March 2009 Archives
My Grandma Thinks I Have a Twin... in a Country Music BandBy on March 28, 2009 11:50 AM | 1 Comment
I woke up to an email from my parents who relayed that my grandma was freaking out at my resemblance to the guitarist from the Country band "Gloriana." See the guitar player in this video:
His name is Mike Gossin. I *kind of* see the resemblance. But he's way hotter than me! Thanks Grandma ;) In any case, the song is kind of catchy! In a summer camp kind of way.
Study: How Do Gay Men Define "Bareback"?By on March 27, 2009 3:42 PM | 1 Comment
Lifelube has helpfully posted information on a new study published in the journal Culture, Health and Sexuality that asks 120 gay men in New York City: what exactly does the term "bareback" mean? The researchers here are trying to better understand how gay men use the term in their own lives, so I very much appreciate the spirit of the project.
The Meaning of the Term, "Bareback"
A few interesting findings about the term emerge from the project:
1) No Condoms: Obviously, most agreed "bareback" implied anal sex without condoms.2) Natural, Intimate:Curiously, although some men defined the term using words like "natural" or "intimate", the researchers don't interrogate this at all. Obviously, I think this is a mistake because it adds another layer of social meaning onto the behavior. I would add it as another category in their findings (as I have here).
3) Intentional: Some implied that intentionality was critical. This is very interesting. For instance, when they ask a participant whether sex would be considered "bareback" if a condom breaks, one participant replies:
"Technically, I guess, briefly, unless they don’t pull out or if they continue, then yeah. But barebacking is usually a conscious choice. But I understand that is kind of complicating the situation. But if the condom breaks, then no, I don’t think so, because I think that barebacking isn’t by accident. It’s a conscious choice, unless the person’s fucked up and doesn’t know what you’re doing."4) Risky: Risk is a critical component of the definition for some men. For instance, they asked some participants if sex would be considered "bareback" if sex without condoms between a monogamous couple where both partners are HIV-negative. Some said it would, but others said things like this:
"That’s not bareback … (Why not?) It’s not because these two guys are in a relationship. They’re in a monogamous relationship. They love each other. They’re both HIV-negative. They know their status. They’ve – it’s natural, I mean, for the gay world … But it’s just natural for them to have sex without a condom, if they know neither one has HIV or has an STD, or whatever, and they’re not sleeping around on each other."
Bareback Identity
They move from this linguistic investigation to an investigation into bareback identity. A few possibilities here:
1) "Yes, I'm a Barebacker": About 1/3 of the men involved identified as barebackers, and these men were more likely to be HIV-positive than negative. For instance, in this exchange:I: Do you think of yourself as a barebacker?
R: Yes.
I: Is that an identity?
R: That’s an identity. That’s the truth. The truth … is the light. So I’m a barebacker, baby. And I ain’t going to sugar-coat [it] – I’m a barebacker [singing], I’m a barebacker! [laughter] OK?
I: That identity, is that, is that a private one? Is that something you –
R: I would want somebody to know? Yes, I’m a barebacker. I feel…it, it, it gives me a sense of empowerment, so to speak. I feel good about [that] shit. Yeah, I like the ass, I like to fuck and I like to get fucked. You know, and I like to be explicit. And I can get to the exact nature of what I’m about, so it empowers me. Barebacker, huh? You know, that is that term.2) "No, I'm not": Around 1/4 of participants said that, in fact, they were not barebackers. A variety of reasons existed, including the stigma attached to the term, some men's desire to use condoms, or -- very interestingly -- "because labeling oneself as such would make others think, ‘Oh, sure, he’s a barebacker, so he’ll accept my dick inside him’." This is fascinating language here, but again the researcher's stop short of a more in-depth analysis, which is a shame. But curious that this quote is about being a bareback BOTTOM, and not a top.
3) "Maybe I am": Some indicated that they might be, or that they were only partially a barebacker because of the frequency of their having sex without condoms. For instance:
I: Do you consider yourself a barebacker?
R: Sixty percent of the times, yes, I do, mm-hmm. Yes I do. You know, because like I say I do…my best to practise safe sex, but once, you know, I meet a certain person or – it’s like – it’s like something that will go off in me that I’ll be, like wow, I would just love to feel him inside, you know? Or I would just love to run up in them and – stuff like that.
You can download the PDF of the report here, thanks to IRMA.
Warning: Fraudulent HIV Prevention Group Seeking DonationsBy on March 25, 2009 5:46 PM | 1 Comment | 1 TrackBack
Via CHAMP. Apparently a group no one's ever heard of is seeking donations for HIV prevention via advertisements in the NY Times:
The New York Times is a trusted source of information for millions of people worldwide.And they make it clear that they will reject advertising that "contain[s] fraudulent, deceptive or misleading statements or illustrations."
So why is the "newspaper of record" running a discounted online ad on the top left of their front page for an alleged AIDS charity that was booted out of Illinois... and that has no available record that any funds have been raised or given to HIV/AIDS?
Yesterday, the website of the Beverly Hills-based "Center for AIDS Prevention" boasted that they were supporting HIV/AIDS labs, scientific conferences, and a range of services. And their ad on the Times website asked for donations.
However, local and national leaders have said they have never heard of the group, and their publicly-available financial records from 2006 and 2007 show zero revenue, zero expenses.
After the scandal was publicized in blogs, including the investigative journalist site ProPublica, they cleaned up their site (at least temporarily) -- removing claims that they support laboratory facilities and scientific conferences and ads for herbal remedies - but they still claim to provide a range of local services.
