News alert: Men see scantily-clad women as objects

I’m sure you’re all thinking, “No shit, Sherlock,” but now there’s actually scientific evidence to back up this notion and the study on the matter also presents some scary details.

New research, presented this week by Princeton University psychology professor Susan Fiske at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, shows that, in men, the brain areas associated with handling tools and the intention to perform actions light up when viewing images of women in bikinis.

But the experts claim men just can’t help themselves. They say it’s a byproduct of human evolution because the first male humans had an incentive to seek fertile women as the means of spreading their genes. So it’s part of their biology to depersonalize sexual images of women. (Yeah. Right.)

The study participants, who were heterosexual college men, also took a questionnaire to determine if they harbored sexist views of women. In the men who were found to harbor “hostile sexism” (an adversarial viewpoint of women that includes the belief that women attempt to dominate men), the part of the brain associated with analyzing another person’s thoughts, feelings and intentions was inactive while viewing scantily clad women.

So these particular dudes are angry because they think women are trying to dominate them and if you’re wearing a bikini they’re not going to see you as a person. Ladies, make sure you never end up at the beach with one of these guys.

I pray this study isn’t misused as backup for the idiotic notion that women who wear skimpy clothes deserve to be raped.

My hope is that instead heterosexual men who read about this research will decide to check themselves and strive to be more aware of exactly how they view different women in their lives and that they will examine how arousing images of women affect their interactions with other female acquaintances.

This study is just another example of why a world without rape will never become a reality unless the men of this world fight for it too.

Click here to read more about the research and let me know what you think of the study.

(crossposted at GeorgiaMae.com)

Are striptease aerobics classes anti-feminist?

Though I haven’t been to a class in a while, I love striptease aerobics. The classes I’ve attended were actually pole-free and the hour was filled with learning a high-energy, sexy dance routine. They were always a great workout and always fun.

As I look for new things to try this year I’m eager to move on to more advanced classes (i.e. one with a pole). But (other than the fact that my body is still recovering from being knocked to the ground by a moving car this fall) there’s something keeping me from giving these classes a twirl.

I keep wondering: Are striptease aerobics classes anti-feminist?

Is getting naked the key to happiness?

Last week while Gov. Rod Blagojevich was gettting arrested and Oprah was announcing she now weighs 200 pounds, actress Jennifer Aniston was also making headlines.

Aniston posed for the January issue of GQ magazine wearing nothing but a neck tie and you better believe that got some people’s attention.

Pop culture pundits say Aniston is not only hoping to promote her new movie “Marley & Me,” but that she also wants the world to know she’s not sitting home “getting fat” and sulking about Brangelina.

Aniston was quoted saying, in regards to the photo shoot, “It felt really good to be that comfortable with myself…” and this comment echoes the sentiments of many women who have posed nude for magazines.

While I’m thrilled that these women love their bodies, it frustrates me that posing nude is the supposed self-confidence booster that seems to be celebrated most in the media. Sure, a woman should have a right to pose nude if she wants to, but aren’t there other ways, better ways, to feel confident and celebrate our bodies? And is having folks lust over your photo real sexual power?

What do you think?

(This issue also being discussed at my blog GeorgiaMae.com.)

Is Planned Parenthood making a mockery of Christmas?

Indiana’s Planned Parenthood is offering a rather unusual stocking stuffer this year: gift certificates redeemable for health services at clinics throughout the state.

The organization’s leaders have said they’re offering gift certificates because they fear that during these tough economic times women will neglect getting basic health care and forgo things like pap smears. Planned Parenthood chapters in Illinois, New York, Alaska and Michigan are considering similar gift certificate programs for the holidays.

Plenty of folks, however, are outraged, according to a report on ABCNews.com, and believe Planned Parenthood is just using this as a way to promote abortion.

Then God said, “Let there be sex,” and God saw it was good

I was fortunate enough to be raised by a mother who talked very openly and candidly with me about sex and sexuality. And somehow my mama managed to bring God into our discussions without bringing in guilt. 

I was taught that sex and sexual desires were natural, not dirty, and that they were gifts from God. But I was also taught that my body was sacred and should be treated as such. And you know what, it worked.

Sure, I’ve got plenty of body and sexuality issues — I’ll save those for future posts – but I’ve never had any trouble with letting my sexuality and spirituality coexist.

I didn’t grow up thinking my worth was determined by the wholeness of my hymen. But I did see my body as a creation of God. As a teen this belief helped me shut down boys who tried to pressure me into sex. In college it kept me from trying to use sex to make a man fall in love with me and today it reminds me that I have a divine right to enjoy a happy and healthy sexual life.

With all the shame tied up in so many faith-based initiatives regarding sex, it’s tempting to want to completely take God out of discussions about sex and sexuality. But for women who do believe in a higher power I think there is a way for faith to actually help us love our bodies and have the good sex we deserve.

www.georgiamae.com