Sex/uality Artifacts

http://www.d2l.org/site/c.4dICIJOkGcISE/b.6035035/k.8258/Prevent_Child_Sexual_Abuse.htm#.VlPBib-rSf9

Hi class! My name is Hallie Hayden and I chose to highlight a website for my first artifact, dedicated to bring awareness to the frequency of childhood sexual abuse. This is a topic so heinous no one wants to think about the reality of it. The reality being one in ten children will be sexually abused in their lives before they turn 18. Something that the website also brings up is that most childhood sexual abuse is done by somebody close to the child and not strangers. This is something that we have discussed in class and was also mentioned in the articles on this topic. This website provides links to stories from survivors, and these stories highlight the different effects childhood sexual abuse can have on people. Some of the effects that are talk about were also mention in the article about long-term effects of childhood sexual abuse, things like experiencing guilt, shame and taking personal responsibility for the abuse. There were also recovery stories, in which the survivors reclaim a sense of empowerment in their lives and sexuality.

The Darkness to Light website also provides avenues to getting help if you or someone you know is being abused, as well as ways to help recover if it happened in your past. This website offers all kinds of help for survivors, but also provides resources to help prevent the act from ever happening. They run programs in different counties across the nation that inform parents and community members alike in the steps they can take to protect their children. A brief look into their program would be the five steps, which are to; learn the facts, minimize the risk, talk about it, recognize the signs and react responsibly. They go into more depth in the program and on the website. This is a useful website if you are a parent, are in child care, or even if you’d just like to be more informed on the subject.

For my second artifact, I picked this episode of That 70’s Show because I feel like it encompasses not only today’s topic but also a great deal of the topics we’ve discussed for the last few weeks.  In the beginning of the film, Kelso (the kid with long hair), begins feeling uncomfortable during the X-rated film because he is getting back together with his ex-girlfriend, Jackie. As he leaves the theater, Fez (the foreign exchange student) tells him to “not forget his dress on the way out.” Kelso is male, so he is expected to enjoy watching X-rated films. If he does not, to Fez, this means he is acting like a female. In some ways, however, this episode does not conform to sexual scripts. As we’ve discussed, sex is often portrayed as very easy. The clothes just fall off, it is immediately enjoyable for both parties, and everything goes smoothly. That 70’s show does an excellent job of showing how sex cannot go smoothly. Clearly it does not go smoothly in this episode, as Donna leaves because of a move Eric tried which she found too perverted. Also,  the show has episodes in which the character’s first time was not that enjoyable, where the mother goes through menopause, and many morethat show sex in a different and often more realistic way. The second topic from class that can be applied to this video is the negative effects of pornography. The boys watch an X-rated film and Eric immediately feels inadequate. This leads him to incorporate one of the moves he had seen in the film into his own life, which turns out to affect it negatively. The last part of the clips apply to consent. Eric does not discuss with Donna what he is about to try in bed. Donna is uncomfortable with it, leading her to exercise her right of consent and leave the bedroom. People often think of consent as something to be exercised against strangers, not people whom they are dating. This episode provides a great example of how consent can be practiced within the context of a relationship.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6a6cu_s3-ep19-eric-s-naughty-no-no-part-1_shortfilms

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6a6ha_s3-ep19-eric-s-naughty-no-no-part-2_shortfilms

For my artifact, I chose this clip from an episode of Spongebob Squarepants. The episode features a controversial sequence of events in which Spongebob, Patrick, and Spongebob’s boss (Mr. Krabs) break into a house with the intent stealing woman’s underwear. Spongebob and Patrick even admit they “score here all the time.” The crew is eventually caught and punished, but it did raise quite a controversy. Many parents were concerned about the reaction the episode may draw from their children. Does it expose kids to an invasive and illegal aspect of sexuality at too early an age? What sort of questions does it raise? During the episode, going on a “panty raid” was described as the cool thing to do. Will seeing their favorite cartoon characters partake in this activity also make them think it is “cool”?  This is also not the only episode of Spongebob which causes parents to concern. Originally intended for adults, Spongebob features episodes involving references to jail rape, public nudity, and gay marriage (controversial for some parents). Outside of the sexual realm, there is even an episode where Spongebob and Mr. Krabs murder a health inspector and spend the rest of the episode trying to escape conviction. While these depictions seem to trivialize major breaches in morals, Spongebob continues to be a very popular show. One may wonder, how could a parent let their children watch these images? That is because it is debatable whether this actually has a negative influence on children. As an avid watcher of the show while growing up, I can tell you I almost never understood any of the sexual references in the show. The jokes were meant for a different age level, and I did not question them. Also, even if children are understanding the concepts shown, that does not necessarily mean they adopt them. For the moment, not enough research has been done to determine how these small exposures influence how children develop sexually, mentally, or emotionally. At the moment, the decision is given to the parent.