But there's no evidence that the money is providing legitimate HIV/AIDS services. They are not even listed in the California AIDS Hotline database.
On the Times site, the ad no longer directly asks for donations - but the website it links to certainly does.
So where's the money going?
Legitimate AIDS organizations are facing increasing financial challenges - we need ethical standards in fundraising and advertising!
ACT NOW: Contact the "Center for AIDS Prevention" to ask them where the money's going, and hold the New York Times accountable for their advertising:
1) Contact the New York Times public editor ("the readers' representative" ) and their advertising representatives to ask him how this advertising practice fits within either their stated guidelines or ethical practices:
Clary Hoyt, Public Editor:
E-mail: public@nytimes.com
Phone: (212) 556-7652
Diane McNulty, Advertising Department
E-mail: mcnuldc@nytimes.com
Phone: 212-556-52442) Call the "Center for AIDS Prevention" to ask them for a full accounting of any funds they have collected, including anything through the New York Times ad, through their website, at the Valentine's Day event mentioned in the ProPublica article, or any other fundraising efforts.
"Center for AIDS Prevention"
310-201-0080
310-201-0008 fax
info@centerforaidsprevention.org
Here's a screenshot of the ad:
By on March 24, 2009 10:19 AM | 11 Comments
So I have a bit of an embarrassing question for folks with some knowledge in the area. I've been casually seeing a guy for a bit now, and every time we go to have sex, the condom breaks. I've never had a condom break in my presence in my entire (prolific) sexual career, but it usually takes three condom-attempts before a successful try. Yes, that means that he usually breaks two condoms before we get one that doesn't break. It always happens immediately when he tries to start fucking. I don't know what's up! It's so bizarre to me. We always laugh about it and get another, but condoms are *expensive* and we've gone through dozens in just a few meetings. lol. That sounds like bragging, but really it's not! I promise!
Any ideas? I thought perhaps it's because he's leaving air in the tip when he puts it on, but that seems to be a pretty dramatic response to that common problem -- it's something that lots of guys do, but usually only results (to my knowledge) in a break when the guy cums. In any case, I'd like to solve this mystery before we manage to go through another dozen. Let me know any thoughts!
Site Traffic...By on March 24, 2009 9:55 AM | No Comments
... is blowing up! I don't know what's triggered it exactly, but the last few days has seen an explosion in traffic to my blog. Coincidentally, it syncs up with my removing the rating "stars" from the website that used to be attached to each entry. They were *really* slowing down the loading time of the site, so even though I liked them, I had to scratch them off the site. In any case, there's been basically a quadrupling of web visits since I did that, which seems strange to me. Oh, and I also added the Facebook badge at the right at the same time. But that seems equally benign when it comes to traffic. Anyone have any alternative theories? Or ways of understanding? According to my built-in statistics software and to Google Analytics, the traffic is not due to any big blog or something linking here. It's not been a sudden spike in one day, but a gradual (but dramatic) build-up since Thursday.
God Bless Wesley CrusherBy on March 23, 2009 9:26 PM | No Comments
I was channel-surfing tonight when I came across an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Sigh. Wesley Crusher. He was my boycrush back in the 90s when I watched the show. He may have been the primary reason I turned into watch. What an adorable twinkazoid! :)
Jesus Riding DinosaursBy on March 23, 2009 5:27 PM | 4 Comments
Pretty amazing stuff from a coloring book for Evangelical children. Jesus was quite the badass! His flesh even had it's own crayon color. Click to enlarge:
Via Andrew Sullivan.
On Newspapers Closing, Technology, and ApocalypseBy on March 23, 2009 12:27 PM | No Comments
It's been around since 1835, but this July Ann Arbor News will cease publication and reopen as an online newspaper that prints a twice-weekly print edition. A curious choice of restructuring, for sure. Obviously, many lament news like this as sign that society is further self-destructing. Others have surely run down to the store to hoard copies of their precious NY Times before it too becomes a thing of the past.
I've never been sold on the idea that newspapers disappearing was quite as catastrophic as people make it out to be. I certainly appreciate the value of an in-hand analysis of world events and politics. That I get. But it's not automatically clear that we won't still have access to this kind of information via the Internet, or that new technologies won't emerge to fulfill that need. Such as an in-hand, digital newspaper that updates itself and resembles paper -- which has been proposed but is obviously many many years away.
Some have argued that investigative journalism is one of the things that has been cut back on since newspapers began to gut their budgets -- and this seems to ring true. There will be things that will change as technology shifts. And we do indeed stand to lose some things. That's for sure. But we need to grow up and realize that technological change is NOT the first sign of imminent apocalypse. We're smack dab in the middle of a radical shift in the way information is produced, shared, and consumed -- the kind of shift not seen since the invention of the printing press. It makes sense that we have anxieties about that change, as people generally do in any time of radical social transformation.
But while some of these anxieties may be well-founded, most of it amounts to a senseless moral panic. Really people: get off your pretentious intellectual, NY Times-reading, self-righteous crusade about the death of intellectualism and forthcoming end of the world. I promise that the world is not ending. And that there will be smart people still when things settle. They may just not be as able to stash a copy of the NY Times in their messenger bags to evidence their intellectual superiority.
Just my daily rant about pop culture! :)
It's Very Strange...By on March 22, 2009 5:59 PM | No Comments
... to have straight male students passionately defending arguments in favor of same-sex marriage for their paper assignment. I can't explain it, but as a gay GSI grading these papers I almost feel embarrassed. Like I need to be especially critical of their arguments to prove that I'm an intellectual and not a biased politician. Sigh. In any case, reading essays like these, I can't help but think that things have dramatically changed for this new generation.
