Loving the energy, love, and knowledge at the Urban Retreat!! I have been inspired to continue to do my work, and reach for a higher level of advocacy. Shout out to MySistahs & YWOC!!!!

Not to long ago, I went to the school clinic to get a yearly Woman's Exam, and they sent me a survey to complete regarding their services. The first question on the survey was "What is your sex?' But to my suprise, there weren't two options there were THREE!!!!! The third being Transgender. I'm so proud that my school is recognizing there are more than two genders. However, I feel persons who are born intersex are still being left out of the picture. I would also like to mention that UM recently began offering a scholarship for Study Abroad specifically for GLBT youth. UM is on the move to gender equality for all!!! GOOOOO CAAAANNNEEESSS!!!

Round of applause for Glee's newest episode "Sexy" !!!! The writers did a fantastic job on covering sexual education and the downfalls of abstinence-only. More importantly, they portrayed teaching and learning sexual education as some fun. I believe we as educators should continue to incorporate teaching in creative and innovative ways.

I loved that the show accurately illustrated what comprehensive sex education is all about, CHOICE!! In the episode, Puck and his girlfriend (don't know her name) were planning to make a sex video; however, Ms. Holly Holiday, the sex education teacher informed them of the pros and cons of their plan. Note she did not tell them what was wrong nor what was right, but she informed them of their options. Puck then made a choice to become a member of the Celibacy Club. This illustrated that it is ok to be celibate. However, should Puck ever decide to engage in sex he will be informed of how to do have safer sex. This is what Comprehensive Sex Education is all about. Finally, the media understands!!!

More importantly, the writers were sure to cover all bases by not excluding GLBQ youth, which abstinence-only and some comprehensive sex educations programs do. In the episode, we see two scenarios of how homosexual youth learn about sex. One is reliance on the internet for information, as in Blaine's case, his parents refused to talk about sex, more so because they did not accept his sexuality as a gay male. Blaine expresses to Kurt's father that while the internet is a great tool, one has to make the effort to search for the information. So, for youth who don't have someone to teach them about sex and do not go to search for information will remain uninformed about sex and most likely participate in unprotected sex, thus increasing their chances of contracting a STI. Kurt's father, although he is not completely comfortable with his son's homosexuality, he takes responsibility and talks to Kurt about sex and provides him with information about men having sex with men. My heart is filled with joy!! Because not only did Kurt's Father, take it upon him to educate his son despite how uncomfortable he may have felt, but he also sought the information for his son as it pertained to his homosexuality although he himself is heterosexual and not comfortable with homosexuality. Here is a parent who loves his son enough to put his personal views aside to learn about and accommodate his son's interests.

However, I found it more interesting that Emma, the school's guidance counselor and advisor for the Celibacy Club, was teaching students about Celibacy, yet she herself did not know anything about sex. I feel if you are going to make an argument you need to be informed about both sides of the story, the pros and the cons, in order to make an informed decision. But for her to make claims that abstinence is the best choice without knowing the reality of sex as it pertains to youth is irresponsible. This puts light on the many abstinence-only programs in the U.S. today, where the supporters are unaware of the realities of sex and youth or choose to ignore the realities of the issue.

All in all, I feel Glee did a FANTASTIC job in presenting accurate information on comprehensive sex education and abstinence-only education. I recommend everyone to watch this episode.

TO WATCH GLEE SEXY EPISODE CLICK HERE

I don't know how many of you remember Surgeon General Jocelyn Elders, who served during Clinton's presidency. Well I had never heard of her, until last week in my Human Sexual Behavioral Psychology class. Basically, Surgeon General Jocelyn Elders was fired for suggesting to teach masturbation in schools as a form of safer sex.

