sexual health

The Uterine Health Companion: A Holistic Guide to Lifelong Wellness

admin — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 07:44:00 +0000

In The Uterine Health Companion, Eve Agee brings her training as a medical anthropologist and as a holistic healer to bear on the subject of life-long uterine health. She begins the book by explaining both holistic health and the structure and function of the uterus to her readers. Then she outlines a plan for optimal uterine health, with chapters on emotional/spiritual and mental health, the power of nutrition and the importance of a strong body.

In part three, Agee discusses what she calls “Uterine Health Conditions” and these span from menarche to menopause and beyond. This is a book for women at every stage of reproductive life. This is also a book for Western women specifically.

Agee’s training in Africa has led her to question the disproportionate distribution of uterine maladies from a global perspective. Without ever insinuating that western women have their menstrual woes all in our heads (so common to masculinist approaches to women’s reproductive health, as I’m sure most of you are aware), Agee asks why it is that PMS, endometriosis and hot flashes (to name some examples) are so prevalent in the west but comparatively minimal in the non-western world. Agee indicates that dominant western attitudes about women’s bodies and women’s reproductive systems and abilities have actually contributed to menstrual, reproductive and menopausal illness in the western world. I found that to be the most interesting thing about her book.

I can’t say I learned much about the nature of uterine health conditions or about things to do for optimal uterine health, but I’m a reproductive health geek, so I came to the book with a fair amount of knowledge. Still, the reminder to eat my orange and red veggies was a good one and encouragement to keep up on exercise is always appreciated. The part I just couldn’t do was the holistic bit: I just couldn’t bring myself to do the guided visualizations. Certainly, that had more to do with my own comfort zones. Still, I just wasn’t prepared to enter my uterus and talk to the people/things I met there (though it was fun to tell my mother do to so).

Agee’s style is engaging and easy without being overly simple. A quick read, enjoyable and timely.

Written by: kristina grob, July 1st 2010

Sex Appeal: Six Ethical Principles for the 21st Century

admin — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 08:00:00 +0000

By Paul Abramson

Oxford University Press

Sex Appeal flows in an intuitive series of ideas and expresses thoughts that may be obvious, but seem to be seldom practiced. The six logical principles regarding sex for our era outlined in Paul Abramson’s book are not only interesting, but vital to a peaceful coexistence.

If you tried to make a personal guideline for sex using the golden rule, you might get a summation of Abramson’s leading principals: do no harm, celebrate sex, be careful, know yourself, speak up and speak out, and throw no stones. Doing no harm, according to the author, reaches beyond avoiding sexual violence and demands honesty between sexual partners. Abramson encourages readers to be honest with their partners about their history and their expectations. What better way to avoid the spread of STIs and the cliche (but true) image of teenage girls everywhere crying into their pillows, “But he said he loved me.” Every chapter in the book refers back to this idea and seems to spin on an axis around it.

To disarm readers who may assume Abramson is an advocate of having no sex, the author has included an entire chapter encouraging readers to celebrate the act. He argues, though, that the catch to celebrating sex may mean abstaining. For some, that could mean waiting until a certain age, or for others, avoiding it within a certain relationship. The author argues that to really enjoy the amazing experience of intercourse, one has to be mature enough to handle it, which, of course, brings us back to “do no harm,” but also leads into the next idea.

Be careful. When it comes to sex, you don’t even need your mom to tell you this one. Until people are practicing “do no harm” like it’s their job, orgasming comes second to playing safe. So in addition to not hurting others, we don’t hurt ourselves, and the best way to do that is to know ourselves.

“Speak Up and Speak Out” as well as “Throw No Stones” both pull out of the genitals and move into the brain. There’s a lot to understand about sex, Abramson points out, that goes beyond how to do it. These two chapters discuss fairness, protecting oneself and others, ways to avoid or deal with sexual abuse, and harnessing judgment and stigmas around sex—especially as they’re expressed in the US.