The Golden Girls LesbianismBy on March 22, 2009 3:05 PM | 1 Comment
My friend James posted this on Facebook. God bless The Golden Girls. So ahead of its time! So queer!
Some Sexuality-Related Movies, Books, Essays, and ArticlesBy on March 22, 2009 12:07 PM | 6 Comments
As I'm compiling the syllabus for my "Sociology of Sexuality" class, I thought it'd be useful for some to share the list of resources I've been compiling. A fair amount of LGBT / Queer scholarship here, of course. But some broader material as well. I've divided the citations from books into those from full-length monographs and those from anthologies, to help distinguish the kind of material. These citations are all from books, but some articles from anthologies you can find elsewhere in journal publication or also in other anthologies. I'll continue adding to this list over the next few weeks. Enjoy!
Book Chapters
Sullivan, An Introduction to Queer Theory
"Queer: A Question of Being or a Question of Doing?"
"Performance, Performativity, Parody, and Politis"
"Transssexual Empires and Transgender Warriors"
"Sadomasachism as Resistance?"
Berube, Coming Out Under Fire
"GI Drag: A Gay Refuge"
"Pioneer Experts: Psychiatrists Discover the Gay GI"
"Fighting Another War"
Halperin, Saint Foucault
"The Queer Politics of Michel Foucault"
Seidman, Beyond The Closet
"Introduction"
Levine, Harmful to Minors
Entire Book
Laqueur, Making SEX
"One: Of Language and the Flesh"
Humphreys, Tearoom Trade
"Methods: The Sociologist as Voyeur"
Shilts, And the Band Played On
Chs. 27-31
Chapkis, Live Sex Acts
Ch 3, "The Emotional Labor of Sex"
Fausto-Sterling, Sexing the Body
Ch. 2, "Of Gender and Genitals: The Use and Abuse of the Modern Interssexual"
Anthology Chapters:
John D'Emilio, The World Turned
"Stonewall: Myth and Meaning"
"Placing Gay in the Sixties"
Califia, Public Sex
"Sadomasachism and Feminism"
"UnMonogamy: Loving Tricks and Tricking Lovers"
"Among Us, Against Us: Does Equation of Pornography with Violence Add up to Political Repression?"
Queer and Asian in America
Fung, "Looking for my Penis"
Roy, "Curry Queens and Other Spices"
Black Queer Studies
Cohen, "Punks, Bulldaggers, and Welfare Queens: The Radical Potential of Queer Politics?"
Nero, "Why are the Gay Ghettos White?"
Different Rainbows
Altman, "The Emergence of Gay Identities in Southeast Asia"
Fear of a Queer Planet
Warner, "Introduction"
Sedgwick, "How to Bring Your Kids Up Gay"
Halley, "The Construction of Heterosexuality"
Sex Wars
Duggan, "Holy Matrimony!"
Duggan and Kim, "Beyond Gay Marriage"
Queer Theory / Sociology
Esterberg, "'A Certain Swagger When I walk': Performing Lesbian Identity"
Gamson, "Must Identity Movements Self-Destruct?"
Policing Public Sex
Alexander, "Bathhouses and Brothels: Symbolic Sites in Discourse and Practice"
Pleasure and Danger
Rubin, "Thinking Sex: Notes for a Radical Theory of the Politics of Sexuality"
Leatherfolk
Rubin, "The Catacombs: A temple of the butthole"
Journal Articles
Halperin, D. (2003) "The Normalization of Queer Theory." Journal of Homosexuality, 45 (2).
Movies:
Cote D'Azur (deconstruction of family)
Wildside (menage-a-trois; trans)
Teeth (myth of vagina-dente)
Empire of Senses
In the Realm of the Senses
The Pornographers
Belle du Jour (Prostitution)
The Confusion of Genders (bisexuality / polyamory)
Water Lilles (3 teenage girls / one lesbian)
Sexy and Lucia
Ma Vie En Rose (Trans youth)
But I'm a Cheerleader (Queer deconstruction of sexual identity)
Sordid Lives (Psychiatry / queer lives / the South)
Storytelling (1st 15 min on race -- rape / race)
Guardian of the Flutes
The Salt Mines / The Transformation (Religion / Race / Trans / HIV / America)
Bent (Nazis / gays / death camps)
The Pain Game (S&M documentary)
Longtime Companion (Impact of AIDS on NY Gay Comm)
It's My Party (AIDS)
XXY (Intersexuality)
By on March 20, 2009 12:28 PM | No Comments
So I was just assigned to teach undergraduates "The Sociology of Sexuality" this summer! Wew-hew! I'm really excited about this opportunity. It'll be the first time I'll be teaching my own class at the University, unsupervised by a faculty member. The only catch is that I have to submit a syllabus ASAP for the department's approval. I have a *LOT* of ideas about what to teach, but I wanted to get feedback on resources people though would be useful for me in the classroom. Obviously, books, articles, essays, and research studies are useful here. But equally useful are short films, documentaries, and feature-length movies. Keep in mind that it's an upper-division undergraduate course.