Today (11/19/15) I, Michenzi Hoffman, present my artifact on child abuse in media. I showed two movie clips, one clip was from the movie the Lovely Bones, and the second was from the movie The Butterfly Effect. The first video clip that I present was of Susie Salmon easily being coerced into a bunker set up by Mr. Harvey a fellow neighbor. That touches on a major point our guest speaker brought which was 2/3 of perpetrators of childhood abuse are trusted adults like “fellow friendly neighbors.” There are certain parts of this scene that also hit on main points the guest speaker pointed out. Some of them being that children are abused because they are “seductive.” Susie is fully clothed, states she doesn’t have a boyfriend, and is very timid (not sexual at all). Childhood abuse occurs because children are expected to do as they are told, trust adults, and they are vulnerable to coercion and trickery. Susie Salmon fell victim to all of those: Mr. Harvey asks her to stay to have a Coke Cola with him and she feels like she can’t say no. She ends up in the bunker in the first place because she is tricked into thinking it is going to be something fun and enjoyable for kids, and feels like she can trust Mr. Harvey. Lastly, her abuse occurs at the end of the scene and is inevitable because when she tries to escape Mr. Harvey has a huge power differential compared to her; he is bigger, stronger, smarter, and understands what he is doing, leading to the rape of Susie Salmon.

The second clip I showed was of a flashback in the Butterfly Effect where a drunken father (once again not a stranger, but a member of the family) is taking a little boy and girl (Kaylee) down in the basement to “act out Robin Hood.” I thought this was a nice way to depict the opposite of child abuse because instead of the children obeying the adult, being vulnerable, and possessing a little knowledge about the topic, they instead have a plan. They stand up to the drunken father, tell him no, and do not do as they are told (to take their clothes off and kiss). At the end of the clip Kaylee tells the father that he will never touch her again. This touches on the fact the guest speaker stated which is: child abuse is usually thought of as intercourse, but really it is more typically dealing with touching and fondling. The last part of the clip the boy is saying to the father all the mental detriment the little girl is going to go through because she doesn’t have loving father, how her only concept of trust is betrayed by her own father, and how she will be more likely to commit suicide.

With that being said I would now like to tie in the reading we had over child abuse and the long-term effects that are likely to occur to the one that had to withstand the abuse. “Childhood sexual abuse has been correlated with higher levels of depression, guilt, shame, self-blame, eating disorders, somatic concerns, anxiety, dissociative patterns, repression, denial, sexual problems, and relationship problems” (Hall, M. and Hall J., 2). Depression is the most common symptom to come about after a child has went through abuse. A lot of the time the survivors think that it is their fault, they blame themselves, they think they “liked it,” and take on personal responsibility for the abuse. According to the reading other symptoms may include “experiencing amnesia concerning parts of their childhood, negating the effects and impact of sexual abuse and feeling that they should forget about the abuse” (Hall M, and Hall J., 3). Sexual difficulties are common for survivors to experience and opening to up to new partners is extremely difficult for them. There are many symptoms that can occur after abuse, so the reading suggests using the negative thoughts and turning them positive to empower ones self, create boundaries, and promote power. I think that it as great technique to consider, and important for the survivor to begin the healing process. I did not have any questions to answer after my presentation. I hope I was able to get my point across about childhood sexual abuse, and how serious of a topic it is. Thank you.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2L2dyDpd7LA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-APah17AQA

https://www.counseling.org/docs/disaster-and-trauma_sexual-abuse/long-term-effects-of-childhood-sexual-abuse.pdf?sfvrsn=2

Danielle Friedrich

Today in class I showed a video clip from the TV Show “Scrubs”. The video clip was of Elliot and Carla, two female leads in the show, and Dr. Cox, a male lead in the show, discussing two patients test results. Elliot and Carla ran several tests on the couple, but all the tests came back negative. Dr. Cox realized they didn’t test the couple for any STDs and immediately sent an order to get them tested. When the test results came back, the doctors found that the couple had Syphilis. At the end of the video clip, one of the nurse’s went to deliver the news to the couple since the other doctors weren’t able to do so. Upon entering the room, Carla told the nurse that he didn’t have to do it because she already did and that the couple told her all about their sexual activities.

