| Friday, May 30, 2008 |
| Sex and the Cinema |
We've all grown up since Sex and the City left the small screen and it is brilliantly refreshing to see in the movie that the fabulous foursome and their lovers have done so too.
The ladies are greater than ever because they're not doing more of the same, as we may have expected. After we accompanied them through much of their gyrating 30's, they are now being 40-somethings, facing it beautifully and with a more buxom portion of reality than ever before.
But Sex and the City has always been about girlfriends and the movie is inspiring an amazing social phenomenon: huge cinema halls around the world are filling up with almost exclusively female audiences as the girls are getting dressed up and going on the town for a great time together. And you don't have to be a radical feminist to feel the Girl Power in the hall. The ladies in the audience seem to be with the sistas in New York and yet together with each other – giggling, sighing and in general, knowing the feeling.
Now all that I want to do is see the next movie, five years on, to see if they can top this one. And to reflect on life and love through the wisdom of our urban prophetess. As Carrie puts it, “Enjoy yourself, thats what your 20's are for; your 30's are to learn the lessons, your 40's are to pay for the drinks”.
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| Sunday, May 25, 2008 |
| More Religious Expertise on Condoms |
As if it wasn't enough that the chaste men in the Vatican are forbidding the use of condoms, now we have more clerics with good ideas emerging from the Islamic leadership in Northern Kenya. Their declarations came out of a conference of Muslim scholars and teachers entitled “Islam and Health”, for which we can say with certainty that 50% of the title was accurate.
The particularly wise men attending this conference came out with a decision to begin actively speaking against condom use since, as they put it, it was money being spent on immorality. As if that statement would not suffice for their followers, the clerics declared that condoms were the wrong way to fight against HIV/AIDS. Their professional suggestion for dealing with HIV/AIDS in Kenya (which, for the record, is now on the decline because its condom-based HIV prevention seems to be working) is to prevent HIV and other STDs by observing Islamic practices: regular prayer, fasting and marital loyalty.
This may be good advice for married Muslim men, but at the same time, how about a bit of “live and let live” when it comes to health promotion? That's not only because we are talking about AIDS ravaged Sub-Saharan Africa, but because wherever they are in the world, religious authorities have influence and they need to use it responsibly.
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| Saturday, May 17, 2008 |
| On IDAHO and Sexual Freedom |
I'd like to talk about Idaho. No, not the state. I'm told its one of the fastest growing states in the US, so obviously there is some sex going on in this big, emptyish land. But that is a conversation for another day.
The IDAHO that I'd like to mention is The International Day Against Homophobia, being celebrated on May 17th all around the world, with the possible exception of some of the 75 countries in which homosexuality is still a crime.
Idaho is asking for equal rights under the law and in people's consciences for gays, lesbians and transgender people.
This particular day was chosen because it was on this day in 1990 (!!) that the World Health Organization decided to remove Homosexuality from their list of mental disorders. This marked the formal end of what is referred to as “medical homophobia”. If only all prejudice could be called off with an official announcement and a reprint of the textbooks.
Find more Pride here
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| Wednesday, May 14, 2008 |
| So There is a Pill for Fixing a Broken Heart |
Finally. There is evidence of the link between love and a healthy heart.
Actually, it is more about the connection between sex and a certain heart condition. To be more accurate, its about those lil' blue pills and how they strengthen the heart in cases of muscular dystrophy. Okay, okay, so these might be just early findings of a study, done on mice, at the Montreal Heart Institute (Des Rosiers et al.), but let's not get caught up in the details.
I know that scientific findings should be read completely literally, but just this once, let's get a bit prosaic about it: What the researchers may be showing us, for the first time (with perhaps a bit of augmentation on my part) is that Viagra, which is usually taken to improve sexual performance, is able to strengthen heart performance. A better heart is more love and more love is better sex. Ask the mice.
This is not an advertisement for any particular sexual enhancement drug, but just a rumination on the different workings of the heart. Just for the record, we're still on the lookout for a drug to cure the romantically broken heart.
Read more (serious information) on Viagra and related sexual performance drugs.
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| Sunday, May 11, 2008 |
| Down with Mother's Day! |
One of my favourite pieces of wisdom holds that “if Mama's happy, everyone is happy”. That is why we should not be having silly days like these. Mother's Day is just a way of letting those non-Mama folk off the hook of being good to Mama every day. [Mama refers to all women, not only those who have reproduced, but all those who carry around the equipment and bear the consequences of it on a cyclical basis].
Now there are many ways to make Mama happy. Some think flowers and jewelry will do the trick, but these are just strategies to take down the frequency of the giving. You can give flowers and jewelry is you wish, but Mama's happiness needs to be refreshed on a daily basis. It is based on being respected, being listened to and being made to feel great about herself and her body. Multiply, if possible.
Happy Mama's Day. That goes for tomorrow too.
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