Crossposted on Amplify We know politicians regularly use fear tactics to advance their agendas, but what about Hollywood? A new blatantly anti-choice horror film, The Life Zone, is emerging as the summer’s worst movie. This film engages young people in a disrespectful way. Rather than appealing to our intelligence or capacity for nuanced ethical thinking, it [...]

Crossposted on Amplify The past week has been an exciting time for me: college decisions were released! Having gotten into several of my top choice schools (Duke, Tufts, GW) I can stop worrying about the college admission process and start getting excited about going to college next year. My excitement for the beginning of college, and the anticipation [...]

Cross posted on Amplify With such high teen pregnancy rates in the US, people from all domains of society – the media, schools, musicians, politicians, even religious leaders- need to find creative solutions for promoting safe sex. Kudos to Ke$ha for doing just that.

Crossposted on Amplify Love him or hate him, Julian Assange is in prison not for leaking classified information, but for alleged rape. The details of his case are bizarre and vary widely between different news reports. The case exposes issues of consent in sexual encounters, which is a very important issue to have in the public consciousness, and [...]

Crossposted on Amplify A few days ago I wrote about the Pope’s decision to condone condom use in certain situations . Today, news is out that condoms used to prevent HIV are even OK for heterosexual sex. The AP reports:

The Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, told reporters Tuesday that he asked the pope whether he intended his [...]

Originally posted on Amplify Since the 1960’s, the Catholic Churches official position has been that it is always intrinsically wrong to use contraception to because it prevents new human beings from coming into existence, and therefore defies the will of God. However, this is beginning to change. Pope Benedict XVI (yes, the same guy who was criticized [...]

Crossposted on Amplify. Much of our poor public sexual health outcomes in America can be traced back to a societal view that sex is dirty, wrong, and immoral. Since sex has such a negative connotation when discussed by politicians, teachers, and parents, young people feel ashamed or fearful of using protection. European countries that are more open about sex [...]

Crossposted on Amplify Maternal mortality is one of the most heartbreaking and devastating challenges women and families face in the developing world. The leading cause of death for young women ages 15 to 19 in developing countries is complications from pregnancy, especially in sub-Saharan Africa( 1). Also in sub-Saharan Africa, 2.2 million young women have unintentional pregnancies [...]

Crossposted on Amplify A recent Gallup Poll asked Americans about the morality of 16 different behaviors and social policies. The poll asked about things like cheating, suicide, gay marriage, cloning, the death penalty, and other similar moral issues. Americans generally come to consensus on 12 of the 16 items, but four stood out as the most controversial: doctor-assisted [...]

Crossposted on Amplify Elena Kagan, Obama’s second appointee to the Supreme Court, was confirmed by the Senate Judiciary committee last week. Kagan is the second woman Obama has appointed, and she will replace justice John Paul Stevens later this year. The Senate Judiciary committee approved her by a vote of 13-6, with one Republican (Lindsey Graham) supporting [...]

 Crossposted from Amplify I did not invent patriarchy, sexism, or discrimination, but in some ways I benefit from those systems. I am a 17-year old straight, white, American male. Labels like this, while limiting and sometimes negative, are also very important to understand because of the implications they have. Even though I do not think a person [...]

Cross posted on Amplify Most of the information and stories I hear about sex education are negative.  Many schools in America teach abstinence-only, and too many young people leave high school with an incomplete knowledge of sexual health. Today, I am going to share a more positive story. I go to Carolina Friends School, a private Quaker school [...]

Crossposted on Amplify   On last nights show , Colbert covered the invention of a sex robot that has touch sensors and the ability to download different personalities.   (Note, the above video above is short and hilarious, please watch it.  IF you cannot get the embedded video to work, you can watch the clip here).  Because, as Colbert said, When you’re talking [...]

Crossposted on Amplify Last June the Healthy Youth Act passed in North Carolina, finally ending 10 years of harmful abstinence-only sex education. The new bill is not perfect, but it says that schools must teach about abstinence and all FDA methods of birth control. This is a major step foreword for young people in NC, and hopefully we will see [...]

I am 20 years old and was in a relationship for 3 & a half years with a guy that I met in highschool. He had (and still has) a couple of family problems and about halfway into the relationship he began to beat me up when he got upset with his family life. I was [...]