Sex/uality Artifacts

Hey guys! My name is Jessica Mason and I briefly presented the Golden Girls clip showing the girls purchasing condoms for a trip. After reading “Feeling Old and Ugly? Look Again!” I thought of this show because they do try to erase the stigma that older people don’t have or enjoy sex and that they are also less appealing. They tend to focus on older women being beautiful, they do make comments about being older but there are more positive ones than there are negative.

In this clip, the girls are preparing for a cruise and Blanche recommends buying protection because “you never know”, Rose and Dorothy are every hesitant because there are embarrassed for others to judge them by their purchase. Blanche then explains to them that it is confidential as to what they buy so they each pick out a box. The cashier then announces their items over the intercom to get prices and the three women become extremely embarrassed. This clip was humorous but also make valid points about the older generations being sexually active. Throughout the show they discuss men and different sexual relations, especially Blanche, and also discuss being beautiful.

I enjoy this show because they have valid points about embracing yourself no matter how much criticism you get or no matter the age. The girls pick on each other but also bring each other’s spirits up. There are a great amount of sexually active older people but no one wants to discuss or think about it but it is happening. Statistics show that it’s actually healthy for older adults to be sexually active. In a study created by National Commission on Aging, women in particular find sex more satisfying than they did in their 40’s, 62% of women saying so. This show attempts to erase the myth that aging dampens the desire for older people to be interested in sex or just looking beautiful in general. Senior sexuality should be discussed more and I feel like statistics should be publicized more often to show that there is nothing wrong with older adults having sex.

Hey class! For my second artifact I presented on the reading from “Feeling Old and Ugly? Look Again” I really enjoyed this article, because being a female in today’s society it really hit home. I have personally found myself picking out all of these qualities that I do not like about myself but I have grown over time to accept these qualities because they are what makes me, ME! It does take awhile to accept yourself and when you finally do, it is really life changing. I showed a video in class from the clothing line Aerie, and it talked about their campaign to use real, untouched models for their advertisements. I think this is incredible and definitely a change that as a society really needs. I know I am not the only girl that feels self conscious while shopping, it is very common. Women want to feel good about what they wear, and putting clothing on skinny, touched up, perfect models really brings down the self-esteem of a woman. They see how perfectly the clothing fits on a skinny model, and when they try on that same outfit they do not look the same. They feel that they need to look just like that model but it is not possible. I feel that this is the same for older women. Older women are embarrassed easily by their aging bodies and seeing older women with perfect skin and perfect bodies really impacts their self-esteem as an older woman. It takes the confidence away from them. I think that this campaign is a huge step in the right direction for our society because it starts with the younger generations. If we can get younger women to feel confident about themselves now, they will continue to love themselves and feel confident as they grow older. I really love that this clothing line is using real models and I hope that more clothing lines decide to make this change as well.

Hello everyone, my name is Nichole Davenport! For my second artifact, I chose to relate my artifact to the article we read for class today entitled “Feeling Old and Ugly? Look Again!” written by Margaret M. Gullette, who is a writer for Women’s eNews. I thought this article and artifact would be perfect for me to share with the class due to the fact that I did my research manual on Ageism and Sexuality and my focus in school is on Gerontology. As everyone would know from the reading, this article is not only inspiring, but also has a very optimistic view on aging and the woman’s body. Gullette redefines what it means to be beautiful and what beauty looks like, and did so based on her perception of her own body. Gullette said she is aging and hasn’t thought of herself as beautiful or sexy in a very long time, which a lot of that had to do with what society says about aging and the stereotype that “old is ugly” and “old is frail”. She discovered her beauty and sex appeal in the shower one day and acknowledged her curves, hips, buttock, thighs, and calves. She even went as far to say, “Did I tell you already that my shoulder looks strong and silky from above?” Gullette goes on to explain how beauty products and advertisements focus only on young and beautiful women who appear to be flawless. As I showed in class, Dove-Pro is now advertising their Anti-Aging products as Pro-Aging products, emphasizing on the importance of keeping your skin healthy with a more natural look. Their advertisement for their new Pro-Aging products displays nude older women as their models rather than young and “flawless” ones, proving that older women are just as beautiful. I think this campaign and more optimistic view on aging and beauty is extremely relevant to Gullette’s article. In class, we have gone over stereotypes and discrimination and how they are all based on societal norms. If we can change what we view as “normal”, such as only having young and beautiful models or that it’s normal to feel ugly as we age, then we will be able to embrace our upcoming aging years with no fear or anxiety. It is so important for older adults to be treated fairly, with respect, and treated with dignity. Older adults are living longer, and we cannot change that or delay further aging. We should take on a more strengths-based approach with this topic of Ageism and Sexuality or beauty in aging. Remind older adults that their laugh lines should not be looked at as wrinkles, but rather as a reminder that they lived a happy life full of laughter and love. Remind them that their white and gray hair is still beautiful and portrays wisdom. Also, remind them that they are still sexual beings if that is how they identify themselves, and shouldn’t be ashamed of it. Older adults are still people, and should be treated as nothing less.