So what topics / essays / etc do I HAVE to cover? And what movies do I just HAVE to show? :) Let me know! It would be a huge help! Thanks!!!!!
xoxo
Trev
How Do I Trust Again?: Love, Betrayal, and Moving OnBy on March 17, 2009 8:52 PM | 9 Comments | 1 TrackBack
This has been a long time coming. Throughout my life, there have been essays-in-progress in my mind and in my heart, stories that have been writing themselves for months or even years. This is a story that I've been carrying with me for many years now. It begins in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, where I was an undergraduate at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In many ways, this is the romantic tragedy that has defined my relationship to love and to men since that time. I don't usually write this kind of deeply personal story, but I need to tell it. I know that if I do not get it out of me and onto paper, it will only continue to haunt me for years to come. Thank you for listening, and for bearing with me.
So let me begin.
I met him my junor year of college in my Feminist Philosophy class. It was well over halfway through the semester when we crossed paths. It's not that the class was particularly large -- indeed, there were maybe only thirty people enrolled and the classroom was narrow and cramped. But I was supsicious of him from the very first time I saw him: Tall, dark hair, handsome, and a large cross dangling from his neck. At the time, I was knee-deep in a campus culture-war with a Christian student organization which had come under fire for forbidding openly gay and lesbian members from holding official posts. As ridiculous as it may seem, his necklace was for me at that time more than just a sign of faith, but of political commitments.
He was pale and wore glasses, beautiful in a wholesome, simple kind of way. He wore sweaters over button-up shirts, and the overall effect was to come across as a whole-milk-drinking, church-going, future-Father-of-America. He never spoke much in class, but rather seemed to listen intently to what others had to say. So you can imagine my surprise one day when, during a critical discussion of binary gender roles, he raised his hand, brow furrowed, and asked our professor, "If binary gender roles are so deeply problematic, then why don't we simply get rid of them altogether?" I broke out in applause, startling both him and our instructor. I was dumbfounded! Who did this boy think he was? I was the one who usually made ridiculously radical statements about destroying patriarchy and gender oppression in this class! I was shocked. I was flabbergasted. But mostly, I was turned on.
Click here to read the rest!
Click here to read the rest!
Click here to read the rest!
By on March 17, 2009 2:59 PM | 4 Comments
Wew-hew! I just got news that I was admitted into The University of Michigan's School of Public Health for their Masters in Public Health program! For all my "Resisting Public Health," this may seem to be an odd choice to some -- but I've got three primary reasons for applying:
1) Ethnographic: If I'm going to "resist" public health -- or offer new strategies for rethinking its goals, strategies, etc -- then I'd better understand how PH folk think.
2) Legitimization: Folks in PH can easily write of my critique if they think I don't know what I'm talking about. Having an MPH will help legitimize my analysis to those within the field.
2) Job Market: And then on the "real world" side of things, having an MPH will make me an even stronger candidate when I (eventually) finish my PhD. Current grad date: 2014. Sigh. That's a long time from now!
Anywho. Just thought I'd share the exciting news!
New Laser Kills Millions of Mosquitos in MinutesBy on March 17, 2009 2:24 AM | No Comments
Scientists in the U.S. are developing a laser gun that could kill millions of mosquitoes in minutes.The laser, which has been dubbed a "weapon of mosquito destruction" fires at mosquitoes once it detects the audio frequency created by the beating of its wings.
The laser beam then destroys the mosquito, burning it on the spot.
Developed by some of the astrophysicists involved in what was known as the "Star Wars" anti-missile programs during the Cold War, the project is meant to prevent the spread of malaria.
Lead scientist on the project, Dr. Jordin Kare, told CNN that the laser would be able to sweep an area and "toast millions of mosquitoes in a few minutes."
Malaria is a life-threatening disease caused by parasites that are transmitted to people from the bites of female mosquitoes.
Specifically, about 1,000,000 die from malaria each year (80-90% of which take place in sub-Saharan Africa). Killing mosquitos at this scale could have a significant impact in places like Africa -- if the technology makes it that far.
"Resisting Public Health: Working Within the Gay Men's Health Movement to Produce Change" SlidesBy on March 16, 2009 1:18 PM | No Comments
I've just returned from a lovely long weekend in Toronto, where I gave a brief talk on resisting public health as an activist-researcher. I posted some of the slides here previously, but I wanted to go ahead and publish them all as a PDF here for feedback. Take a gander and let me know what you think! Basically, the talk boils down to a few key areas:
1) Why resist public health?
2) How have others resisted pathologizing / marginalizing scientific discourses?
3) What do I believe as an activist-researcher?
4) How have I put those beliefs into practice as a researcher?
5) What are the big questions to consider as we move forward?
Hope you enjoy!
xoxo
Trevor
Tony Valenzuela's "Darkroom Safety Tips"By on March 11, 2009 1:32 AM | No Comments
As per usual, Tony Valenzuela has written a lovely piece on his experiences in gay darkrooms. I can't say I've actually ever entered a darkroom -- they've always scared me a bit. And I was weened on the Internet for finding my jollies starting at a very young age. So sadly, public sex culture has never been my forte. But the article raises some interesting "Dos" and "Do-nots" of darkrooms.
My favorite bit has got to be this quote from the manager of Amsterdam's Cuckoo's Nest:
"Too many people were using the darkroom to chat," Ted told me, explaining the mistake that Cuckoo's Nest once made by turning its very large darkroom into the smoking area of the bar. There were complaints, naturally. Talking is noise, moaning is atmosphere. In darkrooms men communicate through touch, actions - walking away, gently removing an unwanted hand from your ass - and, if absolutely necessary, the faintest whisper with lips pressed to ear. This code of silence places creative constraints on sex negotiations. If condoms are important to you, bring them and apply them. Don't expect verbal communication (such as HIV disclosure) in an environment where talking is a killjoy. Boyberry and Cuckoo's Nest provide condoms for free. If you plan on getting fucked in the darkroom, bring lube and please douche. Hygiene is essential darkroom etiquette. Body smells shouldn't be pungent or fragrant. Save it for theme night or date night.
