Sex education in Paris is tres magnifique

Just back from Iowa, and leaving tomorrow for two cross-country trips these next two weeks. Upstate New York and Vermont this week, and then after coming home for a day, Pennsylvania and Texas next week. With all this travel, I should be running for president or something!

For now, another news item demonstrating how backward sex and sex education are in our country. Zizi Sexuel features a “love-o-meter,” a “pubermatic,” and a pinball machine in which the balls are tiny sperm racing for an egg.

Still worth dreaming that the United States will be this open… someday!

A woman “could not have authority over males”

Despite the diversity of the Democratic Party's presidential candidates, glass ceilings remain unshattered in this country. During my daily read of the fabulous Crooks and Liars website, I learned about a high school in Kansas that barred a woman from refereeing a boys' basketball game because a woman "could not have authority over males." Check out the video from the local news. Never mind that the NBA has already allowed female referees; Thomas Frank's book title remains as relevant as ever: What's the Matter with Kansas?

A February 14th free-for-all

Happy Valentines Day!

The last blog entry featured an ad unlikely to ever appear in this country. Here's another, suggesting the gift of wood for Valentines Day. Would "wood" work for the censors in the States?

Also of interest is an article from the New York Times called "I Love You, but You Love Meat" (registration likely required, but you should get registered for the NYT anyway, right?). Negotiation is an important part of a relationship, but for those who live to eat instead of eat to live, food can offer quite a challenge.

Finally, it's now legal to mess around in Texas, as a federal appeals court overturned a ban on sex toys there. Still awaiting word on what that means for neighboring Mississippi, while in Alabama it's still down with toys, but up with Viagra.

Or, why I want to move to Europe

My favorite part of The J-Spot sex lecture (and the part I'm excited to develop further) is a cross-cultural look at how backward the United States is compared to Europe in terms of sex. Audiences are loving the chance to see a small slice of a Scandinavian sex education video I discovered in Denmark many years ago. It's a real highlight of the presentation!

The recent Super Bowl reminded me of the Janet Jackson "wardrobe malfunction" incident four years ago, cause of much controversy. Meanwhile, few complained about the endless erectile dysfunction ads that ran during the game. We have such hypocrisy and idiocy in our culture when it comes to sex. Violence is condoned (by the way, anyone else alarmed by the incredible number of school and office shootings of late?) while sexual expression is condemned. And even when sex is implied or inferred (hello, Fox), protection from pregnancy or disease is difficult or illegal to portray (hello, many fans of the Fox "News" Network).

It's no wonder we live in a sexually unhealthy, sexually dysfunctional society. So imagine how refreshing it was for me to see this advertisement from France – advertising fruit from the Alsace region. How eye-opening… and mouth-watering!

Crossing the country

I’m watching the results roll in for Super Tuesday, and will withhold any political commentary for a change! Instead, I can comment that I was so excited to see “my” New York Giants win the Super Bowl. Hey… I was born and bred in New York.

Meanwhile, I enjoyed a great trip to California and Idaho last week (the photo is from a fun lecture at Lewis-Clark State College), and tomorrow I’m heading back to Norfolk for the third time in three semesters. Flying is a great opportunity to catch up on reading, and this time around I’m looking forward to The Brotherhood of the Disappearing Pants: A Field Guide to Conservative Sex Scandals. Hmm. I guess there’s a little political commentary there…