In today’s world, social media is more prevalent than ever. Teens, college students, and even children wake up on an average day and the first thing they do is reach to their nightstand and grab their phone to check their Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook before getting out of bed. I’m guilty of this myself. Just this morning the first thing I did was check my twitter feed before forcing myself to get ready for class. Something we unconsciously do while looking through these social media sites is compare ourselves. People post the best parts of their lives on their timelines. As Brian Hanley writes in his article “Why Social Media Makes You Feel Ugly,” newsfeed people are perfect. Pictures are edited, stories fabricated, really our social media are our own personal life highlight reels. The myth that comes about through these highlight reels is that everyone else is doing better than us, or looks better than us. For example, as I’m walking to work after class I run into a friend and she stops me and says, “How are you and your girlfriend? You guys are seriously perfect!” as a result of me posting a professional picture that we had taken a few weeks back. Despite the fact that I have conflict within my relationship just as much as everyone else does, a picture of us smiling with some great editing tells a different story. The perception that everyone else has it ‘perfect’ is what causes us to feel ugly ourselves. Brian Hanley uses the Kardashian family as an example of the fact that someone else always has it better. On Instagram, Kendall Jenner has 35.6 million followers, which for the average person seems like a lot, and would lead you to believe that Kendall would be happy about that. But, sister Kim Kardashian has 45.7 million followers, and yet even Kim doesn’t have the most Instagram followers. Taylor Swift has over 300,000 more followers than Kim. Moral of the story, somebody else will always look better, have more followers, get more likes, etc. What we need to remember is that just because someone looks like they have it all on Instagram, they are just as human as the rest of us.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/brian-hanley/social-media-makes-you-feel-ugly_b_8124006.html

Hello Class, my name is Kenzi Hoffman. I did my artifact while referencing the article we read called “An Affair to Remember.” I wanted to look at the legality of sex in nursing homes and if there was any improvements in laws/policies. I came across the article online titled “Sex in Geriatrics Sets Hebrew Home Apart in Elderly Care.” This article touched on a nursing home addressing sex, and actually allowing it. I will now talk about the logistics the nursing home used in developing it s four page policy about sexual expression. They made the policy after giving out a questionnaire on sex. The questionnaire was given to residents and staff on how they felt about residents having sex. After that a group of 11 staff members got together to write a policy, and quoted one of the discussion saying: “it is the function and responsibility of staff to uphold and facilitate resident sexual expression.” The policy gave rights to books, magazines, films and other materials with explicit sexual content, as well as to private space (Gruley, 2013). The policy makes key points about non-consensual sex and public displays should not occur, and takes into consideration the families views. However, with their new policy they adjusted it to say that family wishes will NOT always be met because they think the dementia residents have the capacity to consent. Therefore, this policy now tries to work with families to accept what the resident wants rather than what the family may necessarily want/deem ‘okay’. The policy focuses on allowing the patient to do what they want, since this after all is their “home”, but tells the STAFF that they are the ones that need to be vigilant in their duties of simply making sure everyone is safe and it is consensual amongst residents not abusive. I will conclude with this quote from an 85 year-old resident that just moved into Hebrew Homes, “Intimacy is the most natural, normal thing in the whole world. It keeps you young, it gives you something to look forward to. It’s not easy to get into a cold bed.” Keep that in mind and instead of stigmatizing sex amongst elders, it really does promote physical and metal well-being for them; would you really want to take that away from someone?

