What I’m Reading
iPad Fleshlight Case is … interactive porn?
Just about everything that is Vacerelli lately.
Another great post on the equality of all women’s rights by Jessica Valenti
Mind Games with Kelly Oxford
And lastly, as with current events, if you see a friend post suicidal content on Facebook please notify someone.
Sex & The Family Notes
Some of this will be straight jibberish from my notebook, some obvious and some fun, others will be thoughts from the class.
STARTING WITH: Drawing your own genitalia by memory! We had a guest speaker come in and go through male and female anatomy this past week and it’s been incredibly fascinating. At the start of one of the classes he brought up the activity of going and drawing your own genitals from memory and then comparing to see how close you were. A lot of people snickered and thought it was weird, but I thought it was kind of awesome. Even if you’re ze best arteessst in the land, you should know “whats normal for you” and this might be a good test at just how well you know yourself. Give it a shot. Let me know if you do and if anything surprised you! (I won’t post your genital drawings on my blog unless they’re really awesome.)
I thought very simple examples of sexism were interesting. For instance just prompting “Are you male or female?” prior to a study may influence the results on the study because you are reminded “I am female” prior to answering the questions. Strange where those biases can come in to play.
Circumcision: Why would someone circumcise their child? Many people looking for excuses to do it because they want to, but want their to be “valid” medical health reasons to do so. Teacher explains that there really aren’t any, and so you should own where you desires come from and that’s okay to feel the way you feel. For instance: Maybe you just want your son to look the way you (or your partner) does – in the sense that it will be easier to explain bodies to them if you two look the same. Or perhaps it is a tradition in your family, albeit a strange one when get down to it, that you circumcise. No right nor wrong here, necessarily (or as one of my teachers says: no shame no blame!)
Foreskins… in face cream? FIBROBLAST. Also foreskins in skin grafting. What happens with foreskins in hospital?
This is kind of cool: At Portland State they’re working on having a gender neutral bathroom in all the buildings (I think) which would mean bathrooms which anyone can go in. Not just one stall rooms, either. They also talked about the idea of allowing gender-identity to play a roll in which restrooms you could use. For instance if you identified as female but were born male, you could use the female restrooms… well, anyways. Gender and restrooms. Think about it.
My teacher said “owning your sexuality” and I just about died. He also referenced that it means doing what you want to do and NOT doing what you don’t want to do. In other words: if you don’t like it, say no. If you do like it, say yes! This reminds me of a meme I saw recently about: If you say yes, you’re a slut. If you say no, you’re a prude. Just no winning in the virgin whore dichotomy. (Which is what I’m writing one of my papers on this term.)
Someone asked about PMS: is it real? The answer he gave – as a man – was very eloquent, and safe. Essentially that everyone has cycles all the time and that perhaps just once a month women become more insightful about who all the assholes are and become more verbally confident, or something. Basically that it was about perception. And of course he also mentioned how fantastic the female body is and how it really isn’t so much to ask for someone to cook you dinner and get you some chocolate. You know, in the grand scheme of ovary-explosion uterus-shedding, really-exhausted-being-human kind of way.
Oh, and we talked about the g-spot. He expressed some rage in how we’ve done studies that correlate handedness (left/right/ambi) to which one of your testicles hangs lower. And yet. We still don’t know exactly what the g-spot (area? region?) is – where it is – if every women has one – what exactly the purpose is – or how it’s related to squirting (female ejaculation) since it appears to me. We also don’t necessarily know what the fluid is that is squirted out, aside from the fact that it is not urine.
Fucked up, right? Particularly in light of the “studies” that have come out recently. There is no denying there is a G-REIGION OF SOME KIND but that modern science hasn’t fully solved that mystery yet is kind of astounding, no?

What we do know is that: it is an area of heightened sensitivity in most females on the anterior wall of the vagina and that stimulating it is related to the release of fluid known as female ejaculation or squirting.
I know guys, I know.

He then went into some explanation about the paraurethral glands but I’m not going to pretend I’ve looked this up yet but I plan to and if I find anything insightful I’ll get back to you. If you men out there want to do some studying of your own, do a quick search for the prostate. The ladies don’t have one (the p-spot and the g-spot are said to be analogous, as many parts in the male/female bodies are) and the prostate is the source of lots of really fucking rad shit.
(Note: Lots of people/websites/books will articulate quite clearly what the g-spot is and where it is and what it is, as have I in the past, but as much of this information is contrary nor not very well researched, take it for what it is?)
I then drew a picture of a vagina that looks like a really scared alien but alas I don’t have a scanner.
Menopause: 50s, typically
Menarche: 9-16 yrs of age, sharp bell curve, age becoming younger but menopause not becoming older.
Those who start menarche earlier tend to be African American or poor (typically poor + african american) yet we still don’t know exactly why the age is getting younger or how it may correlate to this.
Some positive-thinkers say that it’s just our bodies going “Hey, you live longer now, lets give you a longer period of time to reproduce by making you able to at a younger age – for a longer time!” But I don’t know about that.
Tra la la, ovulation. And done.