(También en Español) What does sexual freedom mean to you? Do you think it is fundamental human right? something we are born with? something worth fighting for? Leave a comment and let us know what you think, or make your own video or blog to share. We will send you a free VenusPlusX t-shirt or slap bracelet to thank you. Video edited by Tiye Massey.
(También en Español)
News of Note: Facebook privacy protection law shot down by Congress
The US House of Representatives has shot down proposals which would have prevented businesses from collecting Facebook log on credentials as part of their employee vetting procedures.
The law had been proposed by Colorado representative Daniel Perlmutter.
Perimutter suggested that the proposals would have given an important measure of privacy to end users.
“No American should have to provide their confidential personal passwords as a condition of employment,” Perlmutter said.
“Both users of social media and those who correspond share the expectation of privacy in their personal communications.”
We can’t expect job seeker’s private lives to meet the same neutral and public-friendly image that businesses try to maintain within the public sphere. Honesty and authenticity are endearing human traits yet these businesses are not concerned with living truthful lives. When you exist for profit it is both unfair and hypocritical to impose that lifestyle on those that depend on you for survival.
While mega-corporations (looking at you Google) continue to combine every strength the internet has to offer into one all-encompassing hub, culture is being condensed. With the judging eyes of our peers (and employers) sharpening focus everyday, will humanity become less progressive, even mundane?
Creative Commons image by: BlakJakDavy
(También en Español)
News of Note: Intimate scenes to be banned from Egyptian public TV
(AGI) Cairo – A group of Islamic supervisors of the Egyptian Public Broadcaster will be in charge of removing ‘immoral ‘ footage from films the network has in its archives. The ban will apply to scenes featuring hugging, kissing and belly dancing. As reported by the daily Kuwait al-Anba, which quotes sources from inside the Network, such a decision could bring about either the removal of important scenes from movies that are an integral part of Egypt’s cinema or their complete ban from any TV programming.
Anyone that bans hugging from television really needs to get their priorities straight. I didn’t even realize it was possible for a culture to be so sex-phobic that they would consider the most rudimentary forms of human touching “immoral.”
While slightly less shocking (yet still completely counterproductive), the fate of online Pornography in Egypt is also looking grim.
When are people going to realize that a society thrives when people are free? Telling someone that they cannot do something they enjoy does not deter them from doing it, just look at any form of prohibition, or abstinence only education, it just doesn’t work.
I get it, they’re censoring sex because their religious views shun human sexuality, but that’s unacceptable in a free world. Simply put: Intimacy (hugging included) is an inherent need for all human beings and it is disgusting and embarrassing to see countries on this earth treating themselves this way. What is it going to take for all of us to acknowledge and accept sexuality as an essential part of everyday life?
In recognition of the SHARE2 conference in Belgrade this weekend, and the hundreds of attendees who have received bracelets and books from our good friend Khannea Suntzu, we have made a translation ofthe central statements of Sturgeon’s novel available here. We apologize that none of the rest of the web site is in Serbian; however, we felt this excerpt would give you a foretaste of what VenusPlusX is about.
Click here for an excerpt from Venera Plus Ikx by Teodor Sterdžen (in Serbian)
Click here for the same excerpt in English
Click here for our earlier post introducing this book in English
Depending on how you space it, VenusPlusX or Venus Plus X, it’s no accident that you may have stumbled over a novel by Theodore Sturgeon of the same name. Since first reading Venus Plus X in 1960, it has invoked a strong resonance with my own inner truth even though it was Sturgeon’s creative imagination, a perhaps fantasy. It is our namesake because it stands as the earliest and still clearest exposition of the world’s essential ideas and ideals in the world of sex and gender, and guides the our work as advocates, educators, and activists.
Have you heard of the Sexual Minority Youth Assistance League (SMYAL) in Washington, DC? Issues of homelessness, employment, and access to medical and mental health services inordinately affect LGBT youth, in particular transgender youth, and SMYAL is a model for other programs across the country.
Does your community have something similar? If not, the folks at SMYAL can help you get started.
Leave a comment and let us know what you think, or make your own video or blog to share. We will send you a free VenusPlusX t-shirt or slap bracelet to thank you.
Video edited by Tiye Massey.
It’s mutual admiration because VenusPlusX finds The Conference for the Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality (known as Quad-S) and its resources to be invaluable to activists promoting sex science as a tool of social justice.
Advances in sex science convey more humane, fair, and intelligent law and policy, and bring about a more tolerant and just society.
Leave a comment and let us know what you think, or make your own video or blog to share. We will send you a free VenusPlusX t-shirt or slap bracelet to thank you.
Video edited by Tiye Massey.
Was your own coming out gradual? Or have you always known? Were you out to other people before you fully realized you were gay? Has coming out changed the direction of your life or not? Has coming out changed your sense of social justice or another aspect of your life.
Leave a comment and let us know what you think, or make your own video or blog to share. We will send you a free VenusPlusX t-shirt or slap bracelet to thank you.
Video edited by Tiye Massey.
Is there such a thing as good porn and bad porn? What about hetero-male-produced porn vs women-, LGBT- amateur-produced porn which is just as enticing? Will universal replete sex ed in our schools change the face of the male-dominated porn industry, which mostly objectifies and exploits women?
Leave a comment and let us know what you think or make your own video or blog to share. We will send you a free VenusPlusX t-shirt or slap bracelet to thank you.
Video edited by Tiye Massey.