The Gender Book

http://www.thegenderbook.com/#

Wow go to the link above and look at the booklet. This is a great infographic about the world of gender. really really Good.

Slut Shaming and it's effect

Great article on the effects of slut shaming from takepart.com

When young men and women are made to feel shameful about their sexual behavior, they naturally become reticent to seek advice about sex. Though the subject is not very well-studied, we know from research that emotional distress among adolescent girls is linked to earlier sexual activity, risky sexual partners, and getting infected with an STD. The medical literature also includes research linking poor self-esteem to riskier sexual behavior, while "sexual self-efficacy"—feeling in control of your body and your decisions about sex, including feeling comfortable saying no to a potential partner—was correlated to a lower likelihood of doing risky things that would make someone more likely to contract an infection.

CLICK HERE to read more.

Intersexion

More 'Dove real Beauty'

You might like the real Beauty campaign that Dove uses ( CLICK HERE) . I like it. But I would like to point out an ethical dilemma regarding the use of this campaign. Dove's parent company also owns the AXE brand that makes advertisements like the one below. Hmmmmm conflict of ethics??

Gender : Navigating Masculinity

For those of you who have worked with me you know that I am constantly talking about 'gender' as a concept. The harm that our gender binary culture can create and ways that we can overcome this harm. Below is an article written by Kai Green on the website 'Everday Feminism' that is interesting reading. Kai particularly discusses navigating masculinity as a black transman. CLICK HERE

to read the full article.

“Straighten out your wrist, Brotha!” When my boxing coach yelled these words, I knew his call was about more than perfecting my jab.

I have experienced the demands of Black masculinity and the responses to my failure to perform properly are not alI that different from the experiences of failed masculinity that I felt within Black lesbian communities. 

But it is true, I am now a young Black American Male. People usually assume that I am somewhere between the age of 15 and 20. I’m 28.

The world is unkind to Black bois. The world is unkind to Black girls. But the way our gendered bodies are policed is different. Black bois are assumed thugs, thieves, rapists, and overly aggressive.

I knew this already, but I feel it more now like when I got kicked out of a Hollywood store because the owner assumed I was there to steal something.

He didn’t just make that assumption. This white man came over and hovered over me yelling for me to get out and to never return because “he knew my kind.”

I spoke calmly, but he kept yelling. I couldn’t help but think this man can’t see or hear me.

He could only see what he believed to be true about young black bois, and it didn’t matter who I was, who I had been, or who I might become. My future and past were predetermined in his mind.

I was the dangerous body that needed to be policed.

Orchids - My Intersex Adventure

"It's an extraordinary piece of filmmaking, filled with family revelations and a beautiful twist ending that could rival Frank Capra for emotional pull." - Trent Dalton, Q Weekend "It's a film that really reaches out, and when it ends we sit back with the feeling of having been told an interesting and important story from a brave and generous person." - Best Documentary Jury, Mix Copenhagen "It is engaging viewing, even endearing, and feels like a quietly important film that ought to be widely seen." Inez Baranay, Metro Magazine

Winner, Best Documentary (General) at ATOM Awards and #1 Film at Brisbane International Film Festival 2010 as voted by audiences. Winner, Best Direction in a Documentary (Stand Alone) at 2012 Australian Directors Guild Awards. Winner, Best Documentary at Mix Copenhagen 2011 and the John Deen Memorial Award, Spokane LGBT Film Festival. Nominee, Best Documentary at IF Awards 2011 and Best Documentary Under One Hour at AACTA Awards 2011.

Gender Ads

Thanks to Amy, one of ShineSAs brilliant school coordinators for passing on this great site. If you are doing work with young people around understanding the way media is controlling us around gender sterotyping etcetc this site will come in very useful for you. Have a look HERE

Racism/body image/culture

Really good article by Noel Duan on the pressures to look thin' like the asian girls are' is tied up with all sorts of our own body image issues and cultural myths and expectations. have a read CLICK HERE

Exploring Gender Resource

I found this video from one of the linkedin groups that I am a member of.
I have since used this as a way to explore gender with young people. We play the clip and then ask the group to come up with a dialogue to go with it.

Great fun.

Great comedy clip on media and gender stereotyping

Thanks to Adios Barbie for posting this

Oral sex is the new goodnight kiss? For whom?