Below is the link to the Hebrew Homes article:

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2013-07-23/sex-in-geriatrics-sets-hebrew-home-apart-in-elderly-care

Hey class, my name is Tiffany Payne and I presented my artifact on the reading “An Affair to Remember.” It was a very interesting read because as society, we do not like to think that the older generations are sexually active. It makes us uncomfortable just thinking about it. We even joke a lot about it because we do not want to think that it is true. As uncomfortable as many of us feel about this topic, it is important to realize that it is true, the elderly people are still sexually active and we need to figure out ways to educate them about safe sex. According to an article posted on ABC News website on March 16, 2000, 87% of married men and 89% of married women in the 60-64 range are sexually active. 29% of men and 25% of women over the age of 80 are still sexually active. Although these are small percentages, it is clear that older people are still sexually active. I talked a little bit about my experiences in class from my work at an assisted living home, about how I have witnessed older residents feeling each other up, kissing, holding hands, going on dates and even sitting on each others laps. It was uncomfortable to me at first, but I took a step back and thought for a moment…these residents are just like us but older. They still have feelings, they still have needs and it is important for them to do whatever makes them happy just like we do whatever makes us happy. Maybe instead of joking about it, we can extend sexual education to the older generations and even integrate some classes in assisted living homes, because times are changing and it is important that everyone is thoroughly educated about safe sex. Below is the video that I showed in class. It is an episode from Parks and Recreation. It is a funny video clip, and I think that it represents our society today very well.

Hey class, my name is Lauren Still and I presented my artifact during yesterday’s class in relation to the reading, “An Affair to Remember.” I thought that this reading was an interesting one as it expressed the controversy present within sexuality and older adults; mostly in relation to those older adults with dementia and/or Alzheimer’s. In the reading, the son of a dementia patient had walked in his father’s room to find an elderly woman performing oral sex on his father. The son then felt as though his father needed to be monitored more closely as he believed that his father may not have given appropriate consent before the sexual act had occurred.

The controversy present in this situation is related to the question, “Do these elderly patients need to be monitored/supervised, and if so, how much supervision is appropriate without breaking the boundary of privacy?” What I found to present as my artifact in class was a news broadcast of two news reporters discussing this controversial topic and how sexual acts shared between elders (and dementia patients) may lack a sense of consent prior to engaging in the sexual act due to the patient potentially being unable to think clearly enough to choose to engage in a sexual act with another person. In the reading specifically, the two had claimed that they had liked each other and portrayed a mutual want to be together. However, some may believe that this simple mutual feeling may not be enough to be considered as consent to a sexual act.

I was curious as to what the class thought about this controversial topic and fortunately I received some feed back from classmates. Most class mates felt empathetic with the elderly patients in terms of their privacy. Both classmates that engaged in followup discussion felt that it was sad to possibly have these patients monitored, especially if it meant separating the two from each other. It seemed that those who shared their opinions on the topic felt as though the elderly couple deserved their privacy boundary and that the mutual feeling of liking each other was enough to let the two engage in sexual acts without the assisted living staff knowing if they had both agreed on the act or not.

The link to the news broadcast that I shared is listed below if anyone is interested in viewing the rest of it.

Hello class, my name is Amanda Tanzer and I presented an artifact in class yesterday about HypnoBirthing. HypnoBirthing can be defined as a program that considers the psychological, as well as the physical, well-being of the mother, her birth partner, and the newborn, independent of context, whether that be in the quiet of a home, a hospital, or a birth center. This program includes practices such as special breathing, relaxation, visualization, meditative practice, attention to nutrition and positive body toning. Most importantly it fosters an air of mutual respect for the birthing family, as well as the health-care provider in a traditional health-care system or an alternative setting. On the HypnoBirth website (link below) you can learn more about HypnoBirthing classes that one can take as well as find an instructor near you. They also have a section of their website devoted to birth stories that are very interesting to read.

I related this website to the article we had to read for class titled “Pleasures of Childbirth”. When I read this article, it was hard for me to believe that any woman could experience pleasure when giving birth so I wanted to look more into it. That was when I remembered a video I had seen before about Kate Middleton considering having her baby via a HypnoBirth. I hadn’t ever heard of it before so I looked more into it and that was how I found this website. Reading more into this website and the research I mention later, I do now believe it is possible for a woman to have a “pleasurable” childbirth, even to the point of having an orgasm like the “Pleasures of Childbirth” article mentioned.

