Getting to Neutral Blog

LOL

Natalie Geld — 2011-10-08T18:59:00-04:00

Anticipating mirth lowers stress hormones
U.S. researchers who found anticipating laughter releases "good" hormones now find anticipating laughter also lowers levels of stress hormones.

The study finds simply anticipating a mirthful experience reduces potentially detrimental immune system stress hormones such as cortisol by 39 percent, epinephrine by 70 percent and dopac by 38 percent.

The researchers used a protocol similar to one used two years earlier to find an increase in two "good" hormones -- beta-endorphins that alleviates depression increased by 27 percent and human growth hormone, which helps with immunity, increased by 87 percent -- when volunteers anticipated watching a humorous video. There was no such increase among the control group who did not anticipate watching the humor film.

"Our findings lead us to believe that by seeking out positive experiences that make us laugh we can do a lot with our physiology to stay well," study lead researcher Dr. Lee Berk of the Oak Crest Health Research Institute, in Loma Linda, Calif., said in a statement.

The findings were presented at the 121st annual meeting of the American Physiological Society -- part of the Experimental Biology 2008 scientific conference in San Diego.

Ding Dong!

Natalie Geld — 2011-10-08T01:58:00-04:00

Some care homes in Belgium secure the services of prostitutes for some of their disabled residents, with the approval of the residents' family members.

One home for the disabled in Schilde, near Antwerp, said it has engaged prostitutes for five of its 16 residents, The Telegraph reported.

"It often happens that one of our residents will ask for a prostitute," said Kris Schauwbroeck, a social worker at Driehuizen home. "We feel we should grant that request, because the disabled, too, have the right to their sexuality. And in general the prostitutes have responded positively."

Families of the disabled residents have consented to the services, Schauwbroeck said. However, there are concerns about the cost -- because sex services are not covered by health insurance.

"Their only worry sometimes is the financial aspect. These prostitutes are not cheap, which means the number of visits must be limited," he said.

© 2007 UPI. Displayed by permission. All rights reserved.

Gay In India

Natalie Geld — 2011-10-01T01:51:00-04:00

A court in Delhi decriminalizes homosexuality.

by Roy Sinai
07.06.09, 12:15 PM EDT
Originally published in Forbes.com

"Where the mind is without fear, and the head is held high ..." begins a prayer the poet Rabindranath Tagore published in 1910, invoking the almighty to awaken India's collective consciousness into a "heaven of freedom."

With a radical decision last week, the Delhi High Court decriminalized consensual sex between homosexual adults and swept away a threat that hangs over every Indian who, in the privacy of his or her own bedroom, might engage in sexual activity "against the order of nature."

And by linking its ruling to each citizen's fundamental right to freedom and protection from discrimination, the court's verdict rose above the fray of the culture wars around the issue of sexuality in this predominantly orthodox and religiously conservative country.

Over the 149 years of its existence, the infamous (if rarely enforced) Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code has remained a psychological threat to India's sexual minorities. It has resulted in countless instances of misery and harassment, and spawned a thriving blackmail industry.

The psychology of fear that the law begat, by its mere existence, has been lifted with the court's ruling that it is unconstitutional. In that alone, a great wrong has been righted. For the millions of gays, lesbians and other sexual minorities in India--and with the country's population of 1.3 billion, we are talking many, many millions--to be able to hold their head high and be who they are, equal before the law, is both a huge psychological boost and an affirmation of their human dignity.

For urban, middle-class homosexuals, being gay in India is akin to being gay in the U.S. in the 1950s. The condition of homosexuals in small towns and rural India is far worse. Most gays in India remain in the closet for cultural and social reasons, irrespective of the law; many still feel that the Delhi court's ruling will not really impact their day-to-day lives as long as social stigmas remain.

I don't know the non-pejorative word for homosexual in Hindi, but "gandu"--the equivalent of bugger--and the word "homo" are routinely used colloquially as put downs and abuse. Many families have "the gay uncle" who "nobody talks about," a semi-visible personage in the family pantheon.

This "don't ask, don't tell" kind of blindness has only further emasculated the image of the gay person by making him invisible. It is not surprising that the law has remained untouched all these years after independence, undisturbed by any political will, cocooned by a culture that turned a blind eye.

A noisy debate is underway, and the media is revving up to cover a grand culture war. The religious groups have been vocal, but recent statements from an archbishop and a senior mullah have restricted themselves to morality and sin--underlining an appropriate separation between church and state. Predictably, they reiterate that homosexuality is a sin in the eyes of God, but also that every sin is not a crime.

However, the media storm has brought a number of anti-gay prejudices and beliefs from ordinary people to the fore--revealing the warped images people have of what it means to be gay, fed largely by stereotypical Bollywood portrayals of them as effeminate objects of ridicule.

Removing s377 is one successful step in the right direction. But it is ONLY the start. True equality will happen only when people stop thinking with their scriptures that call homosexuality a 'sin' a....