While it’s unlikely to happen, the book should probably be part of the curriculum of every high school sex ed class. Occasionally, explanations seem to drag on and some analogies comparing sex to soccer go just a little too far, but the points are valid, clear, and important. Much of what Abramson discusses in this short book may seem blatant to a sexually active adult, but to a young person, the insights (or at least the lessons attached to them) could be huge.

Written by: Tatiana Ryckman, April 29th 2010

Dispatches from the Abortion Wars: The Cost of Fanaticism to Doctors, Patients, and the Rest of Us

admin — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 17:01:00 +0000

By Carole Joffe

Beacon Press

Maybe I’m wrong, but in my understanding of war, combatants will do whatever it takes to destroy the opposing side. And that’s not what has happened in the conflict over abortion. Instead, one side, the anti-abortionists—from the Army of God to the Lambs of Christ, from Operation Save America to The National Right to Life Committee—have organized a multitude of campaigns to stop what they call “the murder of innocents.” Diverse tactics, from the ballot box to the bullet, have been used.

The damage has been horrific: Eight people (half of them doctors) have been killed since 1993 and there have been 17 attempted murders, 175 arsons, and 41 bombings since 1977. In the first four months of 2009—before the assassination of Dr. George Tiller in Wichita, Kansas—the National Abortion Federation logged in 1411 harassing emails, phone calls, and letters; three bomb threats; five suspicious packages; 40 instances of trespassing; and 11 attacks by vandals.

Then there’s the legal stuff. Legislation has been passed in virtually every state to limit when abortion is permissible and require clinics to jump through a multitude of hoops to offer services. This has made the procedure hard to access, especially for women not living in or near major cities. Add in a constant barrage of ballot measures to outlaw the procedure or give personhood status to the fetus, and it’s not surprising that the antis have made inroads in getting people to question the efficacy of the procedure.

And providers? For their part clinicians have defended their turf, obtaining court orders to bar protesters from screaming in patient’s faces, installing state-of-the-art security devices, and working to pass legislation to protect reproductive freedom from further incursions. But war? Not even a skirmish. Instead, the lion’s share of clinicians have dedicated themselves to offering high quality medical care to women, not on retaliating against the anti’s for their belligerence and menace.

Indeed, not a single anti has been assassinated (yes, anti-abortion protester James Pouillion was killed in Michigan last September, but his murder was part of a shooting spree by a deranged gunman) or harmed by pro-choice forces. Crisis Pregnancy Centers (CPC) have not had their locks glued shut or been attacked with butyric acid. They have not received letters filled with white powder claiming to be Anthrax. CPC staff have not been followed and berated as “murderers” while buying milk. Their children have not been taunted in the schoolyard because of their parent’s vocation. So I take issue with Carole Joffe’s conception of the “abortion wars.” What we have, instead, is mono-dimensional, a one-way fight aided by religious dogmatists hellbent on imposing their worldview on women and families.

Despite this fundamental disagreement, Dispatches from the Abortion Wars is often riveting. Joffe’s insights into popular culture, alongside her analysis of the recent barrage of ballot initiatives, are spot on in explaining the growth of negative attitudes about abortion. As she notes, the continuous introduction of restrictive legislation reinforces the idea that the surgery is contentious. What’s more, when something is seen as controversial, people tend to back off, fearing schisms they’d rather avoid. “It is a fear of controversy, more than actual moral opposition, that mainly accounts for the stigmatizing situation of abortion today,” she concludes.

If that’s true, it’s time for pro-choice forces to take the offensive, not in war—we can’t descend to the anti’s level—but by defending abortion as the sound moral choice of more than one-third of U.S. women of reproductive age.

Written by: Eleanor J. Bader, February 17th 2010

SexIs: Sex and All Things Sexual

admin — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 12:05:00 +0000

Eden Fantasies

There are an abundance of websites about sex, gender, and pleasure that range from academic, theoretical discussions to medical descriptions to sexual how-to guides, and I was admittedly skeptical of SexIs, a sex-positive community devoted to “sex and all things sexual” started by online sex toy company Eden Fantasies.