One student in class asked the question as to if there is back-up research related to this program. I didn’t know the answer to that in class so I looked further into that for this blog post. I found from http://www.webmd.com/baby/features/hypnobirthing-calmer-natural-childbirth and http://www.hypnobirthingutah.com/evidence-based-research-studies-supporting-the-use-of-hypnosis-for-childbirth-preparation/ that there is research backing the effectiveness and safety of HypnoBirth. It still is an up and coming program, but I believe that as the times continue to change, more and more women will use this method for a “calmer” birth.

http://www.hypnobirthing.com/

Hello everyone I am Emily Atkinson and I presented to you all my artifact based on the article, “The Pleasures of Childbirth.” This article explained how birth is supposed to be a natural body experience for women and how some people just don’t see it this way. Dr. Dick-Read from the article was a doctor who helped women go through pregnancies using many different forms or pain reliever. His interest in painless child births began when he was working with a woman in labor, offering her the assistance of his chloroform mask. She refused to use this method which left Dr. Dick-Read puzzled. After the woman gave birth she turned to him and said, “It didn’t hurt doctor, was it supposed to?” He later shadowed more births that seemed to be painless as well. He noticed a pattern in all of these births, and it was nothing but pure calmness. Their experiences seemed almost spiritual. He noticed through talking to these women and shadowing their births that the people who experience the most pain with childbirth are the ones who fear it. The ones who have a painless child birth are the ones who accept the fact that the female body goes through changes that are natural. The lady in the video is speaking from a personal view of having her baby boy with a painless birth. She said she mentally and physically prepared for her birth and she was not scared whatsoever. She knew that the feeling of having a baby was the most natural experience she would ever experience as a woman and she took advantage of every second of it.

Hi everyone! I’m Bethany Skees and I presented my artifact last Thursday. I showed a video that I related to the article, “The Pleasures of Childbirth.” The article is about how when we, in North America, think of childbirth, we associate it with pain and trouble and stress. It does not even take us a second to think before we answer “YES” to the question if childbirth is painful. In the article, author Ina May Gaskin talks about how she worked as a midwife for many years and found that childbirth can actually be a pleasurable experience for some women. One of the main points I took from the article was that the way we prepare our bodies for childbirth makes a really huge difference in our experiences with it. Women in other countries live very active lifestyles right up until they deliver, while in the United States, we are put on bed rest two weeks to two months before we deliver, depending on the circumstance. When women stay active up until their delivery, they are preparing their bodies for the birth of their child. Childbirth is such a natural thing for a woman’s body, and there is not much of it that you can control – the baby is coming out one way or another. However, if you are just laying around and not staying active toward the end of your pregnancy, your body may atrophy – or lose muscle mass – and these muscles are a very important factor for a less painful delivery. The video that I showed in class was titled “Is It Safe to Work Out Up to Delivery? | Pregnancy Workout” and talks about how not only is it okay to workout up until you deliver, but it’s actually beneficial. The video is very clear is saying however, that you should not strain yourself. There is no need to run a marathon, but keeping your body flexible and strong is extremely important during pregnancy.

Hello everyone! My name is Lauren Gittinger. In class I presented clips from the show Friends as my sexuality artifact. In the first YouTube video, Phoebe’s brother, Frank Jr., and his wife, Alice, ask her if she would like to be the surrogate mother for their baby because they are unable to conceive. Frank Jr. explains to Phoebe how InVitro Fertilization works and what the process entails. They mention how expensive the procedure can be and realize this responsibility is a lot to ask of her. However, Phoebe does not have any hesitation and is pleased to be the surrogate mother. In the following video, it is the day that Phoebe will have the embryos implanted into her uterus. The doctor explains to her that five embryos will be implanted because there will be more of a chance that the embryos will attach. This number is now typically lower to prevent the outcome of having too many children at once. This statement shocks Phoebe, and she then realizes how InVitro Fertilization does not have a high success rate for pregnancy. These clips from Friends relate to class material because it explains different aspects of InVitro Fertilization. These clips mention the procedure, the cost, and the potential outcome of possibly not becoming pregnant. Although there was not much discussed after my presentation, what was mentioned was the number of children Phoebe ultimately ended up having, which was three. This demonstrated the possibility of having multiple children from one procedure. Even though some instances may result in no pregnancy, others may result in multiple children. In Phoebe and her brother’s situation, this implantation did not call for a sperm or egg donor. Some cases call for a donor which can be either known or unknown to the parent(s) and child, both having negative and positive aspects. InVitro Fertilization is one of the many ways to have children now in today’s society. There are also the options of Intracervical Insemination, Intrauterine Insemination, and Intra-cytoplasmic Sperm Injection to assist with conception (class notes). Those hoping to have children can also try the alternative choice of adoption to achieve their desire of parenthood. These Friends video clips are great exposure to the audience of an assisted conception method when the natural way is no longer an option.

