Art: The Great Wall of Vagina.

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I've posted about this project previously (link), but it's come up again - two students passed along a link to a recent article in Cosmopolitan.

From Cosmopolitan:

McCartney says the vagina has become something that companies have begun shaming people for so they can make money off of them by telling the they need to have surgery to make it look better, saying, "I do believe that cosmetic surgery is a fairly unnecessary procedure, it's a psychological problem. There's a whole industry base set up to persuade women they're defective and to give them an answer." He says he gets letters almost daily from women wanting to volunteer or who have told him that his artwork has helped with the anxiety they had surrounding the appearance of their vaginas.

[...]

His hope is that the project will help women of all ages (which is something that is desperately needed), since he says, "every generation is going to go through the same anxieties, every girl is going to think, 'Oh my god, what's wrong with me'." 

And his artist statement:

For this, my latest major sculpture, I cast, over the course of 5 years, the vaginas (well the vulva area in fact) of hundreds of volunteers. The Great Wall of Vagina is an exploration of women's relationships with their genitals. When I assembled the first panel of 40 casts in summer 2008, I stepped back disappointed. I realised the sculpture would need to be much bigger to have the impact I wanted. From this original piece (called Design A Vagina) has grown an epic sculpture. The final piece now has 400 casts arranged in 10 panels of 40.
"Why did I do it and what's it all about?" I hear you ask. Well, it became clear to me whilst working on a not dissimilar piece for a sex museum that many women have anxiety about their genital appearance. It appalled me that our society has created yet one more way to make women feel bad about themselves. I decided that I was uniquely placed to do something about it.
The sculpture comments on the trend for surgery to create the 'perfect' vagina. This modern day equivalent of female genital mutilation is a bizarre practice which suggests that one is better than another. Taste in nothing is universal and any desire for 'homogyny' could be very misguided. 400 casts arranged in this manner is in no way pornographic, as it might have been if photographs had been used. One is able to stare without shame but in wonder and amazement at this exposé of human variety. For the first time for many women they will be able to see their own genitals in relation to other women's. In doing so they may dispel many misconceptions they may have been carrying about what women look like 'down there'. The sculpture is serene and intricate and it works on many levels.

 

 

 

TED talk. Robyn Stein DeLuca: The good news about PMS.

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Passed along by Kirisana (thanks!). 

From the description:

Everybody knows that most women go a little crazy right before they get their period, that their reproductive hormones cause their emotions to fluctuate wildly. Except: There's very little scientific consensus about premenstrual syndrome. Says psychologist Robyn Stein DeLuca, science doesn't agree on the definition, cause, treatment or even existence of PMS. She explores what we know and don't know about it — and why the popular myth has persisted.

It's important to note that Dr. DeLuca does not deny that many women experience unpleasant physiological and psychological changes leading up to menstruation. What she does take issue with is the idea that PMS is a disorder, or is pathologized. Check it out:

Everybody knows that most women go a little crazy right before they get their period, that their reproductive hormones cause their emotions to fluctuate wildly. Except: There's very little scientific consensus about premenstrual syndrome.

Documentary on sexual health program in Uganda: When a Mother Lives.

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Passed along by Miranda (thanks!) with this comment:

I came across a really interesting video a while ago and thought it was super relevant to today’s lecture. It is about a project happening in Uganda where they are getting women to self swab to screen for cervical cancer in hopes to catch it early, as cervical cancer is the number one cancer in Uganda and it is very preventable if caught early. I thought it was relevant to what we were talking about today with women's reproductive health being taboo in some cultures and those barriers that exist in getting these women adequate health care. I thought the approach that this project takes is great to break down those barriers and still be respectful of the cultural norms.

The description, from the BC Centre of Disease Control, which collaborated on the project:

What happens to a family, community and country when a mother lives instead of dies? This is the fundamental question at the heart of When a Mother Lives, a 23 minute documentary from ASPIRE, a global health initiative about cervical cancer from the BC Centre for Disease Control.  Set in Kisenyi, Uganda, the story is told through the lives of three women who live in Kisenyi as well as by interviewing various stakeholders in the project, including Ugandan researchers, clinicians, and the Ministry of Health.  The goal of the documentary is to spread a positive message to funders and policy makers on how practical and sustainable action around cervical cancer screening can be taken in places where no screening currently exists. By transporting the viewer into the lives of the women, the video also brings greater understanding to their experiences and provides motivation to move forward for change.  

When a Mother Lives was inspired by the idea of pairing a ‘tried and true’ model of community engagement and mobilization with a new and novel ‘leapfrog’ screening technology called HPV DNA testing.  The video outlines “The ASPIRE Process” as an ecosystem consisting of six distinct, yet mutually reinforcing steps: Educate, Mobilize, Collect, Test, Treat, and Grow. Taken together, these steps layout a road map for how a cervical cancer screening program might be realized in low income settings like Kisenyi and provide a potential ‘recipe for success’ in further reducing the burden of cervical cancer in sub-Saharan Africa.

