Blog Archives

Opposites Attract. Or Not.

Do opposites attract?

Do opposites attract?

Opposites attract, they say. And most of us believe it.

In fact, most people say they want a partner who complements them — not one who reflects them.

But do they? Read the rest of this entry

Why Fight Against Your Interests?

False consciousness: any belief or view that prevents a person from being able to understand the true nature of a situation.

False consciousness: a belief that prevents understanding the true nature of a situation.

Why would anyone fight against their own interests?

Some folks have filed suit because it is soooo horrible that they are being offered a tax subsidy that would make health insurance affordable for them. (Supreme Court decision due this month).

?????!!!!!!!!!

But wait, There’s more:

  • I saw a Tea Partier get on a bus to push legislation that would help the billionaire Koch brothers, but hurt his middle-class family. He forlornly said that it had to be done.

Read the rest of this entry

Sexual Satisfaction Tied to Gender Equality

Gender equality = sexual equality

Gender equality = sexual equality

When I ask my students how many of them have heard of girls being slut-shamed in high school, they all have.

Meanwhile, as I’ve mentioned before, around half of American women have experienced sexual dysfunction: low desire, no desire, painful sex and difficulty climaxing.

Women enjoy sexuality much more in places where women and men have greater equality. Read the rest of this entry

Why Endure Excruciating Hookups? 

Bad sex

Bad sex

Some women enjoy hooking up when it’s “friends with benefits.” Or if not friends, at least sex without malevolence.

Other times ya gotta wonder why they do it.

Women having bad sex

Like women who have sex with 13 men (at different times) but without pleasure. Because it’s about his pleasure and not hers. Or women who feel reduced to sex toys. Or women who “just want to get it over with.”  Or women who say, Read the rest of this entry

Mocked because my name ends in “SHE”

"He" is better than "she"?

“He” is better than “she”?

By Mahi Chitti

I grew up being mocked by both my peers and my elders because my name ends in “SHE.”

Maharshi.

The shaming pushed me to invent a nickname, Mahi, so that my name would end with “HE.”

At the time I thought it was pretty cool. And having a name that ended in “he” made me feel a lot better about myself. Read the rest of this entry

Making Peace With My Big Boobs

Actress, Christina Hendricks

The well-endowed actress, Christina Hendricks

I thought that with cleavage came power. But as my cleavage amassed, I found the opposite to be true. My ample cups seemed to hint at certain unpleasant possibilities. Like, maybe I was dumb. Maybe I was slutty. Maybe I liked it when people gawked at my breasts, and when the guy driving that van rolled down the window to say “nice tits, love” as I walked past in my school uniform.

Not!

That’s from Chloe Pantazi who wrote a piece for Salon entitled, “My boobs, my burden.” Read the rest of this entry

Women Must Be Fit; Men Can Be Flabby

Can men be valued even if their bodies appear flabby and “gross”? What about women? Can they be? Maybe. But men may have more leeway.

While looking thru the archives at Sociological Images, I ran into this. The pictures are from a few years back but they’re still relevant. Dr. Lisa Wade makes some interesting points here.

***

By Lisa Wade @ Sociological Images

Mercedes DeM. sent in this Vanity Fair cover (for April 2009)…

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…spoofing this previous coverRead the rest of this entry

Feminists Like Men More Than Non-Feminists Do

Feminism promotes the notion that Women and men are of equal worth and dignity.

Feminism: women and men are of equal worth and dignity.

Feminists hate men?

Some people think so.

But a University of Houston study found that feminists like men more than non-feminists do.

That was true regardless of gender. Feminist men and women felt less hostility toward men than non-feminists of either sex did.

Maybe it’s not so surprising. Read the rest of this entry

Want To Be Objectified? Careful What You Wish For

Sexy David Beckham

Sexy David Beckham

I know women find fit men sexy, but I believe that is the wrong word in a way. If a woman can’t cum from just looking at the male body, then I don’t see that as sexy. Sexy to me means you’re deserving of someone’s desire or orgasm. Most guys are oblivious to the fact that most girls don’t get that aroused from looking at their abs, muscles and penis.

That’s from Eric U. We recently heard from him when I posted another of his comments, wishing that women objectified men.

Be careful what you wish for. Read the rest of this entry

Why Aren’t Men Objectified?

Playgirl went bankrupt

Playgirl went bankrupt

Women do find men sexy. But we don’t objectify and fetishize their body parts. Not too many of us, anyway.

And so Playgirl goes bankrupt while a plethora of “girlie” magazines thrive.

Yet in some places women’s bodies aren’t fetishized, either. Like in tribal societies where women walk around wearing the equivalent of a G-string. And no one cares.

That clues us in to why male body parts aren’t fetishized. Read the rest of this entry