Hello class, my name is Kaitlyn and I chose the ad Love Has No Labels for my artifact. I immediately fell in love with the ad when I first saw it on Facebook a few months ago. It had a huge impact on many people, including myself. The message is very strong because it shows multiple people that belong to different races, religions, age groups, abilities, etc. It proves that everyone can be in a relationship with whoever they want to be or they can be best friends with whoever they want to be no matter who they are. I related this artifact to the article Interracial Relationships and I focused the relation to the race and homosexuality within the ad. So many years ago, interracial relationships were frowned upon so no one ever openly came out that they were in a interracial relationship. Fortunately, over the years it has become more popular. However, some people are still against those relationships. That is why this ad is so amazing. It puts the word out there in such a positive and inspiring way that it is okay to be in an interracial relationship. I applaud whoever created the ad. And I am inspired by those who participated in the ad. It really makes you think about how it is ridiculous that some people think that it is okay to judge others for who they love or who they are friends with. It really does not affect them in any way so they should not have to judge them in such a negative way. I really hope that one day the world will completely accept those that want to be in an interracial relationship. Statistics show that in the future the majority of people will be biracial. I really hope you all enjoyed my artifact in class and that it impacts your life the way it did mine.

Hi everyone, my name is Devery Manier and my artifacts was based on the topic of Sex in Middle Age. I discussed in class that my artifact was a video that I found on YouTube and a web site giving tips and information on sex after having a stroke. The video was about a 45 year old man living in Taiwan went to doctors complaining of severe headaches after having sex with his wife. In fact, the man said he’d suffered headaches whenever he ejaculated and has suffered from the symptoms ever since he was 10 years old.The doctor explained that the man suffered from late coital cephalgia, which are headaches caused by ejaculation that can last for hours and up to days. The reason is due to the constriction of veins in the man’s brain and an increase in blood pressure after sex.The condition can easily be treated with medication and he will also need to avoid strenuous exercise or moving heavy objects as this will also cause an increase in blood pressure. The video also informed me that some men are too embarrassed to seek medical attention and it is estimated that 7% of men with this condition will suffer a stroke if left untreated. After watching the youtube video, I transition into discussing Sex After Stroke. The website discusses that many stroke survivors and their partners can enjoy satisfying intimacy after stroke. The sooner they resume sexual relations the better. The website then goes to answer questions that many people that may have suffered a stroke may need answered and also tips. For example,  they answer questions that range from “will I have another stroke during sex?” to “How will my partner respond to me?”. These artifacts relate to course material because it informs the class that people in their middle years can still have sex with or without health problems. I enjoyed learning more about my artifact because it made me appreciate and value sex when I older. I always thought that people in there 40s and up didn’t have sex, but I was proved very wrong.

My two artifacts are posted below:

http://www.strokeassociation.org/STROKEORG/LifeAfterStroke/RegainingIndependence/PhysicalChallenges/Sex-After-Stroke_UCM_464261_Article.jsp#.Vl0hQoQQaZw

Hi everyone, my name is Betsy and my artifact was based off the article, Pleasure of Childbirth. I discussed in class that my artifact was a video that I found on YouTube. The video was a documentary that was shown on ABC. The documentary was about a woman who had an orgasm during her childbirth. The woman’s childbirth took place in a pool where she experienced an orgasm while giving birth. The woman explained the type of feeling she had when giving birth. From one kiss from her husband, the woman experienced an orgasm and never experienced pain from her childbirth. In the article, it talked about women who experienced orgasms during their childbirth. Of 151 women, it was found that only 32 of the woman reported that they had at least one orgasmic birth. In the article, it also had multiple women speak about their orgasmic experience which greatly related to the video. The woman in the video said she enjoyed herself when her orgasmic birth was going on. I didn’t show the whole video to the class because it was eight minutes long but I showed about three minutes of it. In the rest of the video that the class didn’t get to watch, it talked about a woman researching orgasmic births and found that 21 percent of women have orgasmic births. It was also explained that having an orgasm was continued to be seen as more of a sexual experience in private and not a public experience like birth. On the video comments, it showed me that multiple people didn’t seem to get why women have orgasms during birth and also thought of it as a private sexual matter. That’s something that Sarah brought up in class when I was presenting. Orgasms are seen as private just like nursing a baby. I thought this video greatly expressed the information on orgasms during sex and gave the audience some visualization on what women experience and how they look when it was happening. The video was very visual and gave the audience a real life look at orgasmic births.