Click here to read the rest!!!
Click here to read the rest!!!
Click here to read the rest!!!
By on March 9, 2009 6:06 PM | 1 Comment
"Writing a record is like dating a few men at once. You take them to the same restaurants to see if they measure up, and at some point you decide who you like best. When you make music or write or create, it’s really your job to have mind-blowing, irresponsible, condomless sex with whatever idea it is you’re writing about at the time.” -- from current issue of Blender
I've been feeling lately like Lady Gaga is the official signification that the hipster-electro scene has become completely embedded and devoured by pop culture. As if American Apparel's proliferation didn't already tell us that. Or the moment Gap started making skinny jeans.
But Gaga signifies a much deeper infiltration: her style is a celebration of narcissistic glamor that I think was at first intended as ironic, but has lost its original parodic elements and indeed turned into an exclusive and popular style. That is to say, I think anyone who dresses the way she does five years ago was implicitly mocking popular culture. But now that style IS popular culture, and thus the element of parody is lost.
This was perhaps most clear when Christina Aguilera blatantly ripped off her style when she performed at MTV's VMAs last year.
Obama Rejects Bush's Signing StatementsBy on March 9, 2009 3:29 PM | No Comments
Thankfully, Obama has just ordered that officials consult with the Attorney General before relying on the hundreds of controversial signing statements Bush issued alongside legislation he signed, often ordering officials to do the direct opposite of what the legislation indicated. Here's the NY Times:
Calling into question the legitimacy of all the signing statements that former President George W. Bush used to challenge new laws, President Obama on Monday ordered executive officials to consult with Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. before relying on any of them to bypass a statute.The Logic of Public HealthBut Mr. Obama also signaled that he intends to use signing statements himself if Congress sends him legislation that has provisions he decides are unconstitutional. He pledged to use a modest approach when doing so, but said there was a role for the practice if used appropriately.
“In exercising my responsibility to determine whether a provision of an enrolled bill is unconstitutional, I will act with caution and restraint, based only on interpretations of the Constitution that are well-founded,” Mr. Obama wrote in a memorandum to the heads of all departments and agencies in the executive branch. The document was obtained by The New York Times.
Mr. Obama’s directions marked the latest step in his administration’s effort to deal with a series of legal and policy disputes it inherited from the Bush administration. It came the same day that Mr. Obama lifted restrictions Mr. Bush had placed on federal financing for research that uses embryonic stem cells.
By on March 9, 2009 2:50 PM | 1 Comment
Here's a few more slides from my presentation @ "Lumpen-City" Friday...
Obama Overturns Bush Stem Cell BanBy on March 9, 2009 12:13 PM | No Comments
President Obama signed an executive order Monday repealing a Bush-era policy that limited federal tax dollars for embryonic stem cell research.Obama's move overturns an order signed by President Bush in 2001 that barred the National Institutes of Health from funding research on embryonic stem cells beyond using 60 cell lines that existed at that time.
Obama also signed a presidential memorandum establishing greater independence for federal science policies and programs.
"In recent years, when it comes to stem cell research, rather than furthering discovery, our government has forced what I believe is a false choice between sound science and moral values," Obama said at the White House.
"In this case, I believe the two are not inconsistent. As a person of faith, I believe we are called to care for each other and work to ease human suffering. I believe we have been given the capacity and will to pursue this research -- and the humanity and conscience to do so responsibly."
Coupled with his repeal of the Global Gag Rule, we're on our way to evidence-based policy.
What I Believe as an Activist-ResearcherBy on March 9, 2009 2:32 AM | 2 Comments
I'm creating my slides for my talk Friday at the "LumpenCity" Conference in Toronto on Friday (see my abstract here). It's titled "Resisting Public Health: Working Within the Gay Men’s Health Movement to Produce Change ." Phew. That's a lot of words! Anyhow, I was generating my content and I thought this slide might be particularly interesting for other activist-scholars out there. Thoughts???
Who Killed Jenny Schecter?By on March 8, 2009 11:33 PM | 1 Comment
Did you watch the season finale? Theories?? Judging by the audience reception at the viewing party I attended tonight at "The Aut Bar" here in Ann Arbor, it was not a popular conclusion!
Report: Stigma Drives Poz Guys' Risk-TakingBy on March 7, 2009 6:18 PM | 1 Comment
A new report from the UK suggests what many of us have been arguing for years now: HIV stigma drives some HIV-positive men to engage in riskier sex practices.
Here's the meat of the findings, with quotes from the news article:
1. Rejection and Stigma Shape Risk Management: "The researchers argue that men’s concerns about rejection and stigma shape the way they manage risk. Disclosure leaves men vulnerable to significant harm, including violent reactions and anxiety about ex-partners using police investigations as retribution, as well as rejection leading to emotional upset and problems finding sexual partners. In a community that often remains hostile to people with HIV, men’s instinct for self-preservation often leads them to choose behaviours where disclosure is felt to be unnecessary."2. Poz Men Rely on Saunas, 'Poz Spaces,' to Obviate Need for Disclosure:: "For example, many men used saunas, not just because sex was readily available, but also because the men assumed that almost all other sauna users were HIV-positive. Like online chat rooms or HIV support group meetings, saunas were thought to be ‘HIV-positive spaces’ where men had implicitly announced their HIV status simply by being there. This allowed men to have unprotected sex there without an explicit discussion of HIV status, but leaving them with their sense of personal integrity intact."