And the documentary:


What happens when a mother lives instead of dies? This is the fundamental question that is the driving force behind this 23 minute documentary from ASPIRE, a global health program run by the BC Centre for Disease Control.

Female genital cutting/mutilation.

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Female genital cutting/mutilation (FGC/M) is the ritual removal of part or all of the vulva, practiced in several countries in Africa and a handful in the Middle East. It's considered a right of passage and necessary if a woman wants to be married. Places where it is practiced are characterized by extreme gender inequality, and if a woman is unable to marry, she has no value.

FGM/C is done based on the belief that women's purity and modesty can only be guaranteed through these types of procedures. The procedure is most often done by village elders with rudimentary tools in unhygienic conditions with no anesthetic. Because of this, it's very painful, and it can result in a variety of medical complications and problems, including infection and death.

The United Nations considers FGM/C a violation of human rights, and the World Health Organization, among other agencies, calls it "female genital mutilation," and warns of its impact on health and functioning. Many of the countries where FGM/C is practiced have made it illegal, but the law is rarely enforced.

Some have been critical of the West's approach to FGM/C, claiming that it's another example of cultural imperialism and ethnocentrism. I've posted about this before, with video clips of women talking about their experiences (link).

The recent article linked below provides a very good overview of FGM/C. It's a good, but quite critical, read if you're interested in finding out more.

From the World Economic Forum:

10 Things To Know About Female Genital Mutilation
“The time has come for us to eradicate this bad practice and protect the rights of girls and women in our country,” said Somalia’s minister for women’s affairs at a conference earlier this month. The bad practice she was referring to was female genital mutilation – procedures that intentionally alter or cause harm to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons.
The World Health Organization categorizes the procedure into four types: they range from the partial or complete removal of the clitoris to a procedure where the genitalia is sewn closed (which over 60% of women in Somalia are forced to undergo).
Although, as a UNICEF survey found, many people draw on cultural, social and religious justifications for the practice, it has been recognized as a human rights violation since 1993. And yet still, 3 million girls and women are at risk every year. Here are 10 more facts about a practice almost all nations have committed to wiping out.

Read the rest here.

 

Bisexual awareness week.

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As a past student mentioned in the comments section this week, it's bisexual awareness week! Check out the website for BiWeek here.

While bisexuality falls under the umbrella of the LGBTQ community, people who identify as bisexual face their own challenges. Research show that they often experience stigma (biphobia) from people of other orientations (both people who identify as gay/lesbian and people who identify as straight). Here's a video clip discussing some of the things people who identify as bisexual often experience:

PLEASE READ BELOW, CORRECTIONS ADDED. I made this many years ago and I feel like I learnt more about bisexuality and other sexualities after filming this. So some of the things I say in this video I would not say today.

 

And here is infographic from One Equal World laying out some of the effects of stigma experienced by people who identify as bisexual:

 

And finally, one sample of some of the articles that have been published this week. It's a list from MTV of celebrities who are out and proud about being bisexual: link.

Study recruitment: Male asexuals.

Dr. Lori Brotto's lab is looking for asexual men to participate in an upcoming study. Description:

The SAAM (Sexual Arousal in Asexual Men) study is aimed at increasing our understanding of men with little or no sexual attraction to other individuals. Many of these men may also identify with the label "asexual". Participation in this study involves physiological arousal testing in a private room in my lab at VGH, in response to erotic film clips, and they also complete some questionnaires. Total time commitment is around 2.5 hours. We're looking for men 19+ who lack sexual attraction (or have lifelong lack of/low sexual desire).

If you're interested in participating, email Mark.Antczak[at]VCH.ca

UBC's consent emoji campaign.

There has been a lot of discussion over the last couple years about consent, and its centrality in healthy sexual encounters. Affirmative consent has replaced the old no-means-no model as the gold standard, although some have been critical about the way that it's been implemented as university policy, particularly in the US.

UBC has taken a very clever approach to raising awareness about affirmative consent, while also providing what could be a helpful tool. It's based on a set of emojis that can be texted to potential partners (link):

 

They also provided a fantastic consent cheat sheet: 

Bad sex media bingo.

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Brought to you by Sense About Sex (link), a brilliant and fun way to counter all the misinformation that seems to get repeated over and over again in the media, despite no scientific evidence to support it. Read below the card for information from the Bad Sex Media Bingo site (link).

Notice any claims that you thought were true? For the explanations, click here.

From the site:

Why Bad Sex Media Bingo?

So much coverage of sex in the media is boiled down to the simplest of clichés and the loudest of headlines. People with vested interests – campaigners, people selling toys, remedies and dubious fixes – are uncritically quoted as experts.

