Sunday is for Horizons: Walt Disney's The Story Of Menstruation (or how not to do sexuality education)

Ever wondered how some educators managed to talk about puberty without talking about sexuality? Weird, right? Here you have an old Walt Disney gem somewhat explaining menstruation without ever talking about the intercourse and women as sexual beings...

To heal from that horror, here, have some more recent Swedish stuff, hihihi.

Friday is the (Inspirational) Movie Night: 17 Filles (2011)

#InspirationalMovie

Well, this is a controversial and complex one. The outline may seem bizarre and basis of an absurd comedy, once you are presented with an introduction that "when Camille accidentally becomes pregnant, 16 of her friends and classmates decide to follow suit, throwing their town and school into chaos...", nevertheless, 17 Filles (2011, Delphine Coulin & Muriel Coulin) brings the conversation on teen pregnancy beyond what you have seen before.

This is not Juno (2007) with it's ups and downs being still framed in complete security and parental support, the pregnancy being a result of boredom. These French girls - and the movie is based on a somewhat true story that happened in Gloucester, Massachusets in 2008 - use sex/pregnancy as one of the ways to gain agency and control over their lives. The fantasy that rises from one unplanned pregnancy leads to a vision of independence and communal life based on shared maternity away from the parental control and not-promising-at-all future of their town.

While, of course, there's a lot of content to challenge - the instrumentalization of sex ignoring the dimension of pleasure, the absence of parents or their male peers sex partners, the reckless driving, smoking and drinking while pregnant, and the outlandish view that a life with a baby would be somehow easier - it comes back to haunt you exactly on how it questions the narrative of teen pregnancy that we are used to.
You watch the girls while they look for things in their lives: to do, to be, to strive towards... in a confusing, rather lonely world where suddenly something so basic and so contrarian to everything they have been warned about as pregnancy (with no sentimental strings attached to the biological fathers) suddenly seems like a good idea that would get them out of the slump of adolescence and make them adults.

Just to keep in mind that teen pregnancies do not come just from not knowing the biological consequences of sex. It is a much more complex conundrum of things that we should be working with... So, enjoy!

BTW, at the moment there is somebody on YouTube that has uploaded the entire movie, so you may take advantage while it lasts...

Sex on the Map (from RFSU with love)

Sex on the map from RFSU on Vimeo.

"RFSU (Swedish Association for Sexuality Education) is the biggest organization in Sweden working with sexual and reproductive health and rights. The organization was founded 1933 by Elise Ottesen-Jensen and the purpose has always been a rights based approach on sexuality. RFSU is also focusing a lot on pleasure, for people to be able and have a chance to enjoy sex. With that in mind, it's important to work with issues around contraception, the right to abortion, sex education, STI's and so on.
In 2011 RFSU made this film, Sex on the Map, after having years of experience working with sex education in schools. The target group for the film is teenagers, mainly between 13-15 years old. This movie really captures how "the RFSU way" of seeing sex and sexuality. The film is 30 min of sex education. It's about everything from anatomy and the human body to feelings and emotions regarding sex. It focuses on the many types of sex you can have, not only penetrative vaginal sex. Throughout the film, there's a perspective on lust trying to communicate that sex is something good as long as it's consensual. I hope you enjoy it! Feel free to share (: "

Tove Larsson, board member RFSU
If you have any questions, e-mail me at tove.larsson (a) rfsu.se

As an additional material on anatomies and "normalities", the best explication of those things in a correct and understandable we have ever seen: Pussypedia (pdf) and Dicktionary (pdf). 

Sunday is for horizons: Jaclyn Friedman

#Sunday #Learning

This Sunday we start a new tradition. From now on Sundays will be for learning and for widening the horizons. Every Sunday we'll suggest an author that you might want to get to know in order to grow as feminist, as a SRHR activist, as peer educator, as person...

And we start with writer, performer, and activist Jaclyn Friedman. Her work is mostly centered about the themes of enthusiastic consent, slut-shaming, rape culture... very important and omnipresent things that (somehow) go beyond the basics of the (orthodox) sexuality education, even when the CSE is trying really hard to be sex-positive.

So Jaclyn does make it sex- and people-positive and real life-based. Very relevant also for people beyond their adolescence (oh, yes, sexuality education is a life-long learning process!).

We suggest two ways to get to know her work: 

1. Read her books: Yes Means Yes!: Visions of Female Sexual Power and A World Without Rape (co-authored together with Jessica Valenti) and What You Really Really Want: The Smart Girl's Shame-Free Guide to Sex and Safety. Coming to terms with your own sexuality and realize your needs, while being safe and able to agree enthusiastically to be sexual with people included!

2. Listen to her podcast: Jaclyn does a weekly edition of about an hour long conversation with somebody relevant in the sexual rights/feminist activism and/or writing, etc. and answers real life questions. While it is pretty much US (geography=geography) and Internet centered, it will give you a taste of what's going on in the "sex-related news" while obliging to think about polyamory, internet misogyny, body-positivity, pornography, and other things you maybe wouldn't have noticed around. And it just might suggest new paths for your own activism.
+ It's very informal and nonchalant, perfect listening matter for commutes, dish-washing, taking baths and other drag routines.

Sunday is the day when #GirlsDecide: Hosna

This time we travel to Bangladesh to meet Hosna* and hear about her decision making journey. She tells us about her fears regarding an early marriage and looks for a way to make an autonomous decision about her future, while involving her community and changing some of the customs.

Sunday is the day when #GirlsDecide: Halimah

Halimah's* journey takes us to Indonesia and through the difficulties of taking an informed decision about a pregnancy when your culture and your family might not be entirely with you.

And how comprehensive sexuality education could change the entire picture...

Friday is the (Inspirational) Movie Night: Whole New Thing (2005)

#inspirationalmovie

This week's feature is the sweetest coming of age story. Whole New Thing (2005, Amnon Buchbinder) tells the shock of somebody body and sex positive, somebody who has received a comprehensive sexuality education and is not constrained by rigid gender roles suddenly clashing with the real world. And dealing with it.

You get a love story, a closeted gay thriller, a rite of passage... all of it, covered with Canadian snow and a cute hippie vibe. You'll laugh and cry. We promise.

IPPF ♥ - YSAFE for #IPPF60

#IPPF60 #SRHR

As we are celebrating the 60th anniversary of IPPF, listen to what YSAFE young people have to say about it!

IPPF ♥ for #IPPF60

#IPPF60 #SRHR

  

"IPPF started its journey in 1952, when 8 family planning associations joined together to fight for a cause.

60 years later and the organization is nearly 20 times larger. It works in 172 countries, delivers millions of services all over the world. And drives major changes in global policy.

Together, IPPF’s family makes up the largest sexual and reproductive health and rights organization in the world. None of this would have been achieved without the untiring efforts of IPPF’s staff and volunteers, and our partners in government, civil society and business.

There is so much the Federation can be proud of: it continues to improve the health of millions by contributing to health systems strengthening around the world. It provides services where no government facilities exist, it trains health workers, reacts rapidly in emergency situations and provides expertise that others can learn from."

LET'S EAT CAKE!

This is the cake that IPPF Western Hemisphere Region enjoyed!

Friday is the (Inspirational) Movie Night: Kinsey (2004)

A shout-out to our dedication to comprehensive sexuality education, here we go with a feature film about Alfred Kinsey (1894-1956), the entomologist turned sexologist that opened eyes in USA regarding what people do with their sexualities and the great diversity that exists in human sexual behavior (yes, even in places where sex is claimed to be sinful and desire - always heterosexual!).

Kinsey (2004, Bill Condon) establishes a link between personal struggles and what becomes a vocation to a man who changed his scientific interest from gall wasps to human sexual behavior in the USA of 1940's and 1950's. 

A reminder that the work of an activist / expert / researcher might not be all that rosy, especially if it's something new, even revolutionary that she is doing.
And that - despite oppositions and people afraid to stand with you - it is worth to follow what you (and the Scientific Method) find to be the right thing to do!

AIDS 2012 THGS08 Society, Sexuality and Pleasure

The presentation that we gave in our AIDS 2012 session today:

Society , sexuality and pleasure (AIDS 2012).

AIDS 2012 Youth-Pre, Day 1

Maya participating in the opening panel Turning the Tide: Where do we go from here with the global HIV/AIDS response? and insisting on the crucial importance of comprehensive sexuality education. Everybody on the panel agreed, off course.

Annaïs during her session Sexual and Reproductive Health Education: What is Comprehensive?

Luize co-facilitating the session on best peer education practices around the world. Talking about the importance of keeping gender in mind when doing peer education. You can find the presentation on the topic below!

Gender in Peer Education (AIDS 2012 Youth-Pre)

The presentation we gave in the AIDS 2012 Youth-Pre Conference today while sharing a session on best peer education practices with Leo and Jackie:  Youth pre peer_ed_gender_luize_ratniece

View more presentations from jauatkales.

Girls + pregnancies

In the SRHR community, we spend a lot of time talking about maternal morbidity and mortality, about the need to insure access to health care services and supplies. We insist on need for access, real access to education for girls. We advocate for mandatory Comprehensive Sexuality Education since very early in one's life.

But the curious thought that sums it all up, as presented by Hugo Schwyzer, somehow surprised me

"Sperm kills.* For hundreds of millions of women over the course of millenia, the riskiest action they ever took was having sex (consensual or otherwise, married or not) with men. As medical historians will tell you, until the 20th century, childbirth was the leading cause of death for all women of childbearing years; in some societies that maternal mortality rate may have reached 40%, while other researchers prefer a lower figure of 1 in 5. Given that many women in the developing world still have half a dozen children or more, as they did in previous centuries, the overall risk is compounded by the sheer number of pregnancies carried to term. (1 in 7 Afghan women today die in childbirth.)

To put it even more bluntly, men have killed far more women by ejaculating inside of them than they have by any other method. Semen has killed more people than any other body fluid."

He concludes that, culturally, as a collective unconscious knowledge, it might be one of the reasons to fear the patriarchy-wise channeled male (hetero)sexuality even in places where the feminist fight is not anymore about the legal right to say "no".

A thought-provoking read, anyways.
 

Talking about.. sex (Chloe)

Miranda is a British sitcom co-written and starring comedienne Miranda Hart. Met with much critical acclaim, the show looks at the life of middle class Miranda and her profuse social awkwardness- an example being her propensity to burst into random song mid-interview.

This episode sees Miranda dealing with her inability to talk openly about sex and relationships, taking a stance that is ‘too British’ and conservative. Her behavior is hilarious; she explains how she was given little sex education at school, which has inhibited her ability to talk about it in later life. She satirizes perfectly the feeling that some girls can have when talking about such issues. We, as girls, should feel comfortable in sharing our experiences so as to end any stigma surrounding sex and to give a feeling of empowerment and confidence.

Also of note, is Hart’s success in the comedy world, an otherwise male dominated profession. She shows how women can be hugely successful in any line of work.

Happy, healthy & hot (Darshini)

Darshini talking about the role empowerment and comprehensive sexuality education play in HIV prevention.

Girls & Contraception (Ada)

"Girls have very different experiences and stories to tell when it comes to when they first find out about contraception. Often times these stories come from learning about the pill and not so much about emergency contraception or negotiation to use a condom. Being able to feel comfortable to admit that, as a girl/young women, we have sex and then to be able to feel comfortable to talk about which contraceptive methods we would like in order to prevent pregnancy or an STI still seems like an ideal situation for girls.

We aren’t having sex to prevent these outcomes of sex, we are having sex for other reasons. Still, it is important that girls have contraceptive knowledge and choice and that girls can feel comfortable to talk about this.

I come from a family of all girls, and I asked my sisters the question, “when did you first learn about contraception?” Interestingly, we all had different answers and different stories around this question. Here’s my slightly funny and a little depressing story of my first memory of learning about contraception:

My school sex education (not about sexuality at all), similar to many young people, focused on abstinence only scare tactics as well as the biological/anatomical background of sex. During sex education we were shown huge pictures of STIs to know what some STIs, i.e. chlamydia and warts looked like. We ended up saying things like ‘eww gross’ and shielding our eyes and in utter disbelief that that could actually happen to someone. The message from this was supposed to be to either not have sex or wear a condom. The teachers never really thought that young people will never admit to having an STI if there is so much stigma around having one. For some reason, the school decided to address this topic in the same week as wearing a safety belt when in a car – the pictures for this one were major trauma car accidents on what has happened to people who don’t wear their seatbelts…. The message was clear: never have sex and never get in a car!

Luckily for me, talking about getting on birth control was an easy discussion to have. I do remember girls saying “yes, but I’m only on the pill to prevent acne and so my menstrual cramps aren’t so bad”. We still have a lot of work to do to help support girls who want to have sex, feel good about their choices and live healthy sexual lives that protect themselves."

Ada