Coupled with religious orthodoxy, the risk of a prejudiced majority bullying a minority out of its rights runs high when emotions and feelings are aroused from moral outrage. Gay activist groups, which have been at the forefront of the fight for repeal of the law, are being careful not to fall into the trap.

It is critical that they keep the framework of the debate where the court has pegged it--as an issue of fundamental rights--and thereby address our changing consciousness and society.

The real opportunity for the gay community in India now, after a favorable court ruling, is to concertedly address these social stigmas. It must also strive to make itself more visible--not in any stereotypical way, but by presenting itself to the public eye as it is, or rather, as it emerges.

As more people come out of the closet, if only to strengthen the court's ruling by standing up and being counted, we also will be acknowledging a reality we have always known. Deep-rooted cultural prejudices do take time to transform, but in this increasingly networked world, ideas--and the dreams they inspire--can move across countries, castes and creeds.

Let us not forget that 60% of India's population is under the age of 25. The decriminalization of homosexuality is going to impact them as they come of age, develop their increasingly individualistic identities and make choices about how they wish to live. This newly empowered generation of citizens is concerned with securing economic prosperity by engaging with each other, and the rest of the world, in a culture of tolerance and respect.

Is this heaven? Far from it. But India, surely, has taken a giant step away from hell.

Bangalore-based 41-year-old Roy Sinai is on a sabbatical from corporate life to, as he says, navel-gaze, embrace demons, explore less-travelled paths and chill. His interests span film, writing, travel, technology, queer sensibilities and television.

Birds and the Be’s

Natalie Geld — 2011-07-09T01:42:00-04:00

Can Stress Cause Infertility?

Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, say they found how stress causes sexual dysfunction and infertility. Lead author Elizabeth Kirby, a graduate student, said scientists know stress boosts levels of stress hormones -- glucocorticoids such as cortisol -- that inhibit the body's main sex hormone, gonadotropin releasing hormone. This subsequently suppresses sperm count, ovulation and sexual activity.

The study, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, shows that stress also increases brain levels of a reproductive hormone named gonadotropin-inhibitory hormone, or gonadotropin-inhibitory hormone, discovered nine years ago in birds and known to be present in humans and other mammals.

This small protein hormone, a so-called RFamide-related peptide, puts the brakes on reproduction by directly inhibiting gonadotropin releasing hormone, Kirby said.

"We know stress affects the top-tier reproductive hormone, gonadotropin releasing hormone, but we show, in fact, that stress also affects another high-level hormone, gonadotropin-inhibitory hormone, to cause reproductive dysfunction," lead author Elizabeth Kirby, a graduate student, said in a statement. "This work provides a new target for researchers, a new way to think about infertility and dysfunction."

If this reproductive hormone acts the same way in all mammals, the finding could change the way physicians look at human reproductive problems, the researchers said.

July 16, 2009 © 2009 UPI. Displayed by permission. All rights reserved.

Bridge Of Light

Natalie Geld — 2010-12-31T15:19:00-05:00

Celebrate a Gay New Year's Eve with the Worldwide LGBT Community
By Joe Perez / OpEdNews.com
December 30, 2009 at 18:34:10

A review of the major winter holidays celebrated in the United States reveals that only one is focused specifically on the growth and development of LGBT people. While Gay Pride celebrates the anniversary of Stonewall in June, the Bridge of Light on December 31 reveals the more reflective and spiritual side of the greater gay and lesbian community.

Many gay and queer people are noted for our love of merrymaking. We are celebrated entertainers, gracious party hosts, and unsurpassed in the art of throwing a fabulous splash with style. However, many of us are disconnected from the winter holiday season because of strained relationships with our families or a feeling of disconnection from the season's religious symbolism. Therefore the holidays can be a source of pain and loneliness.

Dr. Maulana Ron Karenga first celebrated Kwanzaa, the African-American cultural holiday, in 1966, and today it's celebrated by millions throughout the world African community. However, until Bridge of Light was founded in 2004, nobody ever celebrated a distinctively queer winter holiday. Bridge of Light is an interfaith and omni-denominational cultural and spiritual tradition originating in 2004 and connected in its inspiration and organization to the Gay Spirit Culture Summit held that year, a gathering of 100+ spiritual leaders and change agents in the gay community.

Since then, the annual winter ritual (now in its fifth year) has helped to draw attention to the positive contributions made by members of the LGBT community in the areas of spiritual growth, inner transformation, and religious leadership. The core of the tradition is a simple ritual of lighting six candles, one for each color of the rainbow flag, on New Year's Eve, plus a seventh candle on New Year's Day. Each color corresponds to a universal spiritual principle as well as the specific ways that this principle has found expression in the course of LGBT history and in our contemporary world.

On December 24, 2009, a major change in the descriptions of the principles underlying each of the colors of the rainbow was announced. Joe Perez, founder of the Bridge of Light tradition and author of the books "Soulfully Gay" and "Rising Up", credits meditations by Rev. Kittredge Cherry for more fully developing the insight that the colors of the rainbow flag are aligned to six of the seven colors of the chakras, the spiritual energy centers of the human body. Rev. Cherry is a lesbian Christian author, minister and art historian who offers gay-friendly spiritual resources at "JesusInLove.org".