Hi guys! I’m Sydney and I did my artifact on the changing definition of family in America. In the article, Proper Families, it discusses the most well-known definition of a family. This includes a heterosexual married couple with two genetic children. It goes on to discuss how those who deviated from this family structure were ostracized and looked at negatively. Families who deviated from this might include adopted families, same-sex families, unmarried families, mixed-religion families and so on and so forth. Although this is still the traditional family model for many people today, we as a society are moving more towards a modern family idea. The acceptance of same-sex couples, mixed-race couples, and adopted children in families has grown dramatically since the early 2000’s. As the years go on society has spent less time favoring the idea of having one strict model of a family. Although we still might see this as the dominant model, we are accepting other definitions of family as well. We are beginning to look at a family as whatever we feel are family is. If you believe your family is your significant other, child (ren) (biological or not), and pet then we have acknowledged that that is perfectly acceptable. We have began to normalize the idea of having many diverse family structures and it is allowing people to feel comfortable accepting that themselves and not feeling “wrong” for not following the traditional family model. We can see this in the proper families article when the author recognizes the fact that diverse families are becoming much more common. This is evident during the court case between Paula’s mothers and her genetic father. When the two girls begin to grow up Mark, the father, decides he want more custody of his genetic children. This causes a conflict and when Paula is asked how she feels about the situation she says she does not consider him her father. She considers her family her two mothers and her sister. Paula is completely content with the fact that she has two moms instead of a mom and a dad. This also shows that children aren’t negatively affected by not having a family that fits the traditional mold. She doesn’t need a father to consider her family, family. This reinforcing this notion of moving toward a more inclusive family idea rather than sticking closely to the proper family model and that family is something that we, ourselves, create rather than what society creates.

Hi class!

My name is Kelly Brooks and I recently presented 2 different videos depicting one side of the sexual addiction discussion.  The concept of sex addiction is very controversial among sex and sexology experts, as well as among others who work in mental health.  There is no easy answer when it comes to if sex is actually addictive, what constitutes as a sex addiction, and how much sex is too much sex?  The problem with this is that each individual is different, has different life experiences, culture backgrounds, religions, ideals, values, etc. and what is normal and good for one person may be abnormal and not okay for another.  Another common issue here is agreeing on a definition of what counts as sex.  To some, sex is just an umbrella term that includes a plethora of sexual activities, including masturbation, oral, anal, touching, erotic behavior, vaginal intercourse, sexual toys, and even kissing and phone sex.  To others, sex is less loosely defined.  It is definitely worth noting that sexual addiction is not found in the APA (American Psychological Association).  The term addiction is typically substituted for words like “abuse” and “dependence”.

Is sexual abuse and sexual dependence basically the same as sex addiction, though?  Many would say it is not.  For instance, there are many sexual behaviors that are not intrinsically bad or harmful, but when one becomes so dependent on it that they are no longer to function in their daily lives or using it to hurt another, these behaviors are no longer healthy or acceptable.  However, according to www.sexaa.org (Sex Addicts Anonymous), sex addicts are “powerless over our sexual thoughts and behaviors and that our preoccupation with sex was causing progressively severe adverse consequences for us, our families, and our friends.  Despite many failed promises to ourselves and attempts to change, we discovered that we are unable to stop acting out sexually by ourselves.”  There is a community of people who very much believe that sexual addiction is real and something they have experienced.  Patrick J. Carnes, a cofounder of the Society for the Advancement of Sexual Health in 1987 which is dedicated to “helping those who suffer from out of control sexual behavior” has greatly influenced our modern understanding of sex addiction.  While this society strongly beliefs in the reality of this addiction, many sexologists call the idea of sexual addiction “nonsense” and claim that it invites comparison to other addictions that are inherently harmful, such as drug addiction, while sex is not inherently harmful.  Sex is described as a normal biological drive and many believe that placing it in a category with these other harmful addictions pathologizes sex and is driven by an erotophobic mindset that feeds the new addiction treatment industry.

