Everything Rand Paul has said in recent weeks—from his comments about Monica Lewinsky and the “war on women” to his drafting of anti-choice Cuccinelli as lead counsel—is about proving his patriarchal bona fides.
In fact, we’ve been having the same fight over sexual promiscuity like clockwork about every 40 years, going back at least a couple centuries.
The virgin-whore dichotomy has been around forever. What’s puzzled me recently, however, is what feels like a sudden upsurge in these very conservative attitudes in pop music. Why is this so?
The decision to show Tebow in a maternity ward, wearing a white coat, and coaching a pregnant woman in labor was a bad one. Depicting famously anti-choice spokespeople as experts, or even ordinary Joes, in the arena of reproductive health is not funny. It’s disrespectful.
Last month’s CNN piece on sex trafficking in Cambodia was notable because it represented a common failure of the media to report effectively on issues like trafficking in ways that do not compound the harm to those most affected.
Researchers and the general public may be unable to agree on teen pregnancy shows’ contributions to society, but what we all can agree on is that these MTV shows present tired tropes about teen moms that are harmful for young girls.
A new paper suggests that MTV’s 16 and Pregnant franchise has helped reduced the teen birth rate by almost 6 percent. Before we start celebrating, however, let’s remember that the show is stereotypical and exploitative and that the ends don’t always justify the means.
A “Blurred Lines” parody video in which men dance shirtless was briefly removed from YouTube after being flagged as “inappropriate,” sending a clear message that the idea of women dominating submissive men is unsuitable.
This week, Khloe Kardashian gets tested for STDs after learning of her husband’s infidelity, Jennifer Aniston does not want wax statues of STDs in her living room, and sex research goes primetime with a new series on Showtime.
OITNB isn’t perfect in its handling of race, class, and gender, but the series does get a lot right about the conversations people of color and white folks have amongst themselves and with each other, and how different identities and experiences shape those interactions.