There are many ways to spot a bad sex programme or article – one that’s been made to fit an agenda, perhaps, or one that is more about prurience and sensationalism than accuracy or helping people.

So we’re inviting you to play Bad Sex Bingo with us. How many of our bingo numbers can you spot during each new programme or article about sex? Will you be able to call House! first?

Play along with us on Twitter: our hashtag is #badsexbingo.

We also hope you’ll use Bad Sex Media Bingo to inform media production, to teach and train on these issues, to support activist work in this area, and for any other purposes for which it is useful.

Each of the points in Bad Sex Media Bingo is:

  • Commonly repeated in the media (across broadcast and print media),
  • Problematic and potentially harmful,
  • Easily recognisable, and
  • Covers a range of areas.

For each of our bad sex media examples we also have explanations saying:

  • Why they are a problem,
  • What negative impacts they can have, and
  • What would better ways of presenting sex there are.

Upcoming talk at the Chan Centre: Best Sex Ever.

Passed along by a student:

I'm in your PSYC 350A class. I thought other students might be interested to know that YouTube Star and MTV host Laci Green is going to be giving a FREE talk, titled "Best Sex Ever" at the Chan Centre on September 28th at 7 PM.

From the description:

What makes for the best sex ever? Come find out! In this upbeat program, Laci Green will give a sex positive crash-course exploring sexuality while in university. It will be a night to remember!

This is Laci:

And this is her YouTube channel: link.

You can find info about the talk and tickets here: link.


The Hanky Code: Signalling sexual preferences in gay culture.

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The Hanky Code originated in 1970s San Francisco gay culture, although some have suggested that it goes back to the time of the Gold Rush, when access to women was limited.

It is a way for men looking to have sex with men can communicate the type(s) of sex they like, and what type of role they would like to play (e.g., top versus bottom). It may vary slightly by region to region, but generally the code is pretty consistent.

The Gay Entertainment Directory created the following decoder that captures most combinations. Check it out (click to make larger):

This weekend: Hump! movie tour hits Vancouver.

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For those of you unfamiliar with the Hump! movie festival, it's the creation of Dan Savage of Savage Love. People are invited to create short porny films and submit them for review. The best ones are chosen and become part of the Hump! tour, which makes it way around the continent.

From the homepage:

Since 2005, the HUMP! Film Festival has challenged ordinary people from all over the Pacific Northwest to become temporary porn-stars by making their very own five-minute dirty movies for a chance to win big cash prizes. And they did not disappoint! The resulting short films run the gamut of sexual styles: straight, gay, lesbian, transgender... every color in the sexual rainbow. Created and performed by sex-positive people just like you, HUMP! films are sexy, funny, thought-provoking, artistic, outrageous, and oh so real. Now, we're bringing the very best of HUMP! to your town! See 18 of the hottest HUMP! films in action. They'll make you laugh, squeal, and marvel at the broad (and creative) range of human sexuality. It's the best of HUMP! You'll be glad you came.

If you're interested in checking it out, it's this weekend. You can find more information and tickets here: link.

Sex, dementia, and consent: A delicate dance.

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Over the last year, a couple of high profile cases have drawn attention to sex in elder care homes. Many people assume that with aging, interest in sex and sexual behaviour tends to wane. While this is true for some people, many people enjoy sex into their later years.

The concern expressed recently has been around sex, dementia, and consent. There was a case earlier this year in which a man was charged (and eventually acquitted) for sexually abusing his wife, who has Alzheimer. This has started an important conversation. Time magazine recently published a piece on this issue. Here are some excerpts:

Today’s aging Americans also grew up with fewer sexual limits than earlier generations and may be unwilling to live in nursing homes that don’t accommodate their sex lives, experts say. “Let’s be real. Baby boomers brought the sexual revolution to America in the ’60s—what are they going to bring to nursing homes?” Roberta Flowers, co-director of the elder law center at Stetson University College of Law, told TIME.
But elder advocates, physicians and nursing home experts say that there is no national standard of best practices for how nursing homes should accommodate residents who are sexually active. The policies that do exist are archaic, regressive and even ageist, and do not acknowledge that nursing home residents could happily have consensual sex with each other.
[...]

The question of whether the elderly should be having sex is most troubling when it comes to dementia. But experts and elderly advocates say people with dementia are capable of consenting to sex, that they are able to express that consent, and that sex and touch can be good for them, which makes it difficult to know when it is appropriate to set limits. Hebrew Home’s policy is explicit that patients with dementia and Alzheimer’s can give consent to sex, either verbally or non-verbally.

“A 12-year-old can’t consent to sex with an adult today or tomorrow. You can’t have the same black-or-white rule for someone suffering from dementia,” said Flowers, the expert on elderly law. “Someone with dementia is not incapacitated all the time for all things. If they are not incapacitated at the moment of the sex act, they have a right to have sex.”

She added, “It’s a difficult issue and it’s not going away.”

Read the rest here.