If you’ve been reading my blog for awhile, or talk with me about my classes often, you probably know that my college classes wrap-up with a big creative project. Some of them are amazing (some examples here). This last semester I had a student who was torn about her final project and e-mailed me several […]
Archives for girl issues
Dynamite by Taio Cruz
This song took much of my classroom attention last week. In each of my three college classes we watched the music video. Dynamite is a relatively well-known, currently popular song. Most of my college students had heard it, many of them had danced to it in the clubs. But only one or two had seen […]
Gender and sexual assault education
Last week my attention was mostly elsewhere. Some of that attention was on writing a piece for RH Reality Check about creating and implementing effective sex education programs about sexual assault and rape. A recent New York Times piece mulling over whether it is more appropriate to target education in gender-specific ways (i.e., for men […]
Why we link sex and menstruation
Yesterday someone commented on an earlier post called Making menstruation personal again. Here is what she (or he) said: I find the “medicalization” of menstruation abhorrent, but I disagree that “menstruation is one of the first parts of teaching young women about sex and sexuality.” Of course sex ed is really important, but I think […]
Parental self worth
I recently finished reading The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory for the first time. (I know, I know, color me behind on the latest novels. Blame it on grad school, children, and running my own business and move on please.) Now, I’ve read up on some of the controversy on whether Mary Boleyn was […]
Skinny Cat
Unlike Phoebe’s Smelly Cat, the Skinny Cat goes beyond noxious and strays into the problematic. This weekend we were hanging out with my daughter’s 6-year-old friend, who we’ll call Jane because that’s shorter and faster to type than her actual name. We’re close to Jane’s whole family, and always have a lovely time together. This […]
Research on Masturbation
I have three questions to answer: Typical age of masturbation onset (by gender). Typical age of orgasm/ejaculatory onset (by gender). Typical age of highest masturbation frequency (by gender). So what’s up with the relative lack of research on this topic? (Yes, that was a rhetorical question, for you smart-alecks in the peanut gallery.) Here’s what […]
Interview with Tina Hester from Jane’s Due Process
Karen: Hi Tina, and thank you for meeting to talk with me about your work. First, can you tell me a bit about Jane’s Due Process Legal Hot-line? Tina: Jane’s Due Process was formed after the state legislature passed a parental consent law for minors to obtain abortions. So Jane’s Due Process provides minors with […]
Teen arrested for prom dress – no, really
Ah, good ole Texas. Always a great place for scandals like this one. So here’s what happened: A senior named Marche Taylor wore a really skimpy dress and was denied entrance to her prom based on it. And yes, it is really, really skimpy. So I get where the prom sponsor was coming from when […]
Hope…Joy (and a Few Little Thoughts) for Pregnant Teens
Rachel Brignoni set out to write a book to help pregnant teenagers and teenage mothers think through what they want in life and then go out and get it. And she stayed true to that goal throughout this little blue-covered book. I really like Brignoni’s premise, her goal. Pregnant and parening teenagers need all the […]
