Stop the Presses: Week of DECEMBER!

I haven't posted many links to news stories about sex recently. Rest assured I've still been reading them. Here's some of the interesting things I read in December:

Savage Love 12/23/08: Dan tells three letter writers to dump their partners, then uses all the space he's saved to address high sodomy rates among straight teens and high pregnancy rates among gay teens. "This is where abstinence education and homophobia have gotten us: Gay kids are having vaginal intercourse and straight kids are having anal intercourse. Good work, sexphobes!"

Control Tower 12/23/08: Matisse suggest which kinky Christmas gifts certain public figures should buy for others. "From John McCain to Sarah Palin: a moose-hide strap-on harness and dildo with a card reading, 'You got me up and going, but then you fucked me in the end. Now you can do that to other guys, too.'"

Virginity Pledges Don't Work (Washington Post/MSNBC): A large federal survey shows about what you would expect -- teens who pledge sexual abstinence have the same amount of sex as teens who don't. But they are significantly less likely to use protection when they do have sex.

Teenagers Who Skip Breakfast More Likely to Have Sex (The Guardian): Pledging abstinence doesn't work, but according to a study in Japan, teenagers who eat breakfast lose their virginity two years later on average. Researchers conclude that breakfast indicates a better family life.

Labor Orgasms Called "Best Kept Secret" (ABC News): ABC will report in the January 2 edition of 20/20 that many women experience incredible orgasms during childbirth.

Gay Teen Suicides Linked to Homophobia (AP): No big surprise here. A study shows the more homophobic a family acts when a kid comes out, the more likely that kid is to kill himself or herself. The thing is, there are plenty of religious fundies who use gay suicide rates as an excuse for homophobia. Slick, huh?

RIP Bettie Page (New York Times): The queen of the pin-up poster died on several weeks ago.

UN Declaration Against Homophobia: This month the UN made a declaration against government-supported homophobia. It was non-binding and there was a counter-declaration, so it was about as effective as most of what the UN does. The Vatican issued a statement that stopped short of supporting the resolution but did support tolerance of homosexuality, which is a big step for them. The French newspaper Le Monde interviewed Louis-George Tin, president of the International Day Against Homophobia, which inspired the declaration. In the article (in French, alas), Mr. Tin points out that the Catholic Church's position on gay rights depends on which way the wind happens to be blowing since it raises most of its money in tolerant countries but converts more followers in intolerant ones. Mr. Tin also points out that institutionalized homophobia was introduced to a lot of the countries where it now thrives by colonial powers that have since rejected homophobia.

Pre-Marital Sex Rates Rise in Iran (The Guardian): Iran has attempted to promote marriage amongst it's young people. Instead they've been having more and more pre-marital sex, which is illegal under Iran's Islamic law.

Gay Marriage Ban Inspires New Wave of Activists (New York Times): The Times reports on the recent explosion of gay activism following the passage of Proposition 8.

Savage Love 12/11/08: Dan gives a straight guy advice on how to design a very special sex toy, talks to a 30-year-old male virgin, insults a pathetic and manipulative mom-to-be and gives a college girl advice on how to deal with annoying neighbors who are ticked off by her noisy lovemaking.

Savage Love 12/18/08: Dan helps a couple keep the drama alive, counsels a guy who's gal has embarrassingly bad manners, and discusses the merits of dating strangers vs. friends vs. enemies.

Last but not least -- I know you've already seen it already and it is only marginally related to the subject of this blog, but here's SNL's Jizz in My Pants.