Missing masturbation slides

Posted by Lance Gravlee on October 1, 2008 
Filed Under Class discussion | Leave a Comment

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

Posted by Lance Gravlee on October 1, 2008 
Filed Under Announcements, Exams | 2 Comments

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.

Sex and politics: Where the candidates stand

Posted by Hilary del Campo on September 30, 2008 
Filed Under In the news | 5 Comments

Earlier this semester, Dr. Gravlee distinguished between fact and value and clarified that our job as social scientists is to examine the range of variation in human sexuality across time and space. It is up to you to incorporate knowledge about human sexuality into your own value system.

The upcoming presidential election is an opportunity for you to put this principle into practice. For most of you, it will be the very first opportunity to vote in a presidential election. Don’t miss the opportunity. To vote in Florida, you must be registered by next Monday, October 6. Register, read up on the issues, and get to the polls to vote.

This year, as in other recent elections, the candidates are divided on issues related to human sexuality. Here’s a breakdown of where the presidential and vice-presidential candidates stand on abortion, sexuality education, and civil rights related to gender and sexual orientation.

Guide to successful research papers

Posted by Lance Gravlee on September 25, 2008 
Filed Under Writing Assignments | 2 Comments

One of the keys to successful writing is to make slow and steady progress toward your goal. That means that the best research papers we read this semester are probably going to be the ones you are working on now. It takes time to do good library research, synthesize what you discover, and write about it well.

To help you get started (if you haven’t already), the TAs have assembled a guide to writing a successful research paper. You can download the guide in PDF format here.

This very helpful guide offers advice on library research, writing style, and citation practices. Paying attention to the advice in this guide is the surest way to make your TA happy—and you want your TA to be happy.

Do you know of other useful resources for improving your research, writing, and citation skills? Let us know by leaving a comment.

South Africa: How Safe is Traditional Circumcision?

Posted by Rachel Harvey on September 24, 2008 
Filed Under Class discussion | 5 Comments

maleIn South Africa, a debate about the practice of male circumcision provides a thought-provoking addendum to this week’s assigned reading. In certain groups, such as the Xhosa, South African men around 18 years of age enter into a month of seclusion with other members of their age group for an initiation consisting of traditional method circumcision and the imparting of teachings. Participation is prevalent among both rural and urban dwellers as this is the critical step in being considered a man and readied for marriage. Although defended for cultural significance, male circumcision practices are contested publicly for health concerns such as irreparable damage to the penis, infections leading to death, and the transmission of HIV via the cutting instrument.

Insightful participants’ points of view are on-line as are photos. One Xhosa man writes: “The option of staying uncircumcised is impractical if you live among Xhosas because they won’t take you seriously. Even in his book Long Walk To Freedom, Nelson Mandela comments on how a Xhosa man who has not been circumcised is a paradox, because he is still viewed as a boy.”

In recent articles, Lousie Vincent reports:

“Ritual male circumcision is among the most secretive and sacred of rites practiced by the Xhosa of South Africa. Recently, the alarming rate of death and injury among initiates has led to the spotlight of media attention and government regulation being focused on traditional circumcision. While many of the physical components of the ritual have been little altered by the centuries, its cultural and social meanings have not remained unchanged…”
Vincent, L. “‘Boys will be boys’: traditional Xhosa male circumcision, HIV and sexual socialisation in contemporary South Africa.” Culture, Health & Sexuality 10.5 (June 2008): 431-446.

“Since 1995 more than 6,000 boys have been admitted to Eastern Cape hospitals, more than 300 have died and 76 have had their genitalia amputated due to botched circumcisions. The state has responded by putting in place a variety of mechanisms to regulate the practice, most recently in the form of the 2005 Children’s Bill which gives male children the right to refuse circumcision and makes those who circumcise a child against his will guilty of an offense punishable by imprisonment. Attempts by the state to regulate traditional practices have been met with outrage and resistance in some quarters.

Rituals are commonly identified as mechanisms contributing to social order in all societies, maintaining the organization of groups into hierarchies, specifying the performance of roles linked to factors such as age and gender, renewing group unity and a means for the transmission of values across generations. But in a society so deeply penetrated by colonialism, apartheid and industrialization, as South Africa is, what role do these rites play in the contemporary context?…”
Vincent, L. “Cutting Tradition: the Political Regulation of Traditional Circumcision Rites in South Africa’s Liberal Democratic Order.” Journal of Southern African Studies 34.1 (Mar. 2008): 77-91.

Notably, other southern African tribes do not have a tradition of male circumcision at any time in the life cycle. And it is recently announced that male circumcision may reduce the transfer of HIV from women to men by 60%, an important finding for a global area with extremely high infection rates.
Discussion: Considering the particpants’ and scholar’s comments, what is your take on this issue? How should one (or the state) balance concerns for human welfare with respect for critical traditional practices? What if you were the parent of a boy of Xhosa heritage, how would you decide whether to go through with this ritual?

