SweetTalk on the Spot

2013 Brings In The Most Diverse Congress Yet

Wednesday, January 9, 2013 by SweetTalk on the Spot

Illustration by Cecilia Salama

The 113^th Congress, sworn in last Thursday, calls for a celebration, as a record number of women and racial minority members were elected.

In total, the Congress now includes:

101 women, including 20 in the Senate alone
43 African-Americans
31 Latinos
12 Asian-Americans
7 openly gay or bisexual members

This year’s Congress also includes the first Buddhist to join the Senate, as well as the first Hindu and the first openly bisexual woman in the House. The House Democrats also became the first caucus in the history of either chamber not to have a majority of white men.

However, this year there were 19 states that did not elect any new women to the House of Representatives, and all of those states (except Alaska, Louisiana, Nebraska, and North Dakota) are without any female Senate representation.

Even so, New Hampshire became the first delegation to exclusively send women representatives into the House and Senate. For the first time in history, women control 20% of the US legislative branch. This is a great achievement for all American women.

Yeah Girl Power!!

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Yoko Ono’s Oh No She Di-Int !

Friday, January 4, 2013 by SweetTalk on the Spot

I got a big giggle out of Yoko Ono’s new clothes collection now being sold in Opening Ceremony: Yoko Ono’s Fashions for Men.

Inspired by John Lennon’s “sexy bod” (her words), I found, amongst other things, mesh tank tops, bum cut-outs, hands printed on crotches in contrasting colors, as well as man bras and jock straps with flashing LED lights. Each piece ranges from $75-$750.

Yoko Ono, known for her eccentricities and feminist-thinking, is no stranger to cutting clothes. Her famous “Cut Piece” is an international stand against gender subordination, voyeurism and the violation of a woman’s personal space, sexual aggression, and all other forms of violence against women.

The piece entails a single performer sitting on a stage with a pair of scissors in front of her. Members of the audience are then invited one at a time to cut a small piece of the performer’s clothing to keep. The performer remains motionless throughout the piece, and it ends at the performer’s discretion. The Buddha, who gave up his life of privilege, inspired Ono. She would wear her “best suit” to each performance, and as her wardrobe gradually diminished, her performances also brought to light a notion of self-sacrifice.

So, what does this mean about her latest collab with Opening Ceremony? Is she turning the objectification of women back onto men? Is she making a statement about how absurd it is for women to dress as we do to attract males? Is she making a statement for world peace?

Maybe… or maybe she’s just having a bit of fun. Go Yoko!!

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United Nations Announces Global Ban on FGM

Tuesday, December 4, 2012 by SweetTalk on the Spot

Illustration by Cecilia Salama

On Monday, November 26th, we had more to celebrate than some closeted online shopping for Cyber Monday. U.N. General Assembly’s human rights committee approved a resolution to globally ban female genital mutilation.

Female genital mutilation, or FGM, involves the removal of a woman’s clitoris and sometimes also other genital parts, and it is usually done in early adolescence. It can lead to infection, death, painful sexual intercourse, complications in childbirth. It is a mechanism used to control women’s sexuality, as it eliminates any pleasure for women during sex, either because it is required by religion, or to “enhance fertility”.

With 110 sponsors, the resolution is almost certain to be approved in mid-December by the full General Assembly. Although not legally binding, U.N. assembly resolutions carry great moral and political weight.

According to the U.N. around 70 million girls and women had undergone the procedure in 2010, and the World Health Organization declared that around 6,000 girls were circumcised every day. 96% of Somalian women have endured FGM before it was recently banned by the Somalian government in August.

It is a common procedure in 28 countries within Africa as well as in Yemen, Iraq, Malaysia, Indonesia and among certain ethnic groups in South America, but it is perceived as a world-wide problem because it is also practiced by diaspora communities.

Some people who are Pro-FGM argue that it is hypocritical to allow vaginal rejuvenation surgery to be performed, which is portrayed on television to be socially acceptable, but which in fact has very similar side effects to FGM, especially those in regards to childbirth complications. Although some vaginal cosmetic surgeries may enhance a person’s quality of life, such as female circumcision reversal, it does work under the same premise, that there is something wrong with a woman’s body that only a knife can fix.

Others argue that it is unfair to allow male circumcision, also a religious tradition that started thousands of years ago, but not female. The impact on sexual health and function is much more insignificant than that of female circumcision, however. It is also interesting to note that earlier this summer San Francisco’s municipal ballot would have included a measure to ban circumcision of males under the age of eighteen. Oh California, always on the cutting edge. Or in this case, not on the cutting edge?

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The Big B

Friday, November 30, 2012 by SweetTalk on the Spot

Illustration by Cecilia Salama

On the night of the presidential election last week, millions of people celebrated a victory that will again mark history, yet many people may not know that something else was voted into power that night- MEASURE B, a controversial law that will affect the adult film industry in California.

WHAT IT IS
While condom use on porn sets is already required under California laws, it has hardly been enforced. Measure B will enforce condom use as well as government inspections of film sets and actors, studios to apply and pay for public health permits, and producers to undergo training on blood-born pathogens.

WHY IT’S CONTROVERSIAL
People Pro-B hope that this law will prevent the spread of STDs, which are rampant in the adult entertainment industry yet hardly spoken about. This is especially relevant what with the recent outbreak of syphilis in California. This spread of STDs reaches far further than just within the adult entertainment industry, as younger generations who watch porn are being brought up to believe that good sex is sex without a condom. But if we let this same line of thought continue, does it make sense to force television shows with sex scenes to always portray sex with a condom?

Some porn actors view that enforcing condom use on actors is a breach of the First Amendment, and that inspection of genitalia on set by government employees seems like an invasion of privacy. And, actors are already required to undergo STD testing every fourteen to twenty-eight days.

THE OUTCOME?
Measure B will take several months to enforce, and producers either will try to fly under the radar or move productions out of LA. New location possibilities include Miami, Arizona, Mexico, and Europe. While cities like Miami aim to benefit economically, Phoenix and the rest of Arizona are wary of an increase in STDs and sex trafficking.

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