Breaking sex taboos on Nepali radio

Sex education is a controversial topic in the United States, but according to Reuters news, it may be even more so in Nepal.

Traditionally, conservative attitudes about sexuality in the South Asian country of Nepal have made it taboo to talk openly about sex in public. But a new Nepali radio program has broken that taboo to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS and to promote more open dialogue about sexual health. According to the Reuters story, after initial controversy, the radio program now reaches young people throughout Nepal:

“Initially we got letters complaining against the discussions on use of condoms, sex or sexual organs,” Binayak Aryal, a producer for the program, said.

He said social attitudes had now changed since the program began in 2001 and it is now aired through 35 hugely popular FM stations as well as the state-run Radio Nepal.

“Now there is a change. Even parents and school teachers advise the young people to listen to the program about sexual health.”

The radio program, “Chatting with My Best Friend,” is sponsored by UNICEF, which says that nearly six million young Nepalese tune in every week.

This example adds a useful cross-cultural perspective to the ongoing debate over comprehensive versus abstinence-only sex education in the United States. We’ll talk more about that debate later in the semester. But in the meantime, what role do you think schools should play in providing information about sexuality? How would you evaluate the quality of sex ed you received in school? And what radio or TV programs in the U.S. do you think might be analogous to the Nepali show?

FAQs on accessing assigned readings

A few of you have written to me with questions about assigned readings. I’m posting my answers here, because many others are likely to have similar questions.

One of your classmates wrote with this question:

In the schedule on the webpage you have the required readings by week, so I am wondering if each weekend before the week we should read the designated readings or if maybe there are specific readings for each of the class dates.

Readings are scheduled by week, not by day, so that we can retain the flexibility to accommodate in-class discussions or to spend extra time on certain topics, when necessary. If you can read ahead each weekend, that’s a good strategy, because you’re likely to get more out of that week’s lectures, films, and discussions.

Another student had trouble accessing the required readings online:

I went on the class website to try and download the course readings so I can print them out, but it comes up with an error. Is there any other way I can find them to read this weekend?

I suspect the problem has to do with accessing the electronic reserves at the library. Some of the required readings, including both articles for next week, are available only on the e-reserves system, ARES. If you have never used ARES before, you’ll have to sign up first, using your UFID. Then, once you log on to the system, you can search for the class, add it to your personal page, and click on readings to access them as PDFs.

Note that ARES is only available to computers on the campus network. If you are off-campus, you will need to use the EZproxy remote logon (or setup a VPN connection), just as you would to access journal articles or certain library databases from off-campus. The library has posted step-by-step instructions for accessing ARES, in case you run into any problems.

Also, remember that you have the option of purchasing a printed course pack with the required readings from Orange and Blue Textbooks.

If you have other questions or problems accessing the readings, post them in the comments.

Sex and Campus Comedy

What do college students find funny? Apparently, sex. At least that’s the impression you get from last month’s New Jersey Comedy Festival, which gets a spotlight in today’s issue of the Chronicle of Higher Education.

About 20 students from colleges across New Jersey participated in the event, and sex figured into a lot of the acts. Students joked about their bodies, about the stigma of being a virgin in college, about nude models in an art class, and about spending their days “banging” their mates instead of going to class.

But according to the Chronicle, the most common jokes were about something that’s not a laughing matter: rape.

The competition’s most popular topic was, believe it or not, rape. The first comic told two rape jokes. Another said he could never be a rapist because he likes to sleep after sex. Yet another said he would call his victim the next morning because he’s such a nice guy.

Er, ha.

Later one of the competitors began his act by promising the audience that he wouldn’t tell any rape jokes. He broke that promise two minutes later with a one-liner about using “ropes and formaldehyde” to solve his romantic problems.

Ha again.

The women in the competition (there were five) mostly steered clear of forced-sexual-intercourse humor, though one did sing a ditty about not wanting to be raped.

What do you make of all the rape jokes? Is that fair game for campus comedy, or does joking about rape minimize the suffering endured by victims of sexual violence? What does it say that most of the rape jokes were made by men, rather than women?

Special screening: Business of Being Born

This Thursday, January 10, there will be a special benefit screening of The Business of Being Born, a new documentary about the way American women give birth. Here’s the trailer:

The trailer touches on several key themes of this course. First, it points out that the American experience of birth is unique in the world. Second, it suggests that birth, like other aspects of sexuality, is a cultural event as much as it is a biological one. Indeed, cross-cultural variation in the expectations for pregnancy and birth may have important biological consequences for how we get our start in the world.

The local screening of this new documentary is being hosted by the Birth Center of Gainesville and the International Cesarean Awareness Network (ICAN). It will take place at the Gateway Grand Hotel at 6:30 p.m. For details and information about tickets, see the ICAN website.

Research 101: Library skills tutorial

The UF Libraries and the Center for Instructional Technology and Training have produced an interactive, web-based tutorial called Research 101. The tutorial focuses on library research skills that you’ll need to do well on the writing assignments for this course. From the tutorial website:

Research 101 introduces basic research skills that are essential to every college student, regardless of your interests or degree area. In the tutorials, you will learn how information comes into being, and become knowledgeable about the wide variety of sources that are available for library research today. You will also learn searching techniques to help you quickly identify the best books, articles or web sites, and strategies for evaluating the quality and usability of such sources. You will also learn how to navigate the large UF Libraries system and become acquainted with research assistance services for students.

I encourage you to take time to work through the tutorial. Leave a comment below to let us know what parts of the tutorial are helpful (or not).

Welcome to ANT 2301

Welcome to the course web site for ANT 2301, Human Sexuality and Culture, at the University of Florida. This course is one of the largest at the University, enrolling some 650 students each term. The size of the course makes it difficult for me to get to know many of you personally. I hope this course blog will give you a new way to communicate with me, with your TAs, and with each other.

This website will be an important part of the course. Some materials—including the syllabus, announcements, and details on assignments—will only be available here. The TAs and I will maintain the blog to let you know about relevant news around campus, to share our thoughts about how the themes of the course relate to current events, and to stimulate your thinking about assigned readings and course material. We invite you to comment on posts or to contact us with questions you’d like to see us address.

We look forward to a great semester.

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