Problems accessing Turnitin.com

Posted by Lance Gravlee on September 18, 2008 
Filed Under Announcements, Writing Assignments | 40 Comments

Several students have reported that they are asked for a class ID and password when submitting their reaction papers to turnitin.com via E-Learning. You should not need this information.

The campus E-Learning specialists recommend that all students should log on to E-Learning and try to submit a test paper before tomorrow’s deadline to make sure turnitin.com is working properly. If you are asked for a class ID and password, please call the UF Computing Help Desk at 392-HELP, and they should be able to help you resolve the issue.

Update, 3:35 p.m.: Many students continued to have problems and weren’t getting help from the Help Desk. We’ve been in touch with the Help Desk and E-Learning specialists and have posted a new link on the E-Learning site to submit your paper. So far, this new link appears to be working (for reasons no one understands). Please try to submit your paper again and leave a comment to let us know about any problems you encounter. Sorry for the confusion, and thanks for your patience.

Update, 9:52 p.m.: Unfortunately, the problem persists. See my comment below for the latest.

Research paper guidelines online

Posted by Lance Gravlee on September 14, 2008 
Filed Under Writing Assignments | 2 Comments

As you know, your first reaction paper is due this Friday, Sept. 19. And in case you missed it the first time, see my earlier blog post about what’s expected for the reaction papers.

It’s also not too early to be thinking about your research paper. I’ve just posted full guidelines on what’s expected for that assignment, which you can find on the syllabus page (scroll down to the section on research papers). Or jump straight to the PDF here.

You’ll also notice that we’ve reorganized the categories on the right side of all pages on this website to make it easier for you to find information related to the course. You can find all posts about the reaction and research papers by following the link to writing assignments.

Sexy Song of the Week: I just want to make love to you

Posted by Rachel Harvey on September 14, 2008 
Filed Under Sexy Song of the Week | 3 Comments

waters Sometimes love gives you the blues. Growing out of regional traditions of African-American slave music, the blues has greatly impacted musical sound in the last century. With a minor tone and heavy guitar, blues tunes just stir something deep down in your gut. Blues harmonies can make you mournful or fire you up and turn you on.

This week we focus on a classic: I just want to make love to you. The song was first performed in 1954 by Muddy Waters. (Here is a later video made of the song featuring the very sexy Kate Moss.) It has since been covered by numerous artists. My favorite version is by the untouchable Etta James. She recorded the song in 1961 for her very first album and still performs it today. You can read about her tumultuous career and private life in Rage to Survive: The Etta James Story.

Both James and Waters worked with the famous Chicago-based company Chess Records and both are members of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The history of Chess will be depicted in an upcoming film, Cadillac Records, starring Beyonce Knowles. I encourage you to check out these featured artists and other greats of the post-war blues era. Maybe you have some suggestions for your classmates. What are your impressions of this song and the sex appeal of the blues?

For further discussion, from last week’s comments on Britney’s video there appears to be some disparity in the class concerning exactly what is sexy. And some of you have offered suggestions of sexy songs, but you haven’t explained why you chose them. This is your time to speak up and clarify. What is really sexy to you and why? Is sex appeal something tantalizing left to the imagination or does it need to be more overt? Do you need explicit lyrics to get the idea? Or can a song like “I just want to make love to you” grab you?

Teenage pregnancy and sex ed

Posted by Suzanne Dolwick Grieb on September 14, 2008 
Filed Under In the news | 6 Comments

With the news that the 17-year old daughter of Sarah Palin, the Republican Vice Presidential candidate, is five months pregnant, there has been a surge of media attention on teen pregnancy and sex education in the US. But the discussion has been going on for some time. Here’s what NPR had to say in 2004 about a study that had just been published:

The debate over whether to have sex education in American schools is over. A new poll by NPR, the Kaiser Family Foundation, and Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government finds that only 7 percent of Americans say sex education should not be taught in schools… Nearly three-quarters of the principals (74 percent) say there have been no recent discussions or debate in PTA, school board or other public meetings about what to teach in sex ed. Likewise, few principals report being contacted by elected officials, religious leaders or other people in their communities about sex education.

Although there may broad agreement that sex ed should be taught, there remains plenty of debate over how to teach it.  Palin, for instance, is a proponent of abstinence-only education. She does not support teaching children about safe sexual practices, including the use of condoms.  Others believe that children should be provided all the tools necessary to make the most informed decision possible.

The message provided to teenagers is important. According to some estimates, each year approximately 750,000 teens get pregnant.  That’s one-third of all teen girls. Teen pregnancy obviously has a major impact on the lives of people directly affected, but it also has broader implications for society. For example, by one estimate, more than two-thirds of teen parents do no complete high school, costing the US economy some $7 billion annually.

Sexuality news roundup

Posted by Lance Gravlee on September 11, 2008 
Filed Under In the news | 4 Comments

If you have any doubt about the relevance of this class to the real world, just pick up a newspaper. Sexuality has been all over the news lately. The “Mommy Wars” inspired by Sarah Palin’s VP nomination, which we discussed in class, is just one example. Other stories appear faster than we can keep up with them on the blog, so here’s a roundup of some recent news about sex around the world.