In the video “Am I a Sex Addict?”, Laci Green goes into detail discussing this topic and the several failed attempts to get it classified as a legitimate condition.  The video addresses the common problems with adopting this concept, such as the way it creates stigmas within sexuality, the trouble to accurately define and determine what is healthy and unhealthy for an individual, and the potential for those who abuse or are dependent on sex to escape responsibility for their actions by claiming they have no control in the matter.  Here is the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHWX53n6J4A

The “Sexual Addiction Awareness” PSA depicts a self-proclaimed sex addiction who is on the other side of this debate.  This video sheds light on the reality of this issue for some people and does a great job in attempting to remove stigmas associated with sex addicts, helping others to view addicts as more than their addiction, but as real people who are not dirty and bad.  Here is the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjgBLXugLuA

The content of this artifact related to the content in the class reading “Can Sex Be Addictive?”

Taverner, W., & McKee, R. (2012). Can Sex Be Addictive.

Hey guys! My name is Jessica Mason and I showed the trailer of Delivery Man and discussed assisted conception. In the movie, Vince Vaughn donates his sperm six hundred times and there was a mix up with the clinic he donated on and they overused his sperm. The result of this was that he then had 533 children, not really realistic but it’s a very cute movie. So throughout the movie, his children get together to try to figure out who their father is, potentially ruling against the anonymity clause. During this time, Vince Vaughn looks at each of their profiles and help a couple of them in the process, without them knowing that he’s the father. The court ended up ruling that he did not have to reveal his identity, but he could receive $200,00 due to the damage and publication his reputation was receiving. He then turns down the money and reveals himself, and decides to be the father of all 533 children.

When discussing different types of assisted conception and sperm donation, I thought of this movie and how Vince Vaughn goes from being an unknown donor to a known donor. You also see what it kind of does to the children of someone who donated their sperm. It also kind of shows how easy it is for someone to donate sperm but not so much eggs. It’s kind of rare for someone to donate their eggs for conception.

Another clip I wanted to show but wasn’t able to was the movie, Baby Mama. In this movie, Tina Fey tries everything to get pregnant, She spends thousands of dollars on InVitro fertilization and others. We discussed how there’s on a 20 something percent chance of conception in most treatments and 40 percent with InVitro, that’s a lot of money to kind of gamble on and the movie kind of shows the struggles she faces. Her other alternative was to hire a surrogate mother, Amy Poehler, and pay a lot of money when there’s no guarantee that the mother will hand over the baby. It’s a comical movie but also emphasizes on how hard and expensive it can be to try to have a baby. I thought that these two movies tied in well with our class discussion.

Dr. Rainey did bring up a question about Delivery Man raising any concern about donating and if it bothered clinics or not. When researching, the only thing I found criticism about it not being plausible and that it was false, one statement said, ” In the U.S. most sperm banks restrict each contributor from creating no more than 25 families, and some even place the limit at 10″. The article was stating how they do limit the amount that can be donated and also have restrictions as to who can donate. Before these regulations were put into place, one man from New York fathered 150 children. That then raised concerns about the long term affect of families and also the spread of genetic diseases. This article just kind of backs up different clinics and answers questions that were raised when this movie was released.

Article: http://www.nbcnews.com/health/delivery-man-debunked-not-just-any-guy-can-be-sperm-2D11640450

My artifact was the video from Buzzfeed, “I’m Adopted, But I’m Not…”. This particular video heavily related to the section of “Proper Families” that discussed adoption. According to the article, the Adoption Act in the UK allows for parents to give up their legal guardian rights over a child to new parents, but cannot change their mind once this has been done. 1926 is when this act was placed, however this just made legal options of adoption available. There were informal adoptions that occurred before this time and making a legal and formal way for adoptions to occur paved the way to destigmatize single motherhood. It was common to see children given over to other relatives of a “lone mother”, like aunts and uncles or grandparents. Sometimes, a child would be raised around who they thought was an older sister, but was actually their mother, in the households where they were provided for my grandparents. Nowadays, kids often know if they are adopted. However, this does bring the social stigmas and ideals into question when they are told or they happen to tell others. The video, “I’m Adopted, But I’m Not…” brings these to light. The video features adopted people talking about how that just because they are adopted doesn’t mean they’re “damaged goods” or “unwanted”.

