who are not gay/lesbian (because I wanted a sample of people who have sex cross-sexually). I had wondered what my male students believed about women and what women felt, themselves: Read the rest of this entry
Share this:
Men Looking at Partially-Clothed Men
Diet Coke Gardener commercial
How do men feel about male nudity in media?
In the past I’ve written about men’s reactions, which you can see here and here.
They felt pretty uncomfortable.
But what if they wear more clothing — masculine jeans and no shirt? Read the rest of this entry
Share this:
Good Men Defending Title IX Protections from Sexual Assault
Title IX protects both women and men.Education Secretary Betsy DeVos wants to weaken Title IX
Education Secretary Betsy DeVoss wants to weaken Title IX protections from sexual harassment and violence in schools.
Why should men join in the fight to block her proposed changes? Men, like readers of this blog, seek justice and equality.
And, as it turns out, Title IX protections help men too!
Read more at The Good Men Project.
Share this:
Domination Culture’s Assault on Title IX
Title IX protects from sexual crimes on campus are under threat.
Why is Education Secretary Betsy DeVoss fighting against the interests of other women by weakening Title IX protections from sexual harassment and violence in schools, narrowing the standards used to determine what counts as a crime and making it more difficult for victims to come forward?
Some women accept the “patriarchal bargain” which bestows power and privilege in return for betraying their sisters. Others have unconsciously internalized patriarchy so that it simply seems natural and normal. Still others seek to advance domination culture because it richly rewards themselves, and patriarchy’s strong arm helps uphold that system. Read the rest of this entry
Share this:
Rather be a Victoria’s Secret Angel or You?
Playboy wanted to know how average-looking Lena Dunham, the award-winning producer, director, writer and star of HBO’s Girls, would feel if she woke up in the body of a Victoria’s Secret Angel.
Not so great, said Dunham, who frequently appeared nude on her show. Read the rest of this entry