3. Some Men Suggest Condoms Instead of Disclosing Status:"In some settings, some men tried to avoid disclosure but maintain their sense of moral integrity by suggesting to sexual partners that it would be a good idea to use a condom. Nonetheless one man described how these suggestions prompted one sexual partner to ask directly whether he had HIV. When he said yes, the man became angry and left."
4. Some Tick 'Safer Sex Needs Discussion' Box on Online Profile Instead of Disclosing: Another form of implicit disclosure that men tried was ticking ‘safer sex needs discussion’ on a Gaydar internet profile. Few men explicitly advertised their HIV status on their profile, but might mention it during private instant messaging. The respondents described ambiguities and misunderstandings in disclosure on the internet, but generally found that the internet enabled them to screen potential partners with less fear of disappointment or reprisal."
5. Behavioral Risk Reduction Strategies Limited: "Nonetheless, the researchers found that men used risk reduction strategies to quite a limited extent. No respondents mentioned reducing the duration of anal intercourse or the impact that viral load or a sexually transmitted infection could have on the risk of transmission. Just a few men discussed the greater risk of infection for the receptive partner or the possible benefit of withdrawing before ejaculation."
6. Some Serosort, But Highly Controversial Topic: "Some men did practice some form of serosorting (seeking partners of the same HIV status) and respondents said that it allowed them to have uninhibited sex where HIV status did not remain the most salient concern throughout. Nonetheless the researchers stress that very few men exclusively practiced serosorting in a way that could guarantee that both partners had the same HIV status. Disclosure was often implicit (by being in a sauna, for example) or was not reciprocal... However, the majority of men actually rejected the idea of serosorting. It was associated in their minds with high-risk, esoteric practices, and in the words of one respondent, men who are “going spreading it round because they are shagging willy-nilly”. Many men were at pains to distance themselves from this behaviour. They were appalled by the idea that unprotected sex could ever be a regular or planned activity, and so rejected serosorting, strategic positioning, withdrawal before ejaculation and other risk-reduction strategies."
7. Many Aspire to Use Condom Everytime -- But Lack Self-Confidence, Skills to Implement Goal: "Nonetheless these same men had all had some unprotected sex. It tended to be described as an exceptional event, explained by circumstances such as substance use or a partner’s insistence. The researchers make it clear that a number of men lacked the self-confidence or negotiation skills to manage such situations. Many men aspired to use a condom every time, but were not able to fall back on risk-reduction strategies when, for whatever reason, condoms weren’t used."
Thus, we need stigma interventions. Now.
(Via Lifelube)
Jon Stewart Skewers CNBCBy on March 5, 2009 2:01 PM | No Comments
Amusing. :)
I'm thrilled that...By on March 4, 2009 6:51 PM | No Comments
I have friends who leave me voicemails to tell me that they just had sex with the security guard of their office building. God bless the gays.
My No Doubt Tickets!!!!By on March 4, 2009 1:31 PM | No Comments
OMG I'm so excited! I just bought two tickets to No Doubt's July 3rd show here in Detroit, MI! So exciting!!!!!!! (PS: if you want to buy now, finding presale codes online is VERY easy....)
I've been listening to the fabulous "Tragic Kingdom" all morning!! Can't wait!! No Doubt was my first concert back when I was... gosh, 14? 15? It was their "Tragic Kingdom" tour, which I think was something like 1997 or something. Sigh. I can't wait!!!
Now I just have to find someone to go with!
Tętu Article on Tops & Bottoms With My InterviewBy on March 4, 2009 4:28 AM | 2 Comments
The French gay magazine Tętu has just published an article on tops and bottoms featuring an interview with your's truly!
In a very sad twist to the story, however, the author -- Sylvain Rouzičres -- tragically committed suicide last week just after the magazine went to press. He was a friend of a friend, which is how I got hooked up for the interview, and I know I'm not alone in saying that he will be missed sorely.
If you can read French, you can download a PDF of the article that I've scanned here. Here's an image of the sections in which I'm quoted. If you can't read French, basically I'm just saying that desire and sexual identities are socially constructed. And no, I don't speak French either. He translated the interview from English to French!
By on March 3, 2009 5:54 PM | 2 Comments
Why are we... from Eric Leven on Vimeo.
Eric sent this to me weeks and weeks ago -- I've been a terrible blogger lately! Sorry, Eric, for the much delayed posting and commentary. I may have hesitated to post it because, though I deeply admire and respect Eric's intentions and labor here, I'm a bit nonplussed by the execution and message of the video. The main message of the video, "After all we've been through / And all we know / Why are we still barebacking each other?" isn't a particularly new line of questioning, and I think not particularly productive.
I guess Eric intends for the viewer to respond with, "Yea, what the fuck?!?!?" But let's get real: the guys who are having unprotected sex and at most risk for contracting HIV wouldn't view this video and reflect critically on those decisions. The reason I think this is true is largely because the video relies on the language of "barebacking," a category which has become so terribly villianized in the media that next to nobody chooses to identity with it. Barebacking as a label has come to be associated with pathological, irrational, and self-destructive gay men. In this way, it's easy to view this video and dissociated yourself from the label and, thus, the message it contains.
