Do you GYT?

What do you think GYT stands for? In this commercial, some celebrities take their best guess and come up with some odd answers. Green Young Tomatoes? Gerbils Yearn Touching?.......The real answer: GYT is Get Yourself Tested!

Did you know that one in two young adults will get a sexually transmitted disease by age 25? This statistic has caused alarm to health care providers, parents, and teens and has spured a national campaign to help people feel comfortable asking their doctors for STD testing. That’s why the month of April is dedicated to the GYT: Get Yourself Tested campaign, hosted by MTV, Kaiser Family Foundation, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Planned Parenthood Federation of America.

As seen in the commercial and on the GYT website, many celebrities are contributing to the campaign and the issue to help raise awareness. These celebs include Keri Hilson, Perez Hilton, Debi Nova, Emily VanCamp, Iyaz and many more.

Go to itsyoursexlife.com to find the testing center near you, to watch entertaining ads, and to learn more about this important topic and campaign. You can also download fliers and other materials to help spread the GYT message within your community.

How will YOU help spread the GYT message?

Nebraska's Attack on Choice

Lately, anti-choice measures have appeared frequently in the news. First, there was Utah’s intention to create a bill that would charge women if their reckless behavior led to a miscarriage. Now, the state of Nebraska has jumped onto the anti-choice train. Governor Dave Heineman signed a law on Tuesday, April 13th that banned most abortions after 20 weeks. Heineman signed this law in the beliefs of a theory that the fetus by that point in pregnancy is able to feel pain. This law has sparked debate between pro-choice and anti-choice groups. What makes this scary is that the legislative branch passed this law with 44 votes to 5 votes. Dr. Leroy Carhart, a partner of the late Dr. Tiller, said he would continue to offer late-term abortions in his Nebraska clinic. The NY Times quoted lawmakers as being outraged that Nebraska was going to become the “late-term abortion capital of the Midwest.”

This law will take effect in October and will ban abortions anytime after a gestation period of 20 weeks. The law does allow late-term abortions in the cases of a medical emergency, usually something that would cause death to the mother.

Legal battles have already ensued over this law. These legal battles refer to the 1973 case of Roe V. Wade case which stated that no state could ban abortions prior to fetal viability. Some articles reported this as 22 weeks and some reported it as 24 weeks. Nebraska’s law would go against the stipulations provided by the landmark abortion case. In the weeks leading up to the vote, over 1,000 people over the nation signed the Trust Women PAC’s petition that called for legislators to reject the bill.

The heat of this battle is not expected to die down and the legal battles are expected to go to the Supreme Court. It is estimated that 5 of 9 of the Supreme Court justices would consider Nebraska’s claim and judge that it is a legitimate law.

This has been a huge attack on women and abortion providers. If this law is upheld in the Supreme Court, it would give other states the same opportunity to introduce the same type of bill, threatening women’s health everywhere. If the Supreme Court does legitimize this law, it would violate parts of Roe V. Wade, which would cause a huge step back in the progress of abortion rights that we have made since 1973. If this law stays in place, it will spread to other states as well and it will be a large threat to women everywhere. This law is a direct attack on the right to choose and is one that challenges Roe V. Wade. This law is also an attack on Dr. Carhart and his clinic. Carhart provides a vital service to women. This law limits his services and womens' access to abortion.

The following link is the article to the NY Times article referenced:

Nebraska Law Sets New Limits on Abortion

What does YOUR country believe about condoms?

Did you know that in the U.S. approximately 4 in 10 women become pregnant at least once before turning 20 years old or that 1 in 4 sexually active teens become infected with an STD every year? These statistics are startlingly high, especially when compared to other countries throughout the world. Why in a country as progressive as ours are safe sexual practices not happening? Although there are many different reasons and factors, I think one important factor to look at is the acceptance of the condom. The male latex condom is one of the most popular forms of birth control used worldwide. However, in looking at condom advertisements from different countries you can clearly see the differences in social acceptance of the condom.

For example, the ads from both Sweden and France are very straight forward “slap in the face” type ads that use humor to show the importance of condom use. Whether it is to avoid STDs or unwanted children, they both blatantly imply “Use Condoms”. No ifs, ands or buts.

