Disability and Sexuality Resources from "Are Cripples Screwed"

Hey y'all,

Here are some GREAT resources on disability and sexuality from our guests last class, "Are Cripples Screwed?"

http://vimeo.com/6842318 - "(Sex)abled: Disability Uncensored" a short, 15 min documentary (and Alex makes a few appearances!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/richard-c-senelick-md/disabled-sex-how-wouldit-change_b_810748.html
- a quick article on some of the barriers that people with disabilities
face regarding sexuality.

http://nsrc.sfsu.edu/issues/sex-and-disability - the National Sexuality
Resource Center's section on sex & disability

XOXO,
WCRG

Disability, Sexuality, and Some Yoga Tips!

Hey guys! So I've been thinking about the topic of disability and
sexuality and found an interesting article about a girl in Spain with a
disability that has written a thesis on the topic:This article is in
Spanish so for all you Spanish speaking students--Here is the link!

http://nsrc.sfsu.edu/article/primer_beso

Another Spanish article:


http://nsrc.sfsu.edu/article/el_tab%C3%BA_de_la_sexualidad_y_la_discapacidadporque_no_son_personas_%E2%80%98asexuadas%E2%80%99

Also, a video on a woman who is combating sex and disability through art:
http://nsrc.sfsu.edu/media/patty_bernes_sins_invalid_sex_art_disability

As we are approaching the second round of midterms, I recommend exploring
de-stressing activities in the Berkeley/SF area! Maybe a weekend day bike
ride or bart visit to the SF Zen Center (One of the most peaceful places
to me around here :)) http://www.sfzc.org/.  They have many different free
community events throughout the week that are great personal boosters!
http://www.sfzc.org/cc/display.asp?catid=2,70.

Some fun free events I have found in the area!
Also, Donation-based yoga on Shattuck @ Yoga to the People.
Free Community Prostrations at Yoga Mandala on Telegraph, Ave.
Free Community Yoga at Yoga Kula on North Side on Thursdays!
Free first week of yoga @ Core power yoga down University!
Free fruit samples at Berkeley Farmers Market (haha!) on Center St.
Saturday Mornings Downtown Berkeley/Thursday afternoons on Rose St.
Free awesome slide/picnic area at Corondices Park on North Side
(BYOC(ardboard) if you want to slide fast!!)
Free trial of vespa scooters (at the green choice on Bancroft! Even if you
are underaged ;))

Hope Everyone has a wonderful week!
Peace,
Patrice

Dove Commercial

This commercial has always drawn my attention and brings me back to the topic we had a couple of weeks ago about the distortion of beauty we have in society. The majority of the time, many of us forget that these ads have been photoshopped and the models have cover-up covering all of their facial imperfections.

I thought this was a wonderful campaign by Dove. The video itself is pretty self explanatory.

Enjoy!

http://youtu.be/hibyAJOSW8U

Disability, Self-value, and Sex

Click Here for Inspirational Video

I don't know what the disability and sexuality session is going to be like today, because I'm posting this beforehand for my homework, but thinking about it reminded me of this video I saw once.

People value themselves often in terms of other people's views of them. I certainly experience this; if I apply or audition for something and don't receive the spot, I'm likely to feel inferior because of how someone else ranked me among the other applicants.

In the video, the speaker seems to have learned to value himself based on his own terms rather than other people's. He tells the girls, "You are beautiful" and the boys, "You da man", which, when received in the intended way, supports the students by assuring them that they don't have to meet other people's standards; they are good enough in their own way; beating themselves up about not meeting some cultural standard is self-degrading in an attempt to chisel themselves to meet an unnecessary expectation.

The rules I'm about to say aren't strictly categorized by male/female, but I think are common. It seems that women have a hard time accepting their natural appearance, while men have a hard time accepting their level of performance. I think both are in attempts to achieve the liking and respect of others. Hence, many women chisel themselves with eating disorders and many men chisel themselves with valuing messages like, "You are worthless unless you can win". Both conditions involve being discontent with life.

The only problem I have with the above video is that his separate messages to girls and boys "beautiful VS. the man" probably reinforce sex roles--that women are meant for appearance and that men are meant for performance. Or maybe it is an attempt to combat that message; it is hard to say. But it makes me uncomfortable when he says it.