In fact, it's almost imperative to dissociate from the category. I've noticed in stories of men who test positive an immediate effort to reconstruct their sexual lives in order to fit a more socially acceptable seroconversion narrative. "Oh, you know, I slipped up and we didn't use a condom." Nevermind the fact that some guys were looking for sex on hookup sites built to facilitate sex without condoms. I'm not saying that they're to blame for doing so -- quite the contrary. Rather, I'm saying that to acknowledge oneself as a barebacker is to acknowledge oneself as a "bad" gay man.
I would also lament that the category / video fails to distinguish between Poz and Neg guys for whom engaging in sex without condoms carries VASTLY different meanings. Indeed, the silver lining of testing positive for many guys is the future of a life without condoms, an ability to relinquish those deep-seated anxieties about seroconversion that many negative guys feel deeply limits their sexual possibilities. Thus, a Poz guy might watch the video and respond with a healthy dose of resentment.
Just some thoughts. On the plus side, Eric really knows how to show sexy gay men getting it on without being overly lewd (which is only good because it allows the video to posted more broadly) or overly sanitized. Despite my reservations, I look forward to seeing more videos from him in the future! He's one of the few guys out there doing this kind of ad-hoc prevention work, and he should be commended for it. So a big hug and thanks to Eric!
What Condom Commercials Could Look Like...By on March 3, 2009 5:52 PM | No Comments
Meant to post this a few weeks ago. It's wonderfully cheeky.
Mobilizing a Community to Action -- Harvey Milk's VisionBy on March 3, 2009 5:28 PM | No Comments
My friend Chris Bartlett sent me a link to this post a few weeks ago, but I'm just getting around to posting the link. Philadelphia's Alex Hillman has done a fabulous job of outlining Harvey Milk's vision for social change, which includes five steps: Inspire, Motivate, Organize, Mobilization, and Repeat! Here's his take on the first step:
1- InspireHarvey’s first step was to take a step at all. Given his groundbreaking goals, making any forward motion was inspiring in itself. He failed at being elected to office, and he failed more than once. His persistence and attitude attracted like-minded movers and shakers. Some of those movers and shakers came with momentum of their own. Others were movers and shakers with potential. Harvey wasn’t discriminating towards either. Anne Kronenberg had prior campaign experience, and was an organizer herself. Others, like Cleve Jones, had less experience with formal community mobilization but Harvey knew that he had potential, and more importantly, knew how and when to put Cleve in opportunities to show that potential.
As a community organizer, your first move to action is to not be alone. Inspire those around you, and gain some critical mass. From that critical mass, identify new blood to continue recruitment and spreading of the message.
Click here to read the rest!!!
Bottoms of Color: We Need to Hear From You!By on March 3, 2009 4:46 PM | No Comments
Consider it a call to arms: While have a plethora of submissions from white bottoms for "The Bottom Monologues," we are desperately in need of some stories from men of color. Black, Latino, Asian (South, East, or any other direction), and Native American men are all currently grossly underrepresented in our sample.
Please: if you know anyone who might be interested in submitting -- or you write for a blog that reaches men of color, or have any other way to get in touch with gay, bisexual, and other men of color who have sex with men -- *please* help spread the word. If you're unfamiliar, here's the 411:
We Need Your Stories The “Bottom Monologues” will be a play based on your stories. That’s right — you can have a hand in the writing of a play about your experiences! We’re hoping to collect submissions from gay, bisexual, queer, and trans men from across the world. We could write our own play without your help, but it wouldn’t reflect the complexity and diversity of experiences that we know are out there. We need your help to make sure that no bottom gets left behind! Submit your story today!Speaking of Butler...What We’ll Do With Your Story
Once we’ve collected the responses, the three of us will sit down and pour over them for a month or two. We’re going to read every word you’ve generously provided us. We’ll be reading for a few things: 1) Similarities that pop up in many of your stories; 2) Major points of conflict or disagreement; 3) And finally, we’ll be hunting for particularly evocative, exciting, or compelling stories.Once we’ve finished reading, we’ll put similar kinds of stories into theoretical blenders and turn the narratives of dozens of men into one “composite character.” You may not find your word-for-word story about that amazing night in Paris’ Le Depot in the final product, but you can rest assured that it has influenced that direction of the project.
Who Should Submit
Anybody who has anything to say about gay/bi/queer/trans bottoms. That includes guys who identify as a top, bottom, versatile, and those who don’t identify at all. We’re even interested in hearing from straight-identified folks! Wherever you are. Whoever you are. And whatever kind of sex you have. We want you!Ready to Submit?
Click here to be connected to the submission form (external link). The form asks a series of six broad questions for your to consider in responding for the project. We hope you find them useful, but if you’ve got better ideas for what to say, don’t hesitate to submit a different kind of story. That’s expected and wanted. If you have questions about the survey or anything else, don’t hesitate to ask!
By on March 3, 2009 4:10 PM | 5 Comments
(click to embiggen)
I'm reading the unbearable Gender Trouble for class this week, and also Martha Nussbaum's wonderful and devastating critique of that work from 2000 (find it here, for free!). Among many of Nussbaum's criticism's is the claim that -- because it lacks a normative theory of justice -- Butler's analysis becomes quite flimsy and void of political potential. Here's a choice quote:
There is a void, then, at the heart of Butler's notion of politics. This void can look liberating, because the reader fills it implicitly with a normative theory of human equality or dignity. But let there be no mistake: for Butler, as for Foucault, subversion is subversion, and it can in principle go in any direction. Indeed, Butler's naively empty politics is especially dangerous for the very causes she holds dear. For every friend of Butler, eager to engage in subversive performances that proclaim the repressiveness of heterosexual gender norms, there are dozens who would like to engage in subversive performances that flout the norms of tax compliance, of non-discrimination, of decent treatment of one's fellow students. To such people we should say, you cannot simply resist as you please, for there are norms of fairness, decency, and dignity that entail that this is bad behavior. But then we have to articulate those norms--and this Butler refuses to do.