This clip is an example of how the elderly population tends to be overlooked as sexual beings. This clip is also an example of how doctors seem to overlook STDs as a possible diagnosis in the elderly populations due to the misconstrued idea that they do not engage in sexual activities. The article, The Unexplored Story of HIV and Aging, stated that many older individuals everywhere are sexually active, although interest in sex and frequency of vaginal intercourse decline with age. This shows that even though the older population’s sexual activity declines, it doesn’t mean that they aren’t still partaking in sexual activities on a regular basis. Another example from the article on how the clip relates is that the article discusses how there is a failure to consider STDs as a cause for illness in older adults. In the clip, Carla and Elliot didn’t even test the couple for an STD because it didn’t cross their mind. This shows that even doctors, who should be highly educated, still don’t think of the elderly population as people who partake in sexual activities. Dr. Cox realized that Carla and Elliot didn’t test the couple for any STDs and realized right away, as if it was the easiest thing, that the couple needed to be tested for possible STDs. This shows that most people do not see the elderly population as sexual beings, whereas others, few, do. The article talks about how screening for STDs is less common for older adults because they are assumed to not be at risk.

Scrubs, STDs, and the Elderly TV Show Clip:

Hi class! My name is Chelsey Dupler. My artifact was a video called Age, Sex, and HIV which is about a woman named Veronica who is 61 years old and has HIV. She is having trouble receiving medical treatment because she is older and they claim that she should know better than to have unprotected sex and contract HIV. The place that Veronica went only seemed to be concerned with younger people getting help. When in reality the reading The Unexplored Story of HIV and Aging states that older people are going to participate in unprotected sex than younger people (Schmid 2009). This means that people in the older generation are just as likely, if not more to contract STD’s such as HIV. In the reading it states, “There has been a jump from 20% to 25% in 3 years in people who are aged 45-65 years old contracting HIV” (Schmid pg. 459). This means that people who are older deserve just as much of a chance to get medical help because of the large jump of HIV contractions. Not only that but studies show that HIV progresses faster in older people than in younger people (Schmid 2009). With all of this being said, it is important to help older people with HIV because there is a lack of appreciation to them according to the video. Especially because in the reading it discussed that if a 65 years old contracts HIV, without proper treatment, their life expectancy is only about 4 years as a result in the decline in their immunity (Schmid 2009). In the video, Veronica is getting close to 65 years old as she stated she was 61, without adequate treatment (which it does not seem like she is receiving any), her health will decline and so will her life expectancy. Overall, this just shows that older people are really not receiving as much adequate treatment for HIV as younger people are, which they should be able to have access to which relates to the course through the readings. The reading on The Unexplored Story of HIV and Aging was all about how people in their older years are not being looked at as sexual beings and are being dismissed when it comes to their STD’s such as HIV in this case.

The video Age, Sex, and HIV can be viewed here:

Reference: Schmid, G. (2009). Bulletin of the World Health Organization 2009. The Unexplored Story of HIV and Aging.

Hi Class! Again, my name is Alison Skok. I showed the video about a high school student who invented the wheelchair with capabilities to hold/push a baby carrier. This video relates to the sexuality and disability class material. This video proves many myths incorrect. Including the myth that people with disabilities should not have children. Because this invention is allowing an individual with disabilities to have easier access to a child carrier this is an example of the world becoming more accessible for people with disabilities.

One thing I thought that was interesting with this video, however, was this invention being advertised as a wheel chair/stroller for disabled moms. Maybe instead it should say a wheel chair/stroller for parents/caregivers with disabilities. The wording in the advertisement suggests that only disabled moms would use this product. Instead it should be more gender neutral.

Wheelchair strollers are on the market and seem to be easily accessible. Doing further research I found many different brands and styles. Just like there a many different styles of infant and toddler strollers.

