Sex Positive

Despite a commonly held belief that LGBT Americans tend to live it up in classy urban neighborhoods, they struggle with disproportionately high levels of poverty compared to straight people.

What's up with the way that the media portrays menstruation? If all you knew about periods came from what you see on TV and in magazines, you'd think they're either hilarious or terrifying. Watch Kat Lazo in this video where she discusses why this misrepresentation is dangerous for us if it causes embarrassment and uneasiness to the point of wanting to hide menstruation.

If television is a reflection of society, then a study of two programs on cable TV by a New Mexico State University researcher may help to expand how women's sexuality is viewed in the United States. Kassia Wosick, assistant professor of sociology in the College of Arts and Sciences, recently shared her findings at the Pacific Sociological Association annual conference in Reno, Nev.

At the heart of Wosick's research are two television series that depict women who pay for sex. Wosick, along with one graduate student and two undergraduates, are using content analysis and focus groups to study HBO's "Hung," a scripted production, and ShowTime's "Gigolos," a reality-based series.

..."People have a tendency to dismiss sex research," Wosick said. "They have a tendency to relegate it to biological or physiological, and the sociologist has so much to say about sexuality in general. And partly why my research is so timely and important is that it really brings together traditional discourses with more contemporary discourses in terms of sexuality, the body, pleasure and desire."

Wosick's research involves investigating women's sexual consumerism using the two TV shows. She is looking at how women consume sex-related materials and services in an industry that is traditionally targeted toward men. Wosick is gathering data about women as consumers of pornography, erotic materials, sexual experiences, and also male-focused services such as strip clubs.

Much is written on the effects of porn and female body image. Some complain fearfully of men who will, upon viewing porn, expect all women to have those bodies; others that women themselves fall into this trap and try to emulate such unrealistic things with their own bodies. Of course, these accusations and reservations aren't only reserved for pornographic materials, but magazines, television, any media.

And while you may think that I'm going to rant about how stupid this is, how silly it is to believe that people will be so affected by these images that they'd let ~ no force ~ them to be their realities, I'm not.