According to Perez, the revised principles are intended to provide a starting point for individual and group meditations on the meaning of spirituality in the lives of members of the LGBT community. A red candle honors Community, an orange candle honors Eros, a yellow candle honors Self-Esteem, a green candle honors Self-Expression and Justice, a blue candle honors Wisdom, and a purple candle honors Spirit (Universal Consciousness).

These are the Seven Principles of the Bridge of Light, and complete instructions for celebrating the tradition:

Step 1. On New Year's Eve, light a red candle, the first of seven, and let it burn through New Year's Day. The candle honors the Root of Spirit, the first chakra. Celebrate the evolution of Spirit in love and eroticism defined as it first arose in ancient spiritualities, including Wicca, paganism, and Goddess/pre-patriarchal religions (approximately 10,000 BCE and continuing to the present day).

Step 2. On New Year's Eve, light an orange candle as the second of seven, and let it burn through New Year's Day. The candle honors the Fire of Spirit, the second chakra, the principle of Eros. Celebrate the evolution of Spirit in love and eroticism that first appeared in the era defined by the rise of the great divine and mortal heroes of the ancient world, celebrated in song and myths: Gilgamesh and Enkidu, Horus and Seth, Jonathan and David, Naomi and Ruth, and many more, beginning about 5,000 BCE.

Step 3. On New Year's Eve, light a yellow candle, the third of seven, and let it burn through New Year's Day. The candle honors the Core of Spirit, the third chakra. Celebrate the evolution of Spirit in love and eroticism that first appeared in the era defined by the rise of the major world religious traditions (Judaism, Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, and Confucianism), beginning about 500 BCE and continuing to the present day.

Step 4. On New Year's Eve, light a green candle, the fourth of seven, and let it burn through New Year's Day. The candle honors the Heart of Spirit, the fourth chakra, and the principle of Love. The candle celebrates the evolution of Spirit in same-sex love, eroticism, and traditional gender role defiance in the era defined by the rise of the modernity in the industrial age and the beginning of modern democratic states (approximately 1,500 CE and continuing to the present day).

Step 5. On New Year's Eve, light a blue candle, the fifth of seven, and let it burn through New Year's Day. The candle honors the Voice of Spirit, the fifth chakra, and the principles of Self-Expression and Justice. The candle celebrates the evolution of Spirit in same-sex love and gender role evolution in the era defined by the rise of Romanticism, Transcendentalism, late modernism, and early postmodern artists and pioneers (approximately 1,800 CE to the present day).

Step 6. On New Year's Eve, light a purple candle, the sixth of seven, and let it burn through New Year's Day. The candle honors the Eye of Spirit, the sixth chakra, and the principle of Wisdom. The candle honors the evolution of Spirit in pluralistic expressions of sexuality and gender in the era defined by the rise of the feminist, homophile movement, gay liberation movement, queer movement, and LGBTQ community in the past 50 to 100 years.

Step 7. On New Year's Day, light a white or pink candle, the seventh of seven. The candle honors the Crown of Spirit, the seventh chakra, and the principle of Spirit (Universal Consciousness). The candle honors the evolution of Spirit in the contemporary period and future generations to come, and the emerging integral connections between the struggle for gay liberation with the struggles for justice and dignity of all peoples throughout the world, the healing of the natural world, and the amelioration of suffering of all sentient beings.

The 2009/2010 Bridge of Light tradition is part of the 7th annual World Spirituality Day, an event sponsored by an unaffiliated group: Integrative Spirituality, a not-for-profit omni-denominational spiritual organization based in San Francisco, California. World Spirituality Day is regarded by some as "The Earth Day for the Spirit."

Joe Perez, founder of the Bridge of Light holiday, said: "Today, New Year's Eve is a mostly secular experience, yet for centuries the world's wisdom traditions have recognized this one day as a special gateway between the old and the new, the sacred and the profane. Bridge of Light honors the unique way that Homophiles throughout the centuries have lived with spiritual dignity and beauty."

Perez added, "The Bridge of Light is a symbol recognizing the hidden unity veiled by the many colors of the rainbow, the symbol most closely associated with the gay rights movement worldwide. As important as it is to appreciate the diversity of unique colors, it is also important to recognize our commonalities and dignity as human beings."

The first Bridge of Light events were celebrated by small clusters of people on at least two continents in 2004. Today, nobody knows how many people celebrate the tradition. A Facebook group "Bridge of Light" was launched in December 2009 that anyone can join and upload ideas for celebrating the tradition. The group is at http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/group.php?gid=188851789242.

