Blog Archives
Women’s Sexuality in Islam
By Dania Jafar
Islam represses women’s sexuality, right? Think again.
We all see Muslim women draped in head-to-toe burqas. Or read about 10-year-olds being married off to 50-year-old men. Or cringe at women being stoned for adultery. Or knifed to death by family members in “honor killings” for such crimes as fornication or being with a man without a chaperone – or for being raped. (The stain of sexual impurity must be removed from the family, it is thought.) In some parts of North Africa and the Middle East women’s genitals are ritually cut or removed in the name of Islam.
In such a world, whose sexuality wouldn’t be repressed?
But nothing you just read has anything to do with Islam. All of the above are cultural practices that are not approved in the Quran. Read the rest of this entry
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Words Make Men More Important
Simone De Beauvoir’s “The Second Sex.”
When a woman marries she usually takes her husband’s name.
We still describe all of us as men, man, mankind, brotherhood, fellowship…
And we are still more likely to use “he” than “she” when describing a person with no specific referent.
Usually, men come first, too: Men and women, boys and girls, brothers and sisters, husbands and wives, guys and gals, guys and dolls… Read the rest of this entry
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Men = Money Objects; Women = Sex Objects
Men are money objects?
Women may not objectify men’s bodies, but they objectify other things, like social status, power, wealth, fame etc. And those things are intrinsically connected with sexuality.
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If She Was Drunk, Did She Rape Herself?
It’s almost universal that gang rape victims are intoxicated, and for some reason when alcohol gets involved, a drunk woman did it to herself.
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Don’t Protect Girls. You Might Offend Men!
“Barbaric” might be too offensive a word to describe customs like these?
- Killing girls for the “crime” of being raped
- Genitally mutilating girls
- Forcing girls into marriage
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Breast Buds and Growing Pains
What’s happening to me?
By Bo Bi
Growing breasts can be awkward.
When I first started developing I was nervous about other people seeing my “breast buds” and thinking they were weird. And I felt embarrassed because my nipples kind of showed beneath my undershirt in those early days before I got permission to buy a bra.
The solution? Develop terrible posture. When I hung out with boys I slumped my shoulders, hoping they wouldn’t notice. Read the rest of this entry
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Body Image: What Guys Don’t Get
Mila Kunis
Do you ever worry that you’re too fat, too thin, or that your breasts or derrière might be too big, too small, too droopy, too lopsided…?
Men are often surprised when they find out that their partners are worried about such things— “You’re beautiful!” they think. Read the rest of this entry
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Women Are More Responsive To Repression
Women’s sexuality is more hushed-up and punished in our culture:
- Sexual women are still called “sluts” and “ho’s”
- Parents — especially fathers — are more open about sexuality with their sons. In fact, dad may brag about his son’s sexual prowess but not his daughter’s
- Viagra is openly advertised but products aiding women’s sexuality are not
- Ever seen a movie about girls trying to lose their virginity?
- The fear of sexual violence — or actually experiencing it — makes sexuality seem fearful to women and girls
- And be careful girls, or you may get f’d or screwed
AND women’s sexuality is more responsive to punishment.
Why? Read the rest of this entry
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Once and Future Gender Equality
Most people don’t realize that the world wasn’t always male-dominant.
Even today a few egalitarian societies remain. Like the !Kung of Africa or New Guinea’s Tchambuli.
Going back in time, when Europeans first set out to conquer the world, they were surprised to see how gender-equal some of the peoples they met were. Like American Indians and Pacific Islanders. Read the rest of this entry
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How’s The Double Standard Make Sense?
Emma Stone in “Easy A”
People often ask:
How does the double standard make sense?
Men can’t have sex with women unless women have sex with men.
And, how is it fair that guys can have lots of sex — and be rewarded, in fact — but women are shamed if they behave in the same way. It’s crazy.
Logically, it doesn’t make sense.
But if you want to create a patriarchy that values and privileges men over women, the double standard helps to create that world. Read the rest of this entry
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