Here is the link to the video I showed in class:

https://www.facebook.com/NowThisNews/videos/921766774580114/

Hi, my name is Heather Andrews and I did my second artifact presentation on childhood sexual abuse. I am actually doing my resource manual project over childhood sexual abuse. So, if anyone is looking for more information, tools, resources, etc., I encourage them to come talk to me and I will help assist them in any way that I professionally can. Before getting too deep into this, I want to define what sexual abuse is. According to the American Psychological Association, sexual abuse is “unwanted sexual activity, with perpetrators using force, making threats or taking advantage of victims not able to give consent.” Many research has shown that when child sexual abuse takes place, it is actually by someone that they know and are very close to. Our guest speaker really highlighted this in her presentation on Thursday. Research has also shown that there are many harmful effects of childhood sexual abuse, both short-term and long-term. The article that we read for Tuesday, November 3^rd, was from the American Counseling Association from VISTAS. The article spent the majority of the time focusing on the long-term effects of childhood sexual abuse. Their research shows that childhood sexual abuse has been correlated with higher levels of depression, guilt, shame, self-blame, eating disorders, somatic concerns anxiety, dissociative patterns, repression, denial, sexual problems, and relationship problems. To highlight these effects, I wanted to share a video with the class. For my presentation, I did not highlight the entire 5-minute video. Instead, I showed a specific clip from about 1:10-2:10. In this short minute, Hannah (a sexual abuse survivor) explains the aftermath and effects of her childhood sexual abuse. She says that felt guilty and shameful. She also used a lot of self-harm as she cut her legs, arms, and sometimes even her face. She states that she even attempted suicide. This correlates exactly with what we have been discussing in class and exactly what the article stated. She experienced the same feelings, the same self-harm, and suffered so much from depression that she even attempted suicide. This is just one short video that relates to what we have been discussing in class.  At the end of my presentation, the question was asked, “How does she talk about surviving the abuse?” To answer this question, at the end of the video, Hannah states what she knows now and I think this has helped her deal with the abuse. For example, she has kind of redirected her thinking into something more positive and seeing herself as valuable and important. She also constantly reminds herself that she is forgiven and that she is not guilty for the things that took place. She says that love is the most important and most powerful thing. Therefore, with the help from a counselor and her loved ones, she has been able to cope with/survive the abuse and she now has a new outlook on herself and her worth.

Hello! My name is Sami Parave and my first artifact was about two news articles that pertained to the assignments we had to read in class about the rape and consent and boundaries articles. The news articles I found were about known singer, Kesha, and a recent rape case that she has been involved in. She claims that her music producer had been “abusing her sexually, physically, verbally and emotionally shortly after she signed a contract with him when she was 18” (Buckland, Mirror Magazine). Her music producer, known as Dr. Luke, denies that this was the case, but more investigation is still occurring.

In reference to the article “I Wasn’t Raped, but…” by Nicola Gavey, there are some direct correlations with Kesha’s situation with some of the points made throughout the article. In the article, it discusses the fact that some women feel more worried about the dangers of sexual assault and violence because of stories they hear about in the media. In the article it states, “these gendered ways of being may be further enhanced by the exacerbation of women’s fears about rape through the media reportage and through warnings about violent sexual attacks that emphasize women’s vulnerability to rape” (Gavey 585). This can be seen in many ways such as reports of other women being in the situations and the constant warnings that are given to women about sexual assault. One way that Kesha contradicts this idea is when she was able to give a jaw-dropping performance after the case had been brought to the surface of the media. She showed her strength as a women and her strength as a survivor of sexual abuse. As “I Wasn’t Raped, but…” states, women should taught to be strong after these events, not that they should hide and be in the background for forever because of what happened.

In the other article in class titled “Consent and Boundaries,” the aspect of unwanted sex and sexual abuse are both discussed because they both involve the idea of not giving consent to the actions that are happening. What was different about Kesha’s case was that she also felt obligated to keep allowing these abusive acts to keep happening because Dr. Luke was her music producer and she wasn’t sure if she would be able to keep singing and performing if she didn’t allow him to keep going. Now, she has realized that she is stronger than this and she doesn’t have to keep it a secret, which meant that she finally stood up for herself and told someone what was happening so that she could move past this unfortunate situation. Which brings us to how she is moving forward now with performing better than ever and continuing to fight for her right and trying to get justice for what Dr. Luke has been doing to her.

Here are the links to the articles on Kesha’s case:

http://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/kesha-rape-lawsuit-against-ex-5916602

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/gossip/kesha-alleged-rape-dr-luke-place-virgin-source-article-1.1976933