Endorsers of the Bridge of Light include: Carolyn Baker, Ph.D., an adjunct professor of history and author of "Coming Out from Christian Fundamentalism"; Andrew Ramer, author of "Two Flutes Playing" and other books; Jim Marion, author of "Putting On the Mind of Christ"; Fenton Johnson, author of several books including the Lambda Literary Award-winning memoir "Keeping Faith"; Daniel Helminiak, author of "What the Bible Really Said About Homosexuality" and many other books; Kip Dollar, partner of Toby Johnson, and half of one of the couples featured in Merle Yost's "When Love Lasts Forever: Male Couples Celebrate Commitment"; Ko Imani, author of "Shirt of Flame: The Secret Gay Art of War", founder of MyOutSpirit.com and and editor of the "MyOutSpirit.com Gay Spirituality Blog. A complete list of endorsers is available online. See http://www.integrallygay.com for more details.

Walking in Someone Else's Choos

Natalie Geld — 2009-11-27T19:33:02-05:00

Suspended sentence given to shoe fetishist

A British court gave a suspended one-year sentence to a 26-year-old man whose shoe fetish prompted him to steal women's footwear.

Testimony during his trial in Inner London Crown Court revealed that Omar Abd-el-Gowad had moved to London to gain access to more fashionable footwear and soon thereafter he stole a single shoe from eight women to indulge in his sexual fetish, the News Shopper reported Sunday.

Judge Colin Smith gave the mechanical engineer a suspended sentence for two years, but also placed him under supervision for his fetish.

"I am quite satisfied you had absolutely no intention of harming the women physically in any way at all and you were being governed by the drive which was within you relating to your urge to get hold of the shoe," Smith said.

The newspaper said Abd-el-Gowad had testified that the thefts had given him an ecstatic rush and he never realized the impact his actions had upon the women he victimized.

"What I was reading was a description of someone I didn't recognize," he had said. "I had convinced myself it was quite a minor thing I had been doing."

April 19, 2007 UPI. Displayed by permission. All rights reserved.
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Why Han Is Solo: Techno SEX!

Natalie Geld — 2010-11-27T18:18:00-05:00

By Rosie DiManno

GUELPH
I have come here for sex.

An unlikely destination for it, granted. Who knew they were even having any? But the University of Guelph – more commonly associated with agricultural study – is the site of a two-day sexuality conference, the 31st annual symposium on all matters coital and squishy. That means a lot of sex therapists and clinicians sitting around talkin' dirty and calling it research: the academic missionary position.

After loading up on graft at the giveaway table – condoms and, um, specimen collection kits (for do-it-yourself gonorrhea and chlamydia swabbing) – I scanned the workshop schedule, disappointed at having just missed a forum on "Managing Sexual Feelings in Professional Practice," which either refers to prostitutes falling in lust with their johns or therapists crossing the line with their patients, a no-no clearly unobserved by that prominent Toronto psychiatrist who last week was stripped of his licence by the College of Physicians and Surgeons for knocking up a patient and taking her on secret shag trips. Off by a day, also, for "A Kink Positive Approach" – when does S & M become abusive? – and "The Poles Are In," which does not refer to Eastern Europeans.

Instead, I sidled into a jammed presentation on "Women's Sexuality," an attractive young lady dishing the latest on hyperactive sexual arousal disorder, which is clinical jargon for "Not tonight, dear, I've got a headache." In fact, as I learned, fatigue and not-in-the-mood and you-stink-of-booze are but three of some 700 reasons/excuses documented by researchers studying why women decline amorous overtures. What with the zowie boost of Viagra, though, dames have been demanding their own stimulant and pharmaceuticals are keen to fill that prescription. One product in the testing stage, a pump-bottle lotion that's rubbed into the arm for instant horniness, will cost about $4 a day, but is expected to rake in up to a billion a year for its maker.

Women have apparently been clamouring for inclusion in the large test group. "They all want to sign up," said the expert at the podium. "They all want to get in the program and increase desire.'' Or perhaps the problem rests with the undesirability, after a time, of one's sexual partner, but make-you-pant orgasm launchers don't come in a bottle, although they do sometimes come in a box ... from the sex toy shop.

While gadgets are popular, millions upon millions are increasingly getting their jollies in the alternate universe of virtual make-out – on the Internet. This was the subject of the plenary session "Sex Tech: Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Technology," delivered by sex educator Cory Silverberg, fast-talking co-founder of Come As You Are, a Toronto-based nookie-gizmo emporium. The cybersex phenomenon all started with your basic porn, of course, a beast still largely fed by purveyors – the first streamers – of traditional male fantasies fulfilled. But techno-sex is a brave new frontier, limited only by imagination and what's currently available in programming capability. As a Luddite, I plead ignorant to what's out there online, though Silverberg's entertaining presentation provided glimpses into a raunchy world just a click away, as well as a preview of what may be on tap.

Interactive pornography – that hot girl on the screen – is not at all what it seems, a computer "responding in a way that seems human" to commands tapped in. But the next stage, already here actually, at least in trade shows, is the era of teledildonics, which is pretty much as it sounds: manipulation of a sex toy over the Internet using a computer interface.
Example: One person controls a dildo's commands – vibration and speed – while a partner on the other end experiences the sensations, perhaps seen in real time on a net-cam or videophone. "It will bring touch into the virtual world,'' Silverberg explains. "My partner is watching me watching them and feeling me touching them."