At one point in the video, a person mentions how they may be adopted, but they sound just like their mother. This brings up a good point that we talked about in class on how donor matching helps people make their children seem similar to them as a whole. This can occur in adoptions too. Aside from what the person in the video mentions, my family has experienced something similar to this. My little brother is adopted from Guatemala, but he looks just like my dad. We get this comment a lot after telling people he is adopted; it goes to show that people don’t question that he is part of the family, at least when we’re with my dad. He often gets confused for the child my mom is watching, instead of being her son, because she is much paler than he is.

In today’s society, we see more kids that know about their adoptions and have provided options to them if they want to know more about their biological families. While this isn’t always feasible, there are attempts to help. The world has changed to see adoption as a viable option for parents who cannot take care of a child, instead of something they need to hide and do secretly. It has made lone motherhood less stigmatized and complicated; it has also made being an adopted child something that isn’t a bad thing. They may get backlash for it, but they are not all of the negative assumptions people make. They may look different from their parents, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t part of a family.

Watch the video here: I’m Adopted, But I’m Not…

Article used: “Proper Families”, pages 17-23

Hello everyone! My name is Catherine Weaver. Today, I presented about the reading, Pleasures of Childbirth. This reading was about how childbirth can be found pleasurable in the right circumstances and how it doesn’t have to be painful like we see in the movies. I found a video that related to the reading I thought very well. The video was titled, Orgasm During Childbirth? Doctor Say It’s Possible. This video explained how when people think of childbirth, people automatically assume that it is painful for women. But, new research has found that some women can channel the intensity of childbirth and labor into a pleasurable experience, almost like ecstasy. Women who channel the intensity into a pleasurable experience have the possibility of experiencing an orgasm. In the reading, Pleasures of Childbirth, it explained how out of 151 women, 32 of those women reported of having an orgasm during the experience of giving birth to their children (that is 21 percent of women!… which is kind of more than what I expected). Women who give birth at home and with a midwife are reported to have more orgasms during the process of childbirth because they are more relaxed and not in any distress that could be caused by a hospital. Women who give birth in a hospital are known to be more frightened, angry, and in distress so that is why some people think women in hospitals have such painful childbirths. Another thing is that there hasn’t been a woman reported to have had an orgasm during birth if they have been given some kind of pain medication.

I thought this video related to the reading very well because it explains the same kind of stuff that the reading does. This video had a doctor explaining how women could indeed have an orgasm during the process of childbirth and so it makes it seem more legitimate. Some people don’t like the idea of people experiencing orgasms during orgasm because some people think “why would I want to relate my child to having an orgasm?” but in my opinion, it is not like that at all. To me, it kind of sounds like a mind game and how each person perceives childbirth. If someone believes it will be painful, then it will be but if someone views it as a natural experience and is relaxed, it could be pleasurable.

Here is the link to my video:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/jessa-jill-duggar-sexual-abuse-tlc-documentary-breaking-the-silence_55e44faae4b0c818f6185879

The Duggars were from the reality TV show 19 kids and counting. The mother and fathers names were Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar and they have 9 girls and 10 boys. They are a devout independent Baptist family who are very into purity, modesty and Faith in God. They avoid birth control and believe that God will tell them when to stop having children.

The show was cancelled in 2015 due to their eldest son Josh publicly apologizing for molesting five girls, including two of his own sisters by fondling them.

The two sisters that were molested were Jessa Duggar who is now 22 and Jill Duggar who is now 24 and they publicly opened up about being sexually abused by Josh. They appeared on a TLC show called “Breaking the Silence,” where they didn’t speak of josh but they talked about their experience and how they learned from it and how they can survive it. Jill mentions that it is “amazing to understand that there are so many people that deal with this exact same thing in their own families. So just being educated is very good.”

A few weeks ago we talked about how the majority of people who are abused, are abused by someone within the family or someone that they know or trust and this is very true in this case as well. They also talked about how most of the sexual abuse that happens is fondling and not as much penile vaginal abuse and this is a good example of that as well.