QOTD: The Internet Breeds Entitlement

Riot.Jane

Today's quotation:

The Web is truly customizable: You can listen to radios that play only your preferred tunes and read newspapers that cover only your favorite subjects. "We're used to having our tastes perfectly matched, whcih leads to entitlement," [Elias] Aboujaoude [author of Virtually You] says. If we don't experience novel things or sit through experiences we don't enjoy, we'll become a nation of spoiled, sheletered brats.

Bartz, Andrea. "The E-Ego." Psychology Today. Jun 2011: 25. Print

Today in 1945: Arthur C. Clarke Invents the Communications Satellite

Riot.Jane

If one particular man in history had died of polio as a child, you might not be reading this.  In fact, I daresay that modern Western life would indeed be very different.

On this day in 1945, Arthur C. Clarke began privately circulating his academic paper The Space-Station: Its Radio Applications.  (.pdf-page 34)

This privately-circulated paper and another published in Wireless World in October of the same year, Extra-Terrestrial Relays: Can Rocket Stations GiveWorld-Wide Radio Coverage? (.pdf-page 38), oth "discussed the special characteristics of geosynchronous orbit that would enable three satellites in that orbit to provide global communications." (.pdf-page 23.)

Sexy Sundays | "The Morning After" the "First Time"

Riot.Jane

A blog post by Mary Jo Rapini, LPC, caught my attention.  How you feel about losing your virginity depends...are you a guy or girl? begins with a discussion about the gender differences in the after-effects of the first sexual encounter as determined by a recent academic study (Body image and first sexual intercourse in late adolescence) and winds up with with the author's own views on the same.

[From How you feel] The morning after can be difficult no matter if you are a guy or a girl, but it seems to be more difficult for girls than guys. A study from researchers at Pennsylvania State University reports male university students' body images improved after having sexual intercourse for the first time, while the opposite pattern was found with females. The study which was published in the Journal of Adolescents and reported on 100 students from the university between the ages of 17 and 19 years of age who had sex for the first time during their time at the university.

Another Bill to Restrict Reproductive Freedom: HR 3 (UPDATED)

Riot.Jane

I just received the following e-mail, and the topic is news to me.  This is surprising because I'm usually pretty current on matters of reproductive freedom . . . More on this topic to come.

This is not an advocation that anyone should contribute, it's just the method by which I learned of the existence of HR 3.

The link in the e-mail: http://www.dccc.org/page/m/1d63cab1/1b83fc72/4a3c2f65/4e0ce84b/2346893725/VEsE/ .

Sexy Sundays | Pulling a Rabbit out of the Hat

Riot.Jane

Keeping one's sex life interesting over the long term is sometimes difficult.  Reading and hearing advice can help, but sometimes advice is of poor quality, poorly understood, or poorly implemented.  This can lead to bad experiences and devastating consequences.

The most common advice I've seen over the years runs along the line of thought of Do something new, Surprise your partner, Step out of the same-old stuff, Introduce some variety, et cetera.

While there's nothing inherently wrong with such platitudes as these, the practical implementation of them as suggested is fraught with danger.  Let's examine the potential complications with specific examples.

Honoring the Females in Your Life with GEMS

Admin.Jane

E-mail we received from the Girls Educational & Mentoring Service (GEMS):

Mother's Day is quickly approaching!

As an annual celebration of the women and girls in our lives, GEMS invites you to upload your favorite photos of you and your mother, daughters, or other amazing, influential women and girls in your life. Share your photos and stories with us as we honor women this holiday! We set up a special Shutterfly page so that supporters can easily upload your photos: http://gemsmothersday.shutterfly.com.

Sexy Sundays | The Ins & Outs of Anal Sex (Part 2) (NSFW)

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Ad Vocabulary Re-Enforcing Gender Stereotypes

Riot.Jane

Crystal Smith, author of The Achilles Effect, blogs about the the impact of kids’ popular culture on young boys becuase she has been regularly disappointed by the film and television offerings available to her two young sons.

She has analyzed the incidences of words used in advertising toys for boys and girls during after-school cartoon blocks.  She discussed this a bit in her book, but now she has tranfsormed the collated data into wordclouds. 

While admitting that this is not an exhaustive study, she finds the graphical representation quite interesting and a place to begin a discussion.  I agree.

Who Can Become an Addict?

Riot.Jane

In Compass of Pleasure: How Our Brains Make Fatty Foods, Orgasm, Exercise, Marijuana, Generosity, Vodka, Learning, and Gambling Feel So Good, brain scientist and neuroscience professor at Johns Hopkins University David J. Linden, PhD, describes the physiological processes of how the human brain reacts to different types of pleasure.  He's found that the effects of both our vices and our virtues are virtually indistinguishable within the brain.

In an interview with Salon, he briefly discusses the biological causes vs. societal reactions to addiction.  A particularly striking paragraph (emphasis mine):

Words for the Co-Dependent Set

Megan DaGata

What did I do? What can I do? How can I help? What else do you need? Where am I? Ahhh . . . The life of the co-dependent soul. Yes, you are an angel from heaven and an addicts dream.

WAKE the F--- UP!

I don't know how else to put this. I am not going to sugar-coat it for you . . . And I don't think I can. If you are in a relationship that you feel you are doing 90% of the work, then you need to check out your priorities. Ask yourself a few questions for a change . . . How am I? Do I like myself? Do I have enough self respect to leave? Do I make myself happy being in this relationship?