Another clever tech evolution, still at the infancy stage, is the Hug Shirt – a body suit that simulates caresses, and more, as commanded by an operator, who might be your spouse on a business trip. This is like phone sex, but mutually tactile. The current patent-holders originally envisioned the product for long-distance hugs. "They intended to sell them to parents who travel a lot," notes Silverberg. But where hugs lead, sex follows, certainly with the global appetite for Internet porn.

And can sex-tech ever be really real? Does that even matter anymore, in a world where, according to a Stanford researcher, 16 million people are now plugged in to "massively multiplayer role-playing games," spending an average of 22 hours a week at it online? Anyway, I could say more about this particularly gratifying sex symposium at the university.

But what happens in Guelph stays in Guelph.

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Most U.S. Female Teens Sexually Harassed

Natalie Geld — 2010-12-27T18:04:00-05:00

Study of 600 U.S. teenage girls ages 12 - 18 found
90% reported sexual harassment at least once.

Christia Brown of the University of Kentucky and Campbell Leaper of the University of California Santa Cruz found

67% of the teens reported receiving unwanted romantic attention
62% were exposed to demeaning gender-related comments
58% were teased because of their appearance
52% received unwanted physical contact
25% were bullied or threatened with harm by a male

The study, published in the May/June issue of Child Development, said 52 percent reported receiving discouraging gender-based comments on their math, science and computer abilities -- usually from male peers -- and 76 percent of girls reported sexist comments on their athletic abilities, again predominantly from male peers.

The study subjects were identified as 49 percent Latina, 23 percent white, 9 percent African-American, 7.5 Asian-American and 7.5 percent multiethnic or other.

Frequent sexual harassment may lead girls to expect and accept demeaning behaviors in heterosexual romantic relationships, and sexist remarks, the researchers said.

May 16, 2008
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Bohemian Rhapsody in Sex Machines Museum

Natalie Geld — 2009-11-27T17:05:13-05:00

PRAGUE
In Bohemia, one really should do as the Bohemians do.
by Rosie DiManno

I'm not quite sure how bohemian – as in unconventional and unorthodox and "untroubled by middle-class social standards," according to my Webster's Encyclopedic Dictionary – derived from that half of the Czech Republic that isn't Moravia. But the descriptor, apart from artistic and literary aesthetics, is commonly applied to a free love, hippy-dippy lifestyle: sex without inhibitions. If only.

It takes two (at least) to tango and I am wandering the streets of this sumptuous capital by myself, not exactly beating the men off with a stick. My regret is eschewing a more promiscuous adventurousness back in the day. Should have (insert expletive here) them all, as pithily expressed in a favourite birthday card. Anyway, this is all by way of explaining how I ended up at the Sex Machines Museum here, whilst I'd actually set out in search of culture, art galleries and such. But there suddenly was this come-on shingle hanging over the sidewalk and, inside an alcove, a gold-painted female mannequin sitting atop a tongue-studded wheel going round and round. Having visited similar establishments from Amsterdam to Shanghai – is that a kink in my crane-to-gawk neck? – the lure was irresistible. Besides, how often can a girl contemplate a jaw-dropping assortment of anti-masturbation devices while licking an ice-cream cone?

Further, this museum – opened in 2002 just off Old Town Square – has been morally condemned by city officials unhappy with its "disagreeable" content. Naturally, that made it even more popular with tourists. Much of what's on display is cheesy and of no historical value: props that could just as easily have been purchased at any sex toy shop on Yonge St. rather than pseudo-curated. A dildo is a dildo is a dildo, no? Yet there are, um, instructive bits that speak to the enduring mysteries of carnal desire and the just-as-enduring attempts to squelch such urges. Take this anti-masturbation gadget for boys. Please. From France, circa 1915, it involved an electronic ring being placed on a lad's penis that automatically switched on in case of an erection, the poor thing, resulting in a bell ringing in the parents' bedroom so that maman could rush in and slap the kid.

Conversely, from Germany comes (you should forgive the expression) a peddling appliance used on female inmates "for assuaging fervent feelings of some prisoners." If I recall correctly, this was the same unforeseen consequence – orgasm – that resulted in sweat shops where women churned out garments on old-fashioned pedal sewing machines. God bless I.M. Singer. There are body harnesses and "copulation tables" designed to facilitate inventive, even weightless, fornicating positions; apparatus for stimulating "penile, scrotal, anal, vaginal and clitoral tissue," including a pre-battery crank-up vibrator; wicked finger-spikes that Robert Mapplethorpe would have adored; "coercive" chairs for "absolute domination;" an Asian "Magic Box" palanquin with sliding peepholes so that the fee-paying public could look inside when prostitutes were borne about town; and – how to put this delicately? – throne chairs with a hole in the seat for face-up admiration of a partner's genitalia and golden shower convenience.

I will not comment on the S&M gear beyond observing that pain – well beyond hanky-spanky – is a long-established fetish for the human animal and its elicitation ingenious. But I am charmed by the ancient shoes worn by Greek prostitutes with "follow my steps" inscribed on the soles so that they left an imprint on the ground. Now that's clever.

