See film XXY at the Hipp until today only

xxy poster
XXY, an award winning film about an intersex child, is playing downtown at the Hippodrome now through Thursday, October 30th.

“For just about everybody, adolescence means having to confront a number of choices and life decisions, but rarely any as monumental as the one facing 15-year-old Alex who was born an intersex child. As Alex begins to explore her sexuality, her mother invites friends from Buenos Aires to come for a visit at their house on the gorgeous Uruguayan shore, along with their 16-year-old son Ãlvaro. Alex is immediately attracted to the young man, which adds yet another level of complexity to her personal search for identity. This sharp directorial debut by Lucia Puenzo treats the challenging subject of intersexuality with intelligence and sensitivity. 91mins/ 2007/ Spanish/ subtitles”

Special performance in class on Monday

In class on Monday, we will be treated to a special performance of Birth, a critically acclaimed play based on interviews playwright Karen Brody conducted with mothers across America who gave birth between 2000 and 2004. Birth tells the true stories of eight women, painting a portrait of how low-risk, educated women are giving birth in America today. The performance will be followed by a talkback session, which will facilitate an interactive discussion on birthing issues, the subject of this week’s readings. Read more

Special lecture Monday: Sex and violence

On Monday, October 27, Professor Neil Whitehead of the University of Wisconsin will deliver the 2008 of the Marvin Harris Lecture. The title of the presentation is “Blood Jewel: A Performative Ethnography of Sex and Violence.”

This special event will take place at 5:30 p.m. in Weil 270. Here’s the abstract:

This talk will discuss recent performative ethnographic work in the Goth/Industrial music scene as the band “Blood Jewel” and how through the medium of cyber space this has led to different kinds of engagements with ethnographic “subjects”. The cultural meanings of sexual and violent representation, challenges to normative sexualities, and the emergence of digital subjectivities and ontologies are then examined in relation to the emergence of a post-human anthropology.

Research paper topics: popular articles

As you know, the first submission of your research paper is due next Monday, October 27, via E-Learning. As a reminder, full details about the research paper assignment are available on the syllabus and here (PDF).

Some students have contacted me with confusion about acceptable topics for the research paper. As a reminder, the assignment requires you to base your research paper on an article about sexuality from the popular press. The full research paper guidelines include the list of acceptable popular articles. For your convenience, here it is again:

Possible popular articles for research paper topics (PDF)

Remember: If this list does not include an article on the topic you’d like to research and write about, you are welcome to select your own article from the popular press. However, you must work with your TA to determine if the topic and article is appropriate for the assignment. You may use an article of your choosing only if you receive written approval from your TA before the paper is due.

If you have any questions or comments, leave them here.

Arranged marriages in the United States

NPR: Arranged Marriage: Trapped Between Two CulturesIn lecture on Monday, Dr. Gravlee raised the question of whether romantic love is perceived as necessary for marriage cross-culturally. He showed data from a survey of college students in 11 countries, which showed large cultural differences on the matter. In Japan, only two percent of students reported that they would marry someone who had all the qualities they were looking for, even if they weren’t in love. In Pakistan, half of all students said they would marry someone under those circumstances.

Yesterday National Public Radio picked up on this theme in “Arranged Marriage: Trapped Between Two Cultures,” the first story in a three-part series. The report explores the generational and cross-cultural conflicts many young Muslims experience in the United States over love and marriage. “For many families like Sandhu’s,” Jamie Tarabay reports, “a marriage arranged by the parents is the best way they know to guarantee a solid future for their child.”

Have you or someone you know experienced the situation NPR describes? Whether you have or not, can you relate to the struggles of young Muslims in America over love and marriage? How does this story help you become aware of the things you take for granted about love and marriage in your life?

Sexy Song of the Week: Wicked Game

Wicked GameThis week we feature “Wicked Game”, a 1989 song by Chris Isaak from his album Heart Shaped World. The song became a hit after it was featured in the 1990 David Lynch film Wild at Heart. The video won several MTV Video Music Awards and is often featured on VH1 countdowns of the sexiest songs and videos of all time. The video features former Victoria’s Secret model Helena Christensen.