I don't think the Surgeon General should have been fired because in our society masturbation is looked upon as a bad thing, and children should know that masturbation is ok and has benefits. Masturbation is a win-win situation teens can have sexual pleasure anywhere, anytime, learn what he/she enjoys or doesn’t enjoy sexually, and it doesn’t require having another person, thus there is no risk of pregnancy or STIs because there is no exchange of semen or vaginal fluids with another person. Despite the negative view people have about masturbation due to religion or discomfort when talking about sex, it is very much so an activity people engage in. By teaching teens about masturbation, perhaps students will be more willing to masturbate rather than engage in risky behaviors. As humans, we are naturally sexual beings and there’s nothing we can change about it. If people don’t want teens to engage in sex or masturbate, what other choice do teens have? The best choice we have as parents, teachers, counselors, and elected official is to tell teens to masturbate rather than have sex.

More importantly, as Surgeon General it is her job to adhere to sexual health issues, such
as increased teen pregnancies and STI infections among teens, by suggesting masturbation be taught in school she is merely offering an alternative solution to decrease teen pregnancies and STI rates. So, why is she being fired for doing her job? There are many elected officials who break the law, steal money, and propose discriminatory ideas, such as “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell,” but they don’t get fired. So, why should she? It's only because people in our society are so afraid of talking about sex that anytime someone brings it up it is deemed inappropriate, especially when talking about teens and sex. This is ironic when sex has such a major role in our society. People (including teens) are having sex, people use sex to market products that have nothing to do with sex, we have strip clubs and adult stores, and a spread of STIs because of sex. Because of all of these influences, we should educate teens about sex, including how to enjoy sex without having to engage with a partner and worry about STIs and pregnancy. Teens are entitled to this information, they should be taught the complete information so that they can make wiser decisions about sex.

Furthermore, Oprah had a show about “How to Talk About Sex to Your Child,” where she too suggested parents tell their children to masturbate when they have sexual desires--word of this didn’t make it to the news nor was Oprah fired.

Visit the link to see how parents and teachers should teach/talk to children about sex: http://www.oprah.com/oprahshow/Dr-Laura-Berman-Helps-a-Mom-Explain-Sex-to-Her-Daughter-Video .

I don't know how many of you all watch Oprah; I don't watch her much myself, but I was drawn to watch when I heard Tyler Perry was going to be on. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to watch it, but that's what the internet is for right? First, I want to thank Tyler Perry and the 200 Men for sharing their stories with the world; it's takes a lot of courage to share the trauma they have endured. 

Tyler  has taken the opportunity to let others who have been molested and/or abuse, especially men, know that they are not alone. As a successful man, he certain illustrates that you can't judge a book by its cover. For those of you who didn't watch the interview, on Oprah Tyler Perry shares with the world that he experienced extreme physical abuse by his father and between the ages of 5 and 10 he was molested by 4 individuals (3 males & 1 woman). He describes how he tried to deal with the abuse by going to another place in his mind and struggled with his sexuality because he didn't understand why he had erection when he was molested. He says he felt his body betrayed him. I think this is an important issue Tyler brings up, men who are raped not reporting it because they think it makes them less than of a man or gay. 

When in a Women's and Gender's Course last year, we read the stories of men who had been molested by other men, and discussed why many men don't report being molested and  how confused they were because they ejaculated. Does this make them gay? Did they like it? In our society, we mix ejaculation with orgasm. Some molesters purposely make their victims ejaculate to make themselves feel the victim likes it, but ejaculating in these cases is a physiological reaction and not a psychological reaction of enjoying the act of being molested. During anal sex, the prostate is greatly stimulated and increases the occurrence of ejaculation. And so when molesters rape victims anally, and male victims ejaculate it is important for them to know that it doesn't men they liked and it doesn't make them gay. Another reason men don't report being raped is because in our society men are "supposed" to be able to protect themselves and not be vulnerable. Because of this, many people find it hard to believe men get raped. One testimony I read, a man reported being molested and the policemen laughed and said that was impossibly. Men are raped just like women;Being a man doesn't make you invincible.