Upon emerging from the museum, finding it necessary to atone for the voyeuristic indulgence – way down deep I must be Presbyterian – I take myself to a nearby exhibit of Salvador Dali photographs and lithographs, the central component of this show being Dali's woodcuts based on cantos from Dante's Divine Comedy. Maybe I've just got sex and seduction on the brain but, you know, both the artist and the poet – especially cross-pollinated – seem totally obsessed with the carnal way of all flesh, even if only allegorically. These woodcuts and watercolours – The Blind for Envy, The Lustful, The Punishment of Hypocrites, The Tree of Punishment – wouldn't be out of place at that other place. They were engrossed with the gross. So am I, perhaps. But the boho brat in me would still like to draw a Dali moustache on Dante's beloved Beatrice.

Sep 14, 2009 04:30 AM
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Seeing Red

Natalie Geld — 2010-12-27T18:20:00-05:00

The way to a man's heart is not through his stomach, suggestive undergarments or a hefty dowry. It's the color red.
By Jennifer Harper

Effect of red on men studied.
A pair of researchers say they have scientific proof that the color red - "female red" they call it - is the real key to the attraction between men and women, and could ultimately affect our standards of beauty. University of Rochester psychologists Andrew Elliot and Daniela Niesta conducted five controlled experiments to determine what Hallmark and Victoria's Secret already know, perhaps.

The ripe, warm hue of Valentine's Day and bad-girl lipstick attracts menfolk for reasons even the men can't fathom. "Red, relative to other achromatic and chromatic colors, leads men to view women as attractive and more sexually desirable. Men seem unaware of this red effect," said Mr. Elliot.

The shade also does not have much effect on whether a man thinks a woman is likable, kind or smart, he said. And there is no cross-gender red effect, either. "Red does not influence women's perceptions of the attractiveness of other women," he added. The research presents a singular cultural moment, and perhaps the demise of the proverbial little black dress. "The findings have clear practical implications for men and women in the mating game, and perhaps for fashion consultants, product designers and marketers," the study stated.

The power of "female red" hinges on societal conditioning and deeper biological roots - like blushing and ovulation - the authors said. Red could also shake up our perceptions of beauty. "Research on women's attractiveness tends to focus on physical characteristics such as facial symmetry or waist-to-hip ratio. But in our work we have shown that red can serve as a nonphysical factor influencing women's appeal to men," Mr. Elliot said. This is the first research to quantify such subtle reactions, he added. The studies of 149 men and 32 women presented test subjects with a simple series of photographs featuring women with red versus white backgrounds, or wearing white or red blouses. Across the board, the men ascribed attractive qualities to women showcased with some red element - and were even more willing to spend more money on a date with the "red" female.

The study was published Tuesday in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. Other researchers are also pro-red. An analysis released in August by German psychologists at the University of Munster, for example, found that referees were more inclined to favor teams clad in crimson. Not everyone thinks that red is the new black, however. The 2009 Pantone Fashion Color Report for home and closet released in mid-September lists fuchsia, rose, soft turquoise, lemon yellow, citron, slate gray, vibrant green, sea green and lavender among the must-have colors du jour.

Red is not the best choice in troubled times, apparently. "Encourage hopeful attitudes with lively colors. Sophisticated, grounded hues address the need for stability in times of economic uncertainty," said Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute.

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Making Room for God in Your Bed

Natalie Geld — 2011-10-01T19:16:00-04:00

Sex and God do mix – according to 'Catholic Kama Sutra'

The correct Roman Catholic sexual position is not, as many might imagine, missionary, infrequent and with the lights out, but "saucy, surprising and fantasy packed".

The bleak traditional view was St Paul's injunction to the Corinthians: "It is better to marry than to burn with passion." However, a Polish priest who has written a surprising bestselling sex manual dubbed the "Catholic Kama Sutra" believes it is better still to marry and burn with passion.

The first edition of the book Sex as you don't know it: For married couples who love God
by Father Ksawery Knotz, a Franciscan from a monastery outside Krakow, titled Seks (in very large letters) and "for married couples who love God" in rather smaller type, has sold out and is being hastily reprinted in Warsaw.

"Every act – a type of caress, a sexual position – with the goal of arousal is permitted and pleases God," he writes. "During sexual intercourse, married couples can show their love in every way, can offer one another the most sought-after caresses. They can employ manual and oral stimulation."

His book has the blessing of the Polish Catholic church and follows the orthodox line in many ways: he firmly addresses only married couples and discourages the use of any form of contraception, saying it can "lead a married couple outside of Catholic culture and into a completely different lifestyle". But within those confines, couples are urged to let rip.

"Some people, when they hear about the holiness of married sex, immediately imagine that such sex has to be deprived of joy, frivolous play, fantasy and attractive positions. They think it has to be sad like a traditional church hymn," he writes.