While the song is primarily remembered for the famous black and white video featuring Christensen and Isaak, it is Isaak’s haunting melody and desperate lyrics that make the song unique. In the song Isaak expresses his struggle to resist the femme fatale, Christensen, and the effect this struggle has on his feelings about love.  In the song’s first verse Isaak introduces us to the root of his struggle revealing that, “I never dreamed that I’d meet somebody like you /And I never dreamed that I’d lose somebody like you”.  Later, in the chorus, we hear his increasing resistance to his would be lover’s allure, as he sings, “No, I don’t want to fall in love/with you”, while a voice (his instinct?) is saying, “This love is only gonna break your heart.”

As he attempts to resolve the contradiction between his need and his disdain for his lover, he simultaneously finds fault in her for “making” him fall in love even as she tells him she doesn’t feel the same way he does, singing,” What a wicked game you play/To make me feel this way /What a wicked thing to do/To let me dream of you /What a wicked thing to say /You never felt this way”. This classic portrayal of a mans encounter with a femme fatale ends with the chorus and Isaak’s final depressing conclusion that, “Nobody loves no one”.

How can such a sexy video portray such a seemingly depressing revelation? Is this sexy? As you listen to this and watch the video do you find any similarities to the Muddy Waters song and video that we featured? How are suggestive or symbolic tools used in the video (the crashing waves or the rising clouds, for example)?  Does Christensen seem interested in Isaak or is he chasing after her hopelessly?

Finally, is Isaak suggesting that love is a “wicked game” or that the actions of his lover are wicked? Can you relate to these emotions? How does Isaak’s portrayal of love relate to this week’s readings and lecture material about theories of love?

Sexy Song of the Week: I touch myself

divinyls

In honor of your reading on solitary sexual practices, the sexy song of the week is “I Touch Myself.” This 1991 tune, turned perennial karaoke favorite, launched the Australian group, the DiVinyls, into one-hit-wonder fame. The video was very popular.

Masturbation goes by many descriptive, often funny, names. As discussed in Carroll Chapter 10 and in lecture, the practice is a safe release for (sexual) tension. However, many people choose not to experiment with masturbation for reasons such as religious or cultural prescriptions and personal guilt or embarrassment. This is especially the case with women. Your textbook reports that college men masturbate 3 times more than college females. Tell me: Is this a shocking find given a 95% success rate in women reaching orgasm via self-stimulation as opposed to a much lower chance of orgasm during intercourse?

This is your chance to comment on this sexy song, of course, but I am more curious about your thoughts on masturbation. Why is it still considered secret or taboo to some, especially for women? Is it a more accepted practice for men?

What in our cultural world informs our norms about masturbation? Why is it often used as a comical device in media as in American Pie? How is masturbation presented in church or in school? What myths do we have (like it will cause blindness)? How did your peers or parents talk about masturbation to you? Was your experience at all similar to this interesting lesson given by the ne’re-do-well uncle on Weeds involving a banana?

Finally, how important do you think masturbation is to a healthy sex life? Is there a place for masturbation in relationships or is it a secret to be kept from your partner?

Exam is today on E-Learning

The first exam will be available on E-Learning today from 6:00 a.m. till midnight. Please keep in mind that you must complete—not just start—the exam by midnight.

To access the exam, log on to the course’s E-Learning page and click on the “Assessments” link in the left column. Next, click on the link to Exam 1 to begin.

If you have any computer difficulties, please contact the UF Computing Help Desk (392-HELP) and leave a comment on the blog.

Good luck!

Missing masturbation slides

If you were in class today, you know I wasn’t having a good technology day. Among other things, I was missing a batch of slides about masturbation. You can now see those slides here. The slides don’t capture everything I would have said in lecture, but you’ll get the idea.

ANT 2301 – Masturbation
View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: masturbation sexuality)

Practice exam available on E-Learning

As you know, the first exam of the semester will be administered this Friday, Oct. 3, on E-Learning. To avoid computer problems, please log on to E-Learning and take the practice exam, using the computer you plan to use for the real exam on Friday.

Once you log on to E-Learning, follow the link to ANT 2301, and then click on the “Assessments” tab. Then, you should see a link to the practice test. It should look something like this:

Click to enlarge

Click to enlarge


Please test your settings no later than Thursday to avoid problems during the exam. If you run into any technical glitches with the practice test, please contact the UF Computing Help Desk at 392-HELP.