Updated weekly by a diverse collection of writers (including Feminist Review founder Mandy Van Deven), SexIs features a variety of articles about aging, disabilities, kink, fetishes, politics, anatomy, "green" sex toys, contraceptives, and body image for just about everyone—including lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, straight people, transgendered folks, and those who choose not to self-identify sexually. As a Brown University undergraduate student, I was particularly interested in the excerpt from Confessions of an Ivy League Pornographer about Sam Benjamin, a ’99 alumnus who used his education to become what he describes as a “filthy but good-hearted pornographer.” In his biography, Benjamin explains his attempt to make sex positive films; however, in practice, this led to no lucrative end. In other articles, Benjamin reviews sex and women-positive projects, such as the film Rough Sex by Tristan Taormino, the only self-declared mainstream feminist pornographer.

SexIs is just one of many virtual community spaces Eden Fantasies has developed; they also have a section with interviews, a blog, and interactive forums. The content of the site reminds me of a gender-neutral discussion group I participate in called FemSex that facilitates learning and provides a safe-space that encourages individuals to gain knowledge, make self-aware decisions, explore available options, and validate their own experiences. While the SexIs' attempt to be an all-inclusive portal may seem too overwhelming or superficial to some, in the end, it creates an open space to delve into the full fluid spectrum of human sexuality. Although I question their consumerist intentions, the site is a positive space for people to learn, debate, and share ideas and experiences about pleasure.

Written by: Abigail Chance, December 3rd 2009

Emerita Natural Lubricant

admin — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 19:39:00 +0000

Babeland

Anything that crosses my pantyline has to appeal to my senses and pass a rigorous background check. This lube scored an eight on appeal, and a ten on personality. The packaging is attractive: subtle, unique, neither boring nor racy, more hip and less incriminating than a bottle of other top brand lubes. The two-ounce bottle is discreet enough for a first date and ample enough for at least a third and fourth. The price, $8.99, seems right, comparable to what I’ve paid for other natural lubricants. I also like that it is practically odor-free, more than other ‘unscented’ lubricants. Like most water-based lubes, it washes out easily. The one let-down, ubiquitous to most water-based lubes I’ve found, is evaporation. I really put it to the test, using it during the driest part of my cycle, which for me is like trying to raft in the Mojave desert. The lube got a little bit sticky and pasty as it dried up, but rehydrated just fine.

After researching the company, I wanted the lube to perform a bit more miraculously than it did. Emerita is a woman-owned and operated company with a variety of natural, herbal products for skin care, perimenopausal and menopausal women, and my favorite category of care: sexual vitality! The website contained understandable information about the ingredients that agreed with what I’ve learned as an herbal student. I was also pleased by the images on the website: women enjoying their healthy, beautiful bodies - cellulite, wrinkles and all.

Written by: Heather Irvine, July 19th 2007

Encyclopedia of Prostitution and Sex Work

admin — Tue, 19 Jun 2007 00:01:00 +0000

Edited by Melissa Hope Ditmore

Greenwood Press

Five thousand words, much less the 500 allowed here, are insufficient to review critically and appreciate properly a reference work this exciting, valuable, unique and scrupulously edited. Into two sturdy, attractive-looking and easy-to-use volumes, Melissa Hope Ditmore has assembled 341 entries from 179 experts from fields and perspectives as disparate as criminal justice and sex worker activism, pop culture studies and Asian history, musicology and English literature, cinematic studies and international health, and performance art and social services. Intriguing information is presented regarding persons such as Ah Toy, Candy Barr, J. Edgar Hoover, Catherine Mackinnon, Annie Sprinkle, and Emile Zola. Well-informed essays about the structure and function of prostitution and sex work have been contributed for cities such as Bangkok, Havana, and New York, and in geographic regions such as Australia and New Zealand, the 19th-century American West and Southeast Asia. Specific sex industries in times and places as different as Imperial Russia, Medieval Europe, Vietnam-era Thailand, and pre-Revolution Shanghai are examined in often surprisingly close historical detail. Many contributors have analyzed the “labor forms” that sex work and prostitution can take, as the anthropologist Luise White has dubbed them, such as street-walking, massage, brothels, outcall and escort services, and the venues at which they can occur - including cribs, bars and cafes, display windows, highway-stopovers, dormitories, and barracks.