Calling sex a celebration of the marriage sacrament raises its dignity in an exceptional way. Such a statement shocks people who learned to look at sexuality in a bad way. It is difficult for them to understand that God is also interested in their happy sex life, and in this way gives them his gift."

If not shocked, some readers might wonder what a celibate priest knows about the subject. He concedes that a priest writing a book about sex is seen as sensational, but he insists that his experience may be second hand, but it is extensive.

"I talk with a lot of married couples and I listen to them, so these problems just kind of sit in my mind," he said. "I would like for them to be happier with their sex life, and for them to understand the church's teachings so there won't be unnecessary tension or a sense of guilt." He has also run a website offering sexual advice to the devout for the past year.

Warm fulfilling discussions are ongoing about translations into Slovakian, Italian and English editions. The publishers are in ecstasy.

Written by Maev Kennedy
Source: guardian.co.uk, Thursday 14 May 2009 23.36 BST

The Old ‘In & Out’…

Natalie Geld — 2011-09-27T19:17:00-04:00

China's 'Love Land' sex theme park closed before completion
by Karen Hawthorne
May 18, 2009, 4:59 PM Source: NationalPost.com

Officials in Chongqing Wash Their Hands of ‘Love Land’

The giant genitalia sculptures and suggestive exhibits under construction at China's first-ever sex theme park were bound to get somebody upset, now weren't they? Talking about sex is still taboo there, let alone taking a roller-coaster ride nestled inside an over-sized thong-wearing derriere.

Over the weekend, officials in the sprawling city of Chongqing, where Love Land was being built, ordered its destruction, the New York Times reported Monday. A state-run newspaper, the Chongqing Evening News, blamed it on the risqué nature of the park:

The park manager, Lu Xiaoqing, had planned to display naked human sculptures, giant models of genitals, sex technique “workshops” and a photography exhibition about the history of sex, according to China Daily. The displays would have included lessons on safe sex and the proper use of condoms.

Mr. Lu told China Daily that the park was being built “for the good of the public.” Love Land would be useful for sex education, he said, and help adults “enjoy a harmonious sex life.”

He added: “Sex is a taboo subject in China, but people really need to have more access to information about it.”

Mr. Lu was building the park in an entertainment zone of Chongqing near the Yangtze River. Chongqing, a booming city built on hills on either side of the Yangtze, once served as the wartime capital of the Kuomintang government. Like other fast-growing cities in China, it has a reputation for loose moral standards.

Lu Xiaoqing, park manager, told the newspaper he got the idea for building Love Land after a visit to a sex park in Jeju, a popular destination in South Korea, and that he had found that the majority of people supported his idea, but had to pay attention and not make the park look vulgar and nasty.

(Photos: At top, A woman washes her hands at a specially-designed wash basin in a public toilet at Love Land theme park in this April 10, 2007 file photo Reuters/Stringer/Files); second from top, a giant penis suffers separation anxiety as it’s hauled away, third from top: In this file picture taken on May 15, 2009, visitors try to get a glimpse of Love Land, billed as China's first-ever sex theme park, in southwest China's Chongqing municipality. STR/AFP/Getty Images.)

Brazilian City Kicks Off Orgasm Fest

Natalie Geld — 2009-08-17T17:00:13-04:00

RIO DE JANEIRO, May 9 (UPI) -- A small Brazilian city is hosting its first official "Day of the Orgasm" celebration.

Lawmakers in Esperantina -- in the northern, impoverished state of Piaui -- voted during the weekend to hold the festivities Monday, complete with lectures about sexuality, impotence and of course, the importance of the orgasm, O Globo reports.

The city of 38,000 has celebrated Orgasm Day for the last four years. This year's is the first sanctioned by the city.

"Many problems with human beings like anger, sickness and stress are caused by dissatisfaction in relation to sexuality, Esperantina Mayor Felipe Santolia said.

The mayor also hopes the extra attention on the city will attract the federal government to provide additional funding for city works projects.

Reporters from France and Spain were on hand to cover the celebration as is the men's magazine Playboy.

(Illustration - Magicomora)

Sex, stress, a lousy 7 days and a law suit

Natalie Geld — 2009-08-17T16:58:42-04:00

Kenyan Man Sues Over Sex Strike
By ANTHONY BARTKEWICZ

A women's activist group in Kenya called for women to deny their partners sex for a week to end a political impasse between President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga. BBC News reports that a week was too long for one man, who is suing the G10, a coalition of women's groups, claiming the lack of sex caused him "mental anguish."

James Kimondo is seeking undisclosed damages for the stress, backaches, lack of concentration, "anxiety and sleepless nights" he says stem from his wife's participation in the sex strike.

According to the AFP, the G10 even asked prostitutes to join in the strike, and the New York Times reported that the group urged the wives of Kibaki and Odinga to participate. "Great decisions are made during pillow talk," said Patricia Nyaundi, executive director of the Federation of Women Lawyers, one of the groups involved in organizing the strike. "So we are asking the two ladies at that intimate moment to ask their husbands: 'Darling can you do something for Kenya?'"

