Death or “Promiscuity”? May 20, 2007
Posted by jsaffold in HPV vaccine, in the news, sexual power, women's health.add a comment
In a country with a national agenda in support of cancer research and treatment, the controversy that has erupted around the release of the HPV vaccine seems counterintuitive. The invention of a vaccine that protects against 70 percent of the strains of HPV that are known to cause cervical cancer seems like it should be regarded as a great stride not just in the world of medicine, but in the world of women’s health. Some states have tried to make the vaccination a requirement amongst preteen girls (Virginia is the only one who has actually done this), but as this MSNBC article explains, a move to require the vaccine under Georgia law was shot down after “religious conservatives” aggressively opposed the law. (more…)
Facebook: Who are we posing for? May 15, 2007
Posted by lindamc in "the gaze", Attractiveness and age, Facebook, female perfection, Female Power, female relationships, feminism, humor, sexual power, sexuality.2 comments
So, in normal Amherst fashion, I was procrastinating my finals work by searching around on facebook and looking at this weekends edition of fun and fabulous pictures. I started to see a theme: girls pose differently then guys: ok I know “WOW!” what a find! Shocking, but in thinking about the male gaze, it is really easy to notice that women pose for men in their pictures: particularly on drunken Saturday nights. Many groups even do it for their girl friends, even at other schools: so that they can look at the pictures and say: “oh look how cute so and so looks out with her friends in their little langerie!” I think that this might be something that is different then a few years a go. Facebook and Myspace have allowed for internet stalking and picture posting, and allowed each and every member to create a little album of themselves for the opposite sex or for their friends to get jealous from. Specifically relating to girls: do we really think about how and who we are posing for when we take pictures? (particularly those on drunken or wild nights) So is it always the confusing: women like to see men looking at them, or is it women like to see other women looking at men who are looking at them….or even worse: women like to see anyone looking, as long as their being looked at!
Bush or Backlash? May 9, 2007
Posted by lindamc in 911, Bill Clinton, class, controversy, Dixie Chix, Female Power, feminism, G W. Bush, Girl Power, nationalism, politics, Power, relationships with men, sexual power, sexuality, Shut up and Sing.add a comment
I can’t remember who made the comment about the post 911 reversion into a sort of white-boy southern American pride on Sunday’s class, but watching Shut up and Sing really got me thinking about Bush’s influence on aspects of our popular culture (more…)
Girlpower + 1 