Dane

Barbie? Is that you?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/galia-slayen/the-scary-reality-of-a-re_b_845239.html

Here's an article (complete with a picture and everything) about what Barbie would really look like if she has the same dimensions but was made to be the size of a "real" human being.
It's disappointing to think that this freakish image is what children around the world are trained to idealize. This proves that not only is a likeness of Barbie impossible to attain, but it's also unrealistic, unnatural, and unhealthy. This ideal makes body consciousness a harsh reality, as young girls then try to achieve this unattainable goal or at least strive for something like it by starving themselves or desiring plastic surgery in order to change their bodies to fit this socially constructed "norm."

"I heard what you called me the other day"

This scene from "Will & Grace" demonstrates the conflict between societal constructs of homosexuality and two homosexual men. Will, who identifies as homosexual finds issue with his friend Jack's overtly homosexual behavior. In response to Will's derogatory comment, Jack protests with a stereotypically "straight" act at the gym. Here, we see that although these two men both identify as homosexual, there are various internal pressures and insecurities each face. Will struggles to maintain an outwardly "normal" appearance, while Jack embraces his homosexuality. Both use different means to embracing their homosexuality.

Women, Men, And The Bedroom

Given last week's talk, I wanted to share an article I came across in Jezebel.com  It highlights findings from a recent study looking at differences in the ways heterosexual men and women approach sex and relationships.  It takes on 6 basic myths like, "men want to sleep with more people than women do" or that men have more orgasms and think about sex more often than women do.

The gist:

"...some pretty simple experiments reveal that far from being hardwired into our brains, differences in sexual behavior may be conditioned by our very different gender roles. Imagine that."
Sounds basic, but definitely worth the read:

Read here

Self Image... Social Construct? Will Things Even Change?

http://www.sirc.org/publik/mirror.html

Hello!

I found this article online basically summarizing self-image and body-image. The theme of the article revolves around your reflections in the mirror and what different genders/types of people perceive. The site explains many cliches often mentioned in body-image topics, but they also included something that I found interesting... Those who are considered attractive don't have as high of self-confidence as many would think. These individuals often don't trust praise of their work or talents, believing positive evaluations to be influenced by their appearance. Additionally, men are more likely to be pleased with what they see in the mirror or indifferent.

I think that this is a good "Starter" article to explain the basics of body and self-image problems and will help to begin our philosophical discussion!

GET PUMPED FOR BODY POSITIVITY and SIZE ACCEPTANCE and a VERY SPECIAL F WORD

A Fat Rant.

“ ‘Fat’– is a descriptive, physical characteristic. It’s not an insult, or an obscenity, or a death sentence.”

I love hearing this woman say the word "fat." I just do.  Anyone feel me?

<3 Audrey

Bodily Concerns

http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/health/8-one-minute-better-body-tricks-2568780/

I thought that this link was particularly relevant to this class as all of the photos of people working out and getting fit (and thus those concerned about their physique and outward appearance) were women, with not one being of a man working out. It was posted on yahoo, presumably a place where both men and women might look to for the latest in news, etc. but only considered women as being the one's to need and want assistance in making their "bod[ies] better." This speaks to the societal norm of women being more concerned with their appearance than men, when this may or may not be the truth found in reality.

Conformity

Here is my homework for the week of Sep 27 - Oct 4. I know Wikipedia is not the best source. However, I already learned about this study in a class, and I think the wiki article is good enough.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asch_conformity_experiments

The tendency for people to conform to a regular/widespread form of behavior is, I think, one big cause of some forms of deep-rooted sexism. One point I take from the article is that even when someone disagrees with what everyone around her/him is doing, ze is still likely to do what everyone else is doing. In the study, when the correct answer was obvious, fear of differing and desire to be alike are likely reasons for conforming. Maybe some subjects doubted themselves because they thought they missed some instruction that every other supposed subject (disguised) got. We do not know exactly how the study operated, so we cannot say. However, if we move from obvious tasks (such as judging lengths of bars) to more abstract, complex, and subtle issues, such as how to respond to traditional sex roles and expectations, now it is more difficult for an individual to identify when the majority is in the right. Ze might not even consciously recognize the issue while caught up in everyday life. Or, if the issue is one that nobody in society ever articulates, the individual probably won't identify the issue explicitly. Plus, in the real world, the majority is bigger than just a classroom of people; it is all of society firmly grounded in unwritten laws of behavior. When an individual has an instance of differing ever so slightly from the norm, ze might think there is something wrong with him/her to the point that ze considers seeking a psychologist. It is difficult to call the rest of the world wrong.