Here is some research  from Kinsey Confidential to back up what we already know.

Gender Inequality And Hooking Up

Today’s young adults benefit from the greater acceptance of casual sex outside of marriage or even a committed relationship.  But, that freedom may not be afforded to women as much as it is for men.  For example, researchers have found that men are much more likely than women to achieve orgasm in heterosexual hookups, referring to this phenomenon as the “orgasm gap.”  Like other forms of gender inequality, women may be losing out in the bedroom, as well.  A new study suggests that women may also be missing out on receiving oral sex in hookups.

Maybe we should start talking to our young clients and reminding them pleasure should be a give and take. Not just a TAKE. Go here to read more.

Celebrity shows us the power of gender and ownership

This is a really good article from the blog sexbodygender that discusses the way the celebrity chasing, representation, media portrayal actually shows us many times assault, sexual assault and abuse of power but.... becuase it is celebrity we ignore it. By ignoring it all we are doing is maintaining the status quo: Below is a quote from the blog: Thanks to The Sociological Cinema for sharing this link.

Celebrity is possibly the closest analogue that blurs the lines of race and gender, and approximates the level of entitlement society feels about women’s choices, bodies, and sexuality, all the time. The invasive glare of the spotlight and the way people demand access to those who are famous, is comparable to the objectification women are subjected to on a daily basis. 

Male -Female -Just Friends?

The following is taken from  todayhealthtoday.com written by Stephanie pappas from Live Science.

Can men and women be "just friends?" A new study suggests the answer is yes — but guys may be more attracted to their gal friends than vice versa.

Men report more sexual interest in their female friends than their female friends do in them, and men are also more likely than women to overestimate how romantically interested their friends are in them. In most cases, sexual attraction within a friendship is seen as more of a burden than a benefit, the study finds.

Men who were romantically involved were no less likely than single guys to say they found their female friend attractive or to say they'd like to go on a date with her. Women who were romantically involved were also equally as likely as single gals to be attracted to their male friends, but they drew the line at dating, with fewer women in relationships saying they'd date their guy friend.

Go Here to read more

Fantastic resource of photos

Here is an example of some fantastic pictures that you might want to use in your work. Go to the Sociological Cinema on Facebook to see lots more.

More on Gender

At the Beijing Olympics, Australian women took home eight of our 14 gold medals. At the Vancouver Winter Games, women won both our golds. Our last tennis Grand Slam champion was a woman, our last golfing World Number One was a woman, our last cricket world champs were women, our last world surfing champ was a woman and our best horses at the moment are all female too.

Good article from the Punch.

Ask for raise - wash your genitals

This just goes to show how hard it is to work on changing gender attitudes that are so firmly entrenched in advertising. Can you believe this ad is telling women to WASH THEIR GENITALS before asking for a raise?????

Thanks to showoffbooks for passing this on.

Father as Wonder Woman

So often as our kids grow up we see little boys and girls playing games. Often if the father joins in he stays as the male figure and the little kid can be either or... Well... have a look at this picture of matchinjg father/daughter Wonder Women. Absolutely fantastic.

Click here to see the website this came from:

Gender 101 - Transgender Basics

Really good video from the Gender Identity project that gives a good grounding in discussions re gender and transgender. Have a watch.

Speaking of gender roles

Thought you might enjoy this picture from the Adios barbie FB page: Go here to have a look

Females more likely to sext?

An article in medical news today talks about a study done that indicates women are more likely to send ( via mobile phone) sexually explissit photographs of themselves than men. Below you can see some quotes from the article.

Females are more likely to send sexually explicit text messages, often containing nude photographs of themselves than men, researchers from the University of Nebraska at Kearney, and Washburn University reported in the journal Sexuality and Culture. Approximately two-thirds of women surveyed sent such text messages compared to less than half of men (those surveyed were already a very selected list).


Experts believe that when sexting, males tend to go straight for the hard stuff, while females are more descriptive and prefer carrying out a kind of foreplay in their correspondence. A male is more visually stimulated, while females are driven more by creative fantasy, they added. However, both sexes are stimulated visually.

What I dont see explored in this research is ideas of gender roles, oppression and exploitation of women as ingrained in culture which enables this difference.

To read more of this article ( which also goes onto fidelty and 'is sexting cheating') etc etc go here