President Kibaki and Prime Minister Odinga were at the center of a disputed 2007 election that erupted into violence, and their sharing of power has since been fraught with tension. The two leaders met for the first time in a month on Thursday -- the day after the week-long sex strike ended.

Source: (MYFOX NATIONAL)
Created: Sunday, 10 May 2009, 5:21 PM EDT

[Photo of Raila Amolo Odinga, Prime Minister of Kenya. Credit: Raila 4 President 2007 / Flickr.com -- Creative Commons – by Demosh]

Female judges give Palestinian women hope <br> of fair hearings

Natalie Geld — 2009-11-17T16:56:00-05:00

Source: Globe & Mail
24/03/2009 4:50 pm

Judge Khuloud al-Faqeeh's biggest fear when she became one of the first two female Palestinian Islamic judges was that men would refuse to stand before her.

As in every Arab and Muslim country with the exception of Sudan, only men passed judgment in Islamic courts.

“They expect a man with a beard and a turban,” said Judge al-Faqeeh, smiling wryly from behind her desk as her hand made a circular movement above her cream-coloured satin head scarf.

Considered by many in this male-dominated society to be too emotional to serve as judges, women in Islamic courts were there to receive judgments, not to give them. The results were frequently unfair. But after the appointment of two women judges to Islamic courts in the West Bank last month, Palestinian women have begun to find an understanding ear – and more equitable judgments.

A graduate of Jerusalem's Al-Quds University with two law degrees, Judge al-Faqeeh is well aware of the need for women Islamic judges. For seven years she worked as an adviser at the Palestinian Women's Centre for Legal Aid and Counselling, advocating women's legal rights. Now, she says, she and her female colleague in Hebron, Judge Asmaha Wuheidi, are helping to uphold those rights in ways she could not as a legal adviser.

The Islamic courts deal with family-law matters such as marriage, divorce, child custody, child support and inheritance. But women, to cite just one example of the restrictions placed upon them, are often unable to discuss the reasons for wanting a divorce.

“Arab culture forbids talking of the intimate issues between a couple,” said Judge al-Faqeeh, dressed in a black robe with a sash in the colours of the Palestinian flag. “Even if [a husband] strikes his wife, she shouldn't tell.” But in the month since taking office, the mother of three from the village of Beit Rima has heard from women about an assortment of marital problems – including sexual ones such as impotence, violent sex, rape and the refusal by a man to have sex – “and it's her right, not just his.”

A woman would be unable to tell such things to a male judge, “so she would lose her right to a divorce because there would be no clear reasons,” Judge al-Faqeeh. “Talking with a woman she feels more at ease.”

Three couches surround the desk in Judge al-Faqeeh's office-cum-courtroom. A prayer rug lies over the side of one and the Palestinian flag hangs above another. On the wall across from her desk, law books line a set of shelves. Through the window, the Jewish settlement of Psagot acts as a constant visual reminder of the Israeli occupation under which she and her visitors live.

“Despite the fact that Palestinians are suffering from a difficult economic situation and from occupation, we are the first to have women Islamic judges, after Sudan, even though women in other [Muslim] countries have everything,” said Judge al-Faqeeh, pointing out that Jordanian law prohibits women from being Islamic judges.

Women across the Muslim world consider the Palestinian women judges a milestone for women's rights. But some disagree, arguing that Islamic law prohibits equality of the sexes. “This is just another way to impart the patriarchal structure and rules through women,” wrote one Muslim woman on a blog. “I think [these women] will become only robots to obey the sharia laws.”

Polygamous husbands are perhaps the most difficult problem facing Judge Wuheidi in Hebron, a city that is the butt of Palestinian jokes for being so conservative, particularly when it comes to women's roles. Many men from the region are married to more than one woman.

“The husband goes and marries a second and a third time and he neglects his first wife, as if she never was his life partner or that she has sons or daughters with him that he's also responsible for,” said Judge Wuheidi, who in 2003 became the first female Palestinian lawyer to specialize in Islamic law. She was often told that a woman “judges by her heart rather than her brain,” and could never serve as a judge.

Sheik Tayseer al-Tamimi, chief judge and chairman of the High Council of Islamic Law for Palestine, thought differently and decided last year that women could take the exam to become a judge.

“He said [the Islamic courts] need women the most, because the cases we receive are about the marital life and since a man needs a man to listen to him, a woman also needs a woman,” Judge Wuheidi said.

A key issue is child support. Judges usually ruled that a man must pay only 20-25 Jordanian dinars per child per month. “For me, I know you can't buy enough milk, diapers, clothes and medicine with 20 Jordanian dinars,” Judge al-Faqeeh said, proceeding to tell the story of a divorced couple who had arrived the day before to discuss child support.

“The man said, ‘I want to pay 200 shekels ($48 U.S.).' I said no. He said 250, I said no. He said 300, I said no. He said 400, I said no. He said, ‘500?'”

“I said, okay,” she said, recalling the story with a laugh.

ORLY HALPERN
16 March 2009
Article License: Copyright - Article License Holder: Globe & Mail