“Sex work” is defined as encompassing “prostitution,” but also including "phone sex, pornography, stripping, and erotic dancing,” The Preface, Introduction and many other sections and introductions thereto make immediately evident the participation of bell-boys and blues singers, cab-drivers and clients, priests and police chiefs, alongside the expected madams, pimps and providers of sexual services. Many of the relevant mental, sexual, and public health precursors and consequences are also done justice in entries that cover sexually transmitted diseases, Tenofovir, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, microbicides, and abortion. Representations in the form of stigma, poetry, cinematic (s), exploitation, music, zoning, guidebooks and many, many feminisms make these two volumes especially useful for academics and theorists. Although selling for $225, institutions, departments, libraries, organizations and collectives will find immediate usefulness in the broad array of subjects, personalities, statutes and issues covered here quite succinctly, including primary documents, poems and song lyrics, for example, to the “House of the Rising Sun.”

In only 819 pages, and with equal parts authority and freshness, a dazzling array of intellectual, political, medical, historical and sexual concerns have been covered. Colonialism, AIDS, religion, the Internet, globalization and migration and mobility are each explored in always sober, often lively prose. Remarkably few typos mar the text, and its presentation has been augmented by helpful appendices and indexes, and by many black-and-white photos, movie stills and drawings.

The editor, contributors and advisory board members are to be congratulated also for having responsibly walked that razor’s edge of attempting to write and edit fairly about something as protean as sexual networking, something that so vividly reveals tensions between structure and agency, Church and State, labor and capital, exploitation and choice, horror and love.

Reviewer’s disclaimer: The fact that the reviewer contributed five entries to this collection has not influenced the content of his review, which was written solely to obtain a free, review copy he could not otherwise afford (or live without).

Written by: Lawrence James Hammar, Ph.D., June 18th 2007

Dust Me Pink Sensual Body Powder

admin — Sun, 10 Jun 2007 22:08:00 +0000

By Pure Romance

The Pure Romance website looks like a page out of Seventeen magazine with pictures of giggly, freckle-faced women and hearts and cursive, all splashed in shades of pink. And while the company’s mission is serious—empowering women to express and explore their sexuality—the products have the same playful feel the homepage reveals.

Pure Romance products range from light lotions to bondage accessories to vibrators, available in seven collections at prices that span a few dollars through $150. Some have catchy labels (like the sassy Coochy line), others have a romantic touch (like the Sweet Seduction lubricant) and others may appeal to people with a straightforward sensibility (like the Nympho Niagra stimulation cream).

The Dust Me Pink Sensual Body Powder is scented, flavored and comes with a flirty little feather applicator. I gave the Barely Berry flavor a whirl. Although the bubblegum scent was far from subtle, there was very little flavor. I was disappointed the powder didn’t dissolve better on the tongue and that it tasted… well, so much like powder.

Skip the edible part of play with this product and stick to the feathery-fun part of the exploration. The powder feels great, and with a light touch, is a silky, soft introduction to your partner’s beautiful body or your own.

As a company, Pure Romance is not just about products, it’s also about education. Through their sexual health initiatives, they speak on college campuses, and they’ve developed safe products for women challenged by breast cancer.

I wasn’t excited enough by the Sensual Body Powder to try another flavor. But because I believe in Pure Romance’s focus on sexual health and empowerment and because I applaud their initiatives, I would definitely support the company by giving one of their many other products a try.

Written by: Jessica Ashley, June 10th 2007