"Oprah: Did [the molestations] leave you confused sexually?

Tyler: Yes, absolutely. How could it not? I knew I liked the little girls in the neighborhood, but this man was doing something to me and my body kept betraying me. It took me all of my 20s to figure out what this was that this man had given me to carry inside of my heterosexuality that did not belong to me. This is why so many men will not talk about this—the shame of having to admit that. And there is no textbook definition for what molestation does to someone. Each individual is different." (http://www.oprah.com/oprahshow/Tyler-Perry-Speaks-Out-About-Being-Molested-and-the-Aftermath/8)

I don't know if anyone has seen the commericial for Uncle Ben's White Brown Rice, but I think it is absolutely ridiculous. I'm really starting to wonder what is wrong with America. It is often discussed how obese and unhealthy America eats, but no one talks about al the fake foods America allows to be produced. A lot of people don't realize that white rice, sugar and bread, doesn't really exist. White rice, sugar, and bread is all brown rice, sugar, and bread enriched. The process by which companies use to enrich foods like rice, sugar, and bread, actually depletes the food of its nutrients.   I think America has a serious problem with wanting everything "white and pure." People would rather make everything fit into there perfect world at the expense of people's healthy.

And as far as the Uncle Ben's White Brown Rice, how stupid can they be. White is not the new brown, maybe someone needs to go back to  pre-K. Once brown rice is made white, it is no longer brown rice.

I was reading the featured stories on Yahoo on Monday morning. The article titled America's Fittest Cities 2010, caught my eye. So, I'm reading that Washington, D.C. is the healthiest City in the U.S. for the third year in a row. After taking a Behavioral Statistics last semester, I'm thinking like a Psychologist, and wondering how did they (the American College of Sport's Medicine) collect this data. Turns out "The AFI data report reflects a composite of preventive health behaviors, levels of chronic disease conditions, health care access, and community resources and policies that support physical activity " (redOrbit). After spending my Spring Break in Washington DC with Alternative Spring Break to volunteer with organizations that focus on HIV/AIDS awareness, education, and resources, I learned a lot about D.C., from what I learned from residents and the organizations that I volunteered with and what I saw, I do not agree that D.C. is the healthiest city. What really gets me is that D.C. was still named the healthiest city in the US when the data collected to name the healthiest city was based on diseases. What they fail to recognize is that 3% of D.C.'s residents have HIV or AIDS, something I learned during my Spring Break. Mind you once a disease has infected 1% of the population the CDC (Center for Disease and Control) deems the disease to be an epedemic. So, how is it that D.C. can have an HIV/AIDS epedemic and be the healthiest city in the nation?

To read the actual article visit:
http://bit.ly/aHeaKd

To read more about HIV/AIDS in DC, visit:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/14/AR2009031402176.html

Editor's Note: The ACLU just filed a lawsuit against the schoo on this student's behalf.

So I was looking at Yahoo's daily featured articles as I normally do when I'm at work and I came across an article called, "Miss. school prom off after lesbian's date request." The first thing that I thought to myself was, are you serious? It turns out an entire Mississippi school district will not have a prom in any of their schools simply because a lesbian student wanted to dress in a tuxedo and bring her girlfriend to prom. Of course, the school board did not admit that this was the reason why they decided to cancel the prom. I am guessing that the school board doesn't what to be viewed as discriminating against people whose sexual orientation is anything other than heterosexual, so they decide to not only cancel the prom at the particular school the female student attends but all of the proms in the district. Perhaps, the school board is cancelling the prom at all of the schools as a punishment and warning for any students who ever think of bringing a date of the opposite sex. But, according to the author, the school district actually has a policy that requires senior prom dates to be of the opposite sex. What upsets me is how Mississippi tries to uphold this image of old America in their state, where gays aren't accepted and segregation is o.k., and instead of dealing with the issues and solving them the school board gets rid of whatever is causing the "problem."

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