"The Breast Milk Baby" Controversy

Admin.Jane

If you haven't heard, a new doll (i.e. toy for girls) will be introduced to the US market this spring.  Called "The Breast Milk Baby," it was introduced in Europe in 2009 by Spanish toy company Berjuan Toys under the name "Bebe Gloton" (transliterates to Baby Glutton). The Bebe Gloton version already available at Amazon.

Americans are, to say the least, conflicted about the existence of this doll, much less its marketing to little girls and parents.  Quite a bit of vitriol has been spouted about it, and I really couldn't understand the the spazz-fest that seemed to surround any mention of it.  There doesn't seem to be much middle ground in opinion regarding this doll . . . People seem to either love it ecstatically or hate it violently.

Sexy Sundays | The Ins & Outs of Anal Sex (Part 1) (NSFW)

MellissaY

We're introducing a new feature -- Sexy Sundays!  In this feature (which we hope to post every week) we will discuss topics related to everyone's favorite activity. We're always looking for ideas and contributions, so get those e-mails to us!

This, the first Sexy Sundays post, is an overview of anal sex written by a couple who want to share their experiences with same.  The next Sexy Sundays post will address the nuts-and-bolts and techniques of the topic with lots of information for beginners! 

Unintentionally Insulting? "Guide to Dating Fat Women"

Riot.Jane

I stumbled across Guide to Dating Fat Women, a piece at MadeMan.  MadeMan is a website that bills itself as a service "giving guys the info they need to live life well . . . smart advice on everything from beating a speeding ticket to scoring a hot model."

I think the fact that it was written by a woman might have given me some hope for the quality of its content. Regardless of why, upon first glance I expected something weighty and insightful, maybe even a bit witty.  What I found was anything but . . .

Maintaining a Sex Life While Co-Sleeping

Bess Bedell

Bess Bedell has agreed to share her experiences maintaining a sex life while co-sleeping (children sleeping in the same bed as the parent/s).  She's shared her experience and offers advice to fellow parents interested in the topic. 

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Being a parent is hard. Being a parent and having a gratifying sexual life can sometimes feel impossible. And when you throw a baby in the middle of the bed, smack center between you and your spouse - sex can become a rare commodity. The number one concern of many parents is: If they co-sleep with their baby, how will they ever have sex? As a co-sleeping mom who has had 1-2 children in the bed with her every night for the past 2 ½ years, I can help you with that question.

Even Nurses Get Duped By Doctors

Laura Giesman, NP

Laura Giesman is a nurse practioner that has shared her personal experience with a ENT whose treatment style leaves something to be desired.  We're quite pleased that she's sharing this with us, and we look forward to seeing more of her work. More information about Laura, her practice, and her website can be found at the end of her post.

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Well, all my readers know I'm a nurse practitioner. But we get sick too and need to go to practitioners and doctors! So I'm going to share a personal story with you this time...because what happened to me happens everyday to someone out there. And it's wrong.

The Wrong Lessons to Teach Your Child 101

Some Michiganders and Ohioans are on the front lines of living lessons we shouldn’t be teaching our children, namely that physical violence is the proper response to not getting your own way.

Within the last month, a mother-daughter team attacked a discount department store greeter in Ohio, and a mother-father team attacked a school crossing guard in Michigan. Both attacks occurred with children of the attackers present, and both attacks occurred in public places with witnesses present.

Victim-Blaming Part 2: The Reasons We Do It

In Victim-Blaming Part 1: Texas Gang Rape of a Child, we discussed the facts around the case of a gang-raped 11-year-old girl in Cleveland, TX.  We touched upon the victim-blaming of the 11-year-old victim that is occurring in the press and among the local populace, and we reminded readers of the case of Samantha Kelly, who died by suicide Nov. 8, 2010 after being terrorized by her town and schoolmates.  The Kelly case is pertinent to this discussion of victim-blame because that assault, victim-blame, and suicide occurred between the Cleveland girl's first and final assaults.

Victim-Blaming Part 1: Texas Gang-Rape of a Child

In Cleveland, Texas, 19 suspects have been charged in the sexual assault of an 11-year-old child. While heartbreaking, this is not earth-shattering news. All too often, we hear of things like this and shake our heads, and maybe some of us say a prayer for the victim.

The details of this particular case are particularly noteworthy.

This child was assaulted repeatedly over the course of six weeks in late 2010 by different individuals/groups at different times in different locations. The perpetrators ranged in age from 14 to 27. Cell-phone-recorded video and photographs were widely disseminated to non-participants.

Broadband Research = Free Wireless Router!

Techies wanting to play a part in research that will provide US consumers with accurate broadband statistics (and maybe receive a free wireless router in the process!) should consider joining the Test My ISP project.

The Federal Communications Commision (FCC) and SamKnows are joining forces to test, measure, and provide reliable US home broadband connection statistics by placing 10,000 routers in homes across the country. They're actually distributing 10,000 free Netgear WNR3500L wireless-N routers pre-loaded with testing firmware to participants.

Response Posted for 15-Year-Old "Anonymous"

To the 15-year-old female who asked a question in the comments section of How to Wash Your Vulva - For Real! on 3/21/2011 . . .

Please note that we've addressed your question in a follow-up comment on that post-page.  Your question was very important, and we are not only flattered that you asked us, but also rather concerned that you might not have anyone else of whom you can ask these things.  We are humbled to answer your question to the best of our ability, and we are also overwhelmed with gratitude  to have the opportunity to address it to a greater depth than you might have otherwise had access.