She later continues:
Well, parodic performance is not so bad when you are a powerful tenured academic in a liberal university. But here is where Butler's focus on the symbolic, her proud neglect of the material side of life, becomes a fatal blindness. For women who are hungry, illiterate, disenfranchised, beaten, raped, it is not sexy or liberating to reenact, however parodically, the conditions of hunger, illiteracy, disenfranchisement, beating, and rape. Such women prefer food, schools, votes, and the integrity of their bodies. I see no reason to believe that they long sadomasochistically for a return to the bad state. If some individuals cannot live without the sexiness of domination, that seems sad, but it is not really our business. But when a major theorist tells women in desperate conditions that life offers them only bondage, she purveys a cruel lie, and a lie that flatters evil by giving it much more power than it actually has.Fisting, Poetically
By on March 3, 2009 3:27 PM | No Comments
My friend just sent me this lovely poem by gay poet Paul Mariah. Mariah founded Manroot Magazine in San Francisco in 1968, the year this poem was written. He died in 1996, but his poetry lives on. My favorite line: "Now how does it feel / to have a poem / shoved up your ass / the size of a fist." Amazing:
The Figa – Paul Mariah (1968)Queer Theory SoupI want you to know
how it feels
to have a fist
the size of a poem
up your assGet the Vaseline.
This is one finger
And if I angle right
I can get past the knuckle.
Hold still.
This is two fingers
introduce rhythm
finger movements
allow the play to continue
This is three fingers
Keep the rhythm steady
never stop the movement
I want you to feel the size of
This is four fingers
Cupped and the play continues
and I am not going to stop
Lift the left leg higher
This is my thumb
and the movement is steady
the fingers move into
you are closing around my wristNow how does it feel
to have a poem
shoved up your ass
the size of a fistNow I am going to uncup
my palm and make
a scratch on the inside.This was the scene
and I had to get out of bed
to write it
so you would know
the size of it
and now we can go on...
By on March 3, 2009 3:06 PM | No Comments
(click to embiggen)
From the 1992 "Making it Perfectly Queer" Conference. My friend referred me to the photo, posted on David Halperin's Facebook account. Totally amazing!!!! Look at Judith Butler!!!! Clutch those notes, lady!!!
Top row: Terri Geller, David Halperin, Richard Dyer, Robert McRuer, Lisa Duggan
Bottom row: Jennifer Lutman, (not sure?), Natasha Levinson, Cris Mayo, Judith Butler, Kirsten Lentz, Elizabeth Coleman
By on March 3, 2009 2:04 PM | No Comments
“’Knowledge is power’ is perhaps a truer statement than we often realize… Like power, knowledge depends on that agreement of a significant group of people and establishes itself more firmly as their organization grows. And when that organization is of professionals whose knowledge is itself high in the hierarchy, power takes on the further mantle of authority. In such organizations, it is not at all surprising that the articulated hierarchy of ‘kinds’ of people is also replicated. All you need do here is picture a room full of elementary school teachers, and another full of professors of physics. Which group is composed of representatives of the top of the gender/race hierarchy? And yet we are supposed to believe that science is of all fields the most disinterested, neutral, nonpolitical” (161).
-- Minnich, Elizabeth Kamarck. 1990. "Partial Knowledge,’ in Transforming Knowledge. Philadelphia: Temple University Press:147-176.
Guide Magazine Feature of My Work!By on March 2, 2009 1:28 AM | 5 Comments
A few weeks ago, I mentioned that Guide Magazine's Michael Amino interviewed me about my work on Gay Men's Health. They even set up a photo shoot with the lovely Craig Seymour. Well, the article is up! Here's a taste:
Hoppe puts that knowledge to good use. Tens of thousands of people read his blog at trevorhoppe.com. Last year, he published Beyond Masculinity: Essays by Queer Men on Gender and Politics, part audio book, part blog, and part anthology -- all online and all free.He describes his newest project, The Bottom Monologues, as a "stigma intervention." He has collected stories online about bottoming to be part of a future performance.
"As a bottom myself," he says, "I understand that many gay men want me to feel bad about that."
The stories included in The Bottom Monologues are about creating a method for discussion that's fun and exciting and able to reach a number of people who might not otherwise be open to frank discussions of sexuality.
His academic work fuels this dialogue. The gay men's health movement, he says, offers a unique combination of activism, politics, and academic research. He is simultaneously working on a paper for an academic journal about "bottom identity" and how public health messages affect sexual behavior.
Click here to read the rest!!!!!
Click here to read the rest!!!!!
Click here to read the rest!!!!!
By on March 2, 2009 1:05 AM | No Comments
No, it's not Christmas just yet. But the dryer in my building is apparently broken -- unbeknownst to me when I threw my clothes in the wash. So I'm stuck with this solution: hanging my socks on my bookshelf. Oy vey. Thought it was kind of funny. Enjoy! Happy Mondays!
"You're Gonna Love My Nuts"By on March 1, 2009 9:24 PM | No Comments
Unintentionally hilarious.