A few of the commercials even show the actual condom and how it is unrolled. For example, in the commercial from Kenya, a man is shown being chivalrous by supplying a condom when a women needs one to keep her umbrella closed. Even though this isn’t the obvious or advertised use for the condom, the meaning behind it shows that chivalry will make a women appreciate you. I also thought it was great that every onlooker in the background cheers and is smiling when the condom is taken out and used on the umbrella. Condoms in this commercial are encouraged and portrayed as helpful.

In my opinion, the condom ad from India was the best for many reasons. It provided information about the condoms, such as the fact that it can be made in different colors, or can be lubricated. It shows the actual condom, and provides information about where it can be bought, and what it does, such as prevent an STD.

Then we see the U.S. commercial. The condom is only shown once, when it is still in the package and coming out of the dispenser. Rather than focuses on the use of the condom, the ad focuses more on the message that most men are pigs (presumably because they won’t use condoms). The one man who buys a condom is seen as unusual. It sends the message that every women should try to be lucky enough to find a man who will use one. This message does not promote the idea that condoms should be generally accepted. Sadly, this ad is one of the best ads from the U.S. and was, in fact, banned on Fox and CBS when it came out in 2007 for being “inappropriate.”

It is startling that these ads are sometimes the only education teens receive about condoms. While proper condom use, sex positions and same-sex relationships are all part of the curriculum for students in Swedish high schools, U.S. high school students are often taught little or no information on basic condom use. Although it varies state to state, it is widely known that safer sex information is not widely publicized in the U.S. There are definitely very few schools teaching sex posititions or same- sex relationship information. Just by viewing these short condom commericials, we can see the basic beliefs about sex that each of these countries believe in. Is it any surprise that the U.S. has twice the teen pregnancy rate of Canda, four times the rate of Germany and France, and eight times the rate of Japan?

Bristol Palin PSA: Insulting to Teen Mothers?

Recently the Candie’s Foundation released a Public Service Announcement about teen pregnancy, starring none other than America’s favorite teen mother, Bristol Palin. This ad has come under fire by several different blogs, including Jezebel and The Frisky, for it’s portrayal of teen pregnancy. The opening of the ad is Bristol with her son Tripp in which she says: “What if I didn’t come from a famous family? What if I didn’t have all their support? What if I didn’t have these opportunities?” The ad shows Bristol and her son well dressed in a nice home. It then fades into her looking ragged and saying if she didn’t have all of that “it wouldn’t be pretty.”

Although the ad has good intentions, it comes off insulting to those who were and are teen moms. I’m sure it was not supposed to come off like it, but this ad makes it sound like teen pregnancy is okay if you’re from a prominent family. Just because someone is not from a prominent family, it does not mean that they don’t have any support from their family. She acknowledges that she is fortunate to have the support (and money) of her family, but the ad comes off classist. The imagery of the ad makes it seem as if a girl isn’t from a privileged famous family and becomes pregnant; she will end up poor and without anything.

The ad fails to address that a majority of teenage pregnancies come from girls who are already in poverty. The ad also is noticeably missing Levi Johnson, the father of Bristol Palin’s son. This ad only features Bristol, which makes it seem as though the unintended pregnancy was her “fault.” The media and society often place the fault of teenage pregnancy on young girls. It is not just the girl’s responsibility to practice safer sex.

Although the ad is poorly created, Bristol Palin, in interviews, does offer some words of wisdom on her ending message “pause before you play.” In an interview on Good Morning America, Palin stated: “"It could be pause and go get a condom or it could be pause and think about your life or it could even be pause and wait until marriage.” This message does not promote abstinence, but offers abstinence as one method, alongside the use of contraceptives.

This message is associated with what Palin said last year about abstinence not necessarily being a reality for teenagers. Although the ad is aiming to prevent teenage pregnancy, it glamorizes Bristol Palin’s situation, and almost seems to say: “As long as you’re privileged, it’s okay to have an unintended pregnancy.”

The Ad Presented by the Candie's Foundation: