Sex Week Arouses Conservative Ire
September 3, 2010 by Carmen Siering · 9 Comments
President Obama’s first budget proposal in 2009 redirected millions of dollars of federal funds from abstinence-only sex education programs to comprehensive sex ed. Unfortunately, many students are still graduating high school without hearing much beyond Joe Friday “just the facts, ma’am” presentations on how to–or more likely how not to–”do it.” Into this educational breach [...]
The Weekly Pulse: Egg Recalls, DIY Abortion, Sex Education
September 1, 2010 by Lindsay Beyerstein · Leave a Comment
This week, it’s not just eggs that are doing the salmonella infecting, women are having DIY abortions along the U.S.-Mexico border, and in Minnesota, Tim Pawlenty would rather shell out major cash than have comprehensive sex education. Read about it in Lindsay Beyerstein’s weekly health round-up at The Media Consortium. Women on along U.S.-Mexico border [...]
Argentina Says “Don’t Cry” About Unsafe Abortion
August 16, 2010 by Carol King · 6 Comments
In the land of gauchos, pampas, the tango, grilled beef, Evita and now legal same-sex marriage, unsafe abortion is the leading cause of maternal mortality. In 2008, more than 20 percent of deaths resulting from obstetric emergencies were caused by unsafe abortions, according to a report issued by Human Rights Watch. The administration of Cristina [...]
Why Kids in Montana (and Everywhere Else) Need Decent Sex Ed
July 22, 2010 by Kate Whittle · 6 Comments
The capital of my home state of Montana is making national headlines for a totally wild concept: comprehensive and age-appropriate sex education starting in kindergarten. The Helena school board was inundated with protests from concerned parents at their curriculum meeting in early July. According to the AP, the controversial parts of Helena’s program include teaching [...]
How to Lose Your Virginity: An Interview with Therese Shechter
June 24, 2010 by Aviva Dove-Viebahn · 5 Comments
If you haven’t been following the work of documentary filmmaker Therese Shechter (left), you might mistake her newest project, How to Lose Your Virginity, for a bluntly titled self-help manual for sexually bereft high schoolers. But the adage holds true that you can’t judge a book by its cover. The title is a deliberately ironic [...]
Bristol Palin Has Her Cake and Eats It, Too
May 28, 2010 by Kate Noftsinger · 14 Comments
Bristol Palin, daughter of would-be president Sarah, has done it again. After her pretentious PSA that promotes a classist view of teen motherhood, she’s turned up in a rather ironic spread for Harper’s Bazaar. She’s pictured with her son Tripp, performing domestic tasks in evening wear, and giving a tea party (get it?) surrounded by a [...]
