feminist blogs

The Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights Situation Report is a monthly column highlighting SRHR issues internationally.  In honor of World AIDS Day, December 1st, this month’s column will focus on Women and HIV/AIDS worldwide. Halting the spread of HIV/AIDS is part of Millennium Development Goal 6, linked with “malaria and other diseases.”  The major international [...]

Okay, that’s not quite how things went. A man on the way to Turkey with his mom allegedly told airport security officials that his penis pump was a bomb, rather than have his mom hear that he was really a kinky lil bastid.

Dude’s attorney says he said “pump” but whispered it so the security agent just knew she heard “bomb.” And well, all holy hell broke loose. Now this man is facing felony disorderly conduct charges in Chicago, and the embarrassment of having your name and “penis pump” mentioned in the same article.

***

And new Georgia city John’s Creek and Fulton County are trying their best to keep Love Shack from opening a 10,000 square foot store in John’s Creek city limits. Love Shack, in case it’s not obvious, is one of Atlanta’s “adult novelty” chains. Most locations are pretty cool, though they’re heavy on the bad porn (with fake lesbians, bad-looking sex, and more silicone than a toy factory).

I honestly don’t understand the opposition. They’re arguing that it’s a matter of location (the property isn’t zoned for commercial use, despite being a storefront). But I’m pretty sure it’s a matter of content. Or maybe it is a matter of location: no one wants it to be somewhere where one of their friends may see them.

Here’s hoping / betting that Love Shack will not only open, but be the most profitable store in John’s Creek.

Read the story. And the congregation says a(wo)men .

I do fear, however, that Plan B will still be hard to find in much of the country because of the current movement to de-hussify the womenfolk.

Still it’s good news for those who have been raped and condom-breaking situations.

Serious kudos to ABCNews for their news special and online article about AIDS and HIV in black America.

Read it. Watch it. Then come back and discuss. (I won’t promise I’ll watch it though. I prefer to bury my head in the sand on such topics.)

Related posts

• The “Down Low”: Race, Sexuality and HIV
• “A Silent Epidemic ” on Slate
• Black women, prison and H.I.V.
• Black American women and HIV/AIDS
• HIV Transmission Among Black Women — North Carolina, 2004
• “AIDS Pandemic Stalks Women”

The New York Times Magazine has a fascinating piece on the consequences and process of a pro-life national policy. Writer Jack Hitt takes us to El Salvador, which has probably the most restrictive anti-abortion laws in the world. The array of exceptions that tend to exist even in countries where abortion is circumscribed — rape, incest, [...]

I prefer the term “unplanned” because if you carry a pregnancy to term, there’s a good chance the birth was wanted. Regardless of that linguistic nit, researchers from the National Center for Health Statistics say that the number of unwanted births are up across the country — from 9% in 1995 to 14% now. Of course, [...]

I don’t write about sex as often as I’d like. I confess that part of it is my fear is my mom, or worse yet, my dad will stumble across a post and know waaaaaay too much about what I do in private (and sometimes in public… ). I don’t want to [...]

Via Jeff & Crooks and Liars: The story behind why Plan B was not approved for over-the-counter sales by the FDA is starting to emerge. 60 Minutes did a wonderful job of covering both sides of the issue, and one of the central doctors involved: gynecologist Dr. W. David Hager. Let’s call it a follow-up [...]

I’ve been ruminating on this subject for awhile now, and in our continued debates over reproductive choice, my mind returns to one simple point: Women’s bodies are community property. We are, because of our biology, secondary to the interests of children and men. The community decides what we can and cannot do with our bodies. [...]

Please take the time to read Virginity Becomes a Commodity In Uganda's War Against AIDS in today's Washington Post. It's a snapshot of life under AIDS in Uganda, one in which survival today and survival tomorrow compete for supremacy in the minds of young girls. “…Ever since the orphans came, I only own one dress and [...]