Proper Attire: Required for Entry

Were you at the New York State Fair today? Well, I was! You may have spotted me volunteering at the Planned Parenthood booth in the Center of Progress (I thought a lot about how appropriate this name was for the location of our booth) from 3 till 8.

First of all, everyone should go to the fair. As if the butter sculpture isn't enough to tempt you, there's always the sand sculpture and fresh milk, and hundreds of other attractions, rides, and stands, and FOOD. Tonight there was Darius Rucker of Hootie and the Blowfish.

Being at the fair was somewhat exhilarating for me. It's fun to meet people, and it's really rewarding and nice to hear people say how important PPRSR is to them. People walked up to our booth and begin signing our petition before we had even explained what it was. Teenagers brought all their friends over to take a look at our pins and condoms. It was also fun to see old women pick up one of our snazzy "proper attire" condoms, thinking they were moist towelettes or sunscreen packets (and then dropping them with a gasp when we told them what they really were!). It was empowering to be there for all these people, providing info and condoms and temporary tattoos!

Part of me feels like volunteering with Planned Parenthood is common sense, a duty that seems required to do because of how important it is - it feels second nature, because of how many women rely on Planned Parenthood. But sometimes it feels like radical and revolutionary, like today when the Right to Life people came over and heckled us, and we kept our cool. Volunteering today made me feel really in touch with women in general, and part of something really big and important - especially when women walked by and simply said "thanks for all the work you do" or when men came over proudly and struck up a conversation with us, unashamed of aligning themselves with us (as they should be!).

Today I think we gave away close to 2,500 condoms, which is remarkable. I kept thinking about this article from Cosmopolitan. Now, it's not perfect (it's in Cosmo!) but it has a lot of good information, and even mentioned Planned Parenthood! It is attempting to stop "accidents waiting to happen" before they do.

A shocking stat recently caught Cosmo's eye: Nearly half of all unplanned pregnancies among young, sexually active women are due to birth-control lapses and screwups,

The funny thing about all the mindsets mentioned that can lead to pregnancy, is that they can mostly be stopped with a simple condom. Just by having a condom at arm's length, you can stop yourself from making a decision you might regret. How many of those 2,500 that we gave away today will stop an "accident waiting to happen?" or start a conversation? or just get someone thinking? It seems like a pretty powerful thing to have a huge bowl on condoms out in the open like we did today, when you really think about it. By putting contraception on that table, we put it right into people's minds - right at the forefront - where it belongs!


If you go to the Fair, make sure you stop by our booth and give us a wave, because we appreciate it. And make sure you grab some condoms too, while you're at it.

Check out Colbert on Archie comics, sexism, and his defense of Hillary Clinton.

Judd Apatow: Funny People? or Funny Men.

I am a fan of Judd Apatow's films. I loved Forgetting Sarah Marshall, I loved The 40-year old Virgin, and I think I loved Funny People. I'm not sure yet. But overall, I think Apatow's new brand of somewhat-sentimental comedy is genius - they are consistently the funniest movies coming out these days.

But -- that doesn't mean I haven't noticed that Apatow's movies aren't perfect. The feminist-conscious, women-studies major side of me is always grappling with the part of me laughing out loud. To be honest, most of my favorite movies have some serious gender issues (see: Fight Club). My boyfriend will hate me for saying this, but Pixar, Judd Apatow and Wes Anderson, while all being faves of mine, each have definite problems creating strong female leads. It's nearly impossible to find a (mainstream), funny, successful film with a female lead I can relate to, and that's pretty messed up.

In her RHrealitycheck.org essay, "Men Are From Apatow-Land, Women Are From Venus," Sarah Seltzer tries to deal with the problems found in Funny People in a constructive way, while dissecting why they are problems to begin with:

"In Apatow's movies, men bond, fight, smoke pot and get drunk, laugh, fight, cry, make up and eventually grow up. Women exist mostly as the objects of lasting affection or the punchlines of dirty jokes."

It's hard to argue that Apatow's movies all deal with men. The men perform the actions that move the plot, without exception. Despite the occasional strong female characters, the leads are never ladies - they are generally peripheral, emotional, and annoying. The women are never the focus of the movie. The men are the stars - everyone who has gotten famous through Apatow's movies is male (with the exception of his wife, perhaps). Even if his depictions of masculinity can be critical and interesting, the movies are all about the bros.

But does that mean we should dismiss Apatow as inherently misogynistic? I don't think so. I don't think I can excuse his complete lack of adequate female - not even close - but I can try to enjoy the other aspects of his movies - like the perfect satire of Walk Hard, and the perfect dysfunction of Stepbrothers. I can even appreciate the bro-on-bro action, to some extent. I can't be blind to Apatow's problematic gender representations, but I want to give him another shot.

All in all? I love Judd Apatow's movies, but I think Seltzer said it best...

"Apatow needs to turn his female characters into actual characters, rather than rewards given to men who have proven able to resist their libidos and outgrow their immaturity. Even if those women exist on the periphery of a male-centric comedy, they should be engaged with as people, not grappled with as a concept."

What did you think of Funny People? Am I way off? I'm not entirely sure yet. I think I need to see Knocked Up again before I conclude.

Being Honest About Sex When Teaching Kids

I first heard about this new sex-ed approach happening in the UK from Jenna, PPRSR's Education and Outreach specialist, who provided an article that you can link to through the title of this entry.

But, here's the gist for you: the Center for HIV and Sexual Health at NHS Sheffield published a booklet on talking with youth about sex and sexual pleasure.

Wow! I think this is great. The booklet promotes masturbation, age-appropriate attention to anatomy (i.e. not just talking about vaginas but also the clitoris), breaking traditional views of sex (i.e. sex=penetration), and condom use. I think that this type of sex-ed can help foster dialogue among young people about sex and make it more comfortable for them to talk about sex with each other and their partners.

As Simon Blake, cheif executive of the young people's sexual health charity Brook, says "We need to do more to find out why people are so afraid to talk about sexual pleasure."

Furthermore, Roger Ingham, professor of health psychology at the University of Southampton's Center for Sexual Health Research, says that countries who approach education about sex and relationships in a more open and positive way have much better sexual health outcomes.

So let's hear it for sex-positive, honest, open discussion. Horay!

Green Sex, Green Birth Control, Green Me, Green You.

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