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Talking About Masturbation and Sex with Your Kids
"You're teaching them about their own body and pleasuring themselves and taking the reins of their own sexuality so that they don't ever have to depend on any teenage boy to do it for them," Dr. Laura Berman said in the now famous 2009 episode of Oprah during which she advised parents to get their teen daughters clitoral vibrators. "You are the best ones to teach them. You are the one who can incorporate your values. I know it's controversial, but I can tell you giving them this kind of information makes them safer in the long run."

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What's All This about Catholics Having to Provide Birth Control?

2/13/12 6:00am by avflox
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Bogdan Migulski (Flickr)

On March 23, 2010, President Barack Obama signed into law the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), which contains provisions that started taking effect that same year and will continue until 2017. One of these provisions -- which involves eliminating co-payments and deductibles for preventive care -- came under fire last week when the White House announced that as part of preventive care, employers would be covering the cost of birth control in employee health plans.  Read more >

Susan G. Komen Releases Statement, Changes Criteria For Grants To Fight Breast Cancer

2/3/12 9:00am by Stacy Morrison
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Nancy Brinker of Susan G. Komen for the Cure (ElvertBarnes via Flickr)

Just after 10am ET this morning, the Susan G. Komen For The Cure released an announcement changing their funding criteria for grants to fight breast cancer. The announcement came after strong response by women online and off, for and against the news that Susan G. Komen was ending funding to Planned Parenthood. BlogHer has reached out to the Komen foundation for an interview, and understands that their offices have been flooded with calls for comment. We will keep reaching out to Susan G.  Read more >

Susan G. Komen Strips Planned Parenthood of Funds for Breast Exams

1/31/12 9:04pm by Mona Gable
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Planned Parenthood Rally

When I first heard that the Susan G. Komen foundation was screwing over Planned Parenthood I didn't believe it. The nation's most famous breast cancer charity was cutting off its funding to Planned Parenthood because of a right-wing, anti-abortion Congressman?  Read more >

How Facebook Can Really Help Women Connect

1/31/12 12:59pm by Change.org
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Facebook's Women Connect

Taking action to further gender justice is admirable, but some people see Facebook's internal actions as out of step with this stated mission. The top comment to greet me on the Women Connect page, ranked up through users hitting the "Like" button, reads: "I'm glad that FB is supporting this but they also need to get their own house in order - for example by taking down misogynist & pro-rape pages and dropping their stupid censorship against images of breastfeeding."  Read more >

Why Does My Daughter Know the Term Booty Call?

1/31/12 12:00pm by Slaughterhouse Rules
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booty call

There are things you don't expect to have to explain to your children until they are older. Sometimes we're forced to answer questions earlier than we plan because things happen in our lives or our children are introduced to concepts beyond their years by their own peers. Angela at Slaughterhouse Rules recently had to tackle one that I hope to avoid for quite some time -- and you might be surprised where she learned the term.  Read more

Catholic Colleges Vow to Prevent Women from Getting Birth Control

1/30/12 1:55pm by Jill Filipovic
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American Catholic Bishops

[Editor's note: What if you were in college and couldn't get birth control? Sounds implausible, crazy even, doesn't it? I hate to tell you this, but as Jill Filipovic at Feministe reveals, Catholic schools are rebelling against the new health care law requiring them to cover birth control with an outrageous new tactic--by refusing to prescribe it. --Mona] She writes:  Read more

Arm Pit Hair to Wet Dreams: Talking About Puberty with My Son

1/17/12 12:00pm by JennaHatfield
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puberty

I read posts like last week's "I Wasn't Planned" and this great post by new guest writer Bridget Mason at Ollie Bop and I want to put bricks on my sons' heads. Not because I think that talking about sex, puberty and all that goes with it is gross or wrong or any of that... but because it feels like such an enormous responsibility. I don't want to mess it up! Thankfully, other parents have shared their journeys with these topics, and I think we can all benefit from their stories.  Read more

The Impact of Sexual Shame

1/12/12 1:31pm by alyssaroyse
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Mistress (Shutterstock)

Why is sex always surrounded by shame? Shame is not guilt. Guilt is an internal notion about a specific action. Shame is an external force exerted by others. Shame tells you not that you've done something bad, but that you are something bad. That idea takes away your autonomous control over your sexuality. And anybody who wants to take your autonomous control over your sexuality does not have your best interest at heart.  Read more >

Real Discussions About Sex: "I Wasn't Planned?"

1/11/12 8:04am by SweetPoet65
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condoms

Weeks ago, I decided to have the “birds and bees” conversation with my son. Seeing that I had his complete attention, and thinking that this may be my only chance to get some real facts in, I began telling him about the 1% factor in birth control and that abstinence is the only 100% method. I explained that even though 1% is an extremely low percentage, it is a fact that should not be ignored; especially since, he too, falls in the 1% equation. He looked at me with wide eyes and said, “I wasn’t planned?” In that split second, I decided the truth would, ultimately, be better than telling a lie just to make him feel better.  Read more >

What Does It Mean to Be Empowered?

1/9/12 1:11pm by Charlie Glickman
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Ball and chain (Shutterstock)

Empowerment a concept that frequently comes up in discussions about sexuality. How can you tell if someone who wants to give oral sex, try anal sex, or have an open relationship is doing it because it's what they genuinely desire? In a world in which our likes and dislikes are shaped and limited by the world around us, how do we know whether our choices are empowered or not?  Read more >