Sex, Power, and Politics Blog

This blog appears to coincide nicely with what I assume we’ll be talking about at some point in time. Not only does it offer a domestic perspective on politics, but also abroad in places where women have made more progress than here, or less.

http://wandpamerican.blogspot.com/

eTransgender.com is a blog site specifically designed to inform and support Transgender and Transexual people and Allies. It allows people to discuss hot issues and stories on Transgender through blogging. eTransgender.com posts articles on Fashion and Gossip, Advice and Guidance, and also recent News and Politics. It also offers a link to Medical and Science articles dealing with the scientific aspect of Transgenderism. It presents articles to help with legal situations and references for help. A unique aspect to eTransgender.com is that is also provides articles and blogs on the History and Theology of Transgenderism. This blog is relevant to POL 285: Sex, Power and Politics because it deals heavily with gender and identity. It discusses recent news articles and blogs from short hair, to hormone shots, to Transgender in the Bible. There is also a debate club question that deals with Transgender and Transexual issues.

http://etransgender.com/

The blog I found is the P.A.P-blog. This blog as a whole focuses on human rights issues. This particular blog centers on the gendercide that seems to be occurring in Asian countries like China and India. The gap between the two genders has been widening in the last 30 years, because of gendercide.  Due to the advance of ultrasounds, expectant parents have the ability to know the gender of their child prior to birth, enabling them to decide whether or not to continue with the pregnancy or to abort the fetus. This blog pertains to our class because gendercide implies that one gender is more important than another. In this case, males are more important to society than females.

http://www.guttmacher.org/statecenter/spibs/index.html

This website is a great resource to find recent administrative, legislative, and judicial actions relating to the topics of abortion, adolescents, contraception, and pregnancy. There are several fact sheets relating to these issues, and the information is updated monthly by the Guttmacher Institute’s policy analysts. The fact sheets contain various tables explaining the different policies between states, and is extemely useful to compare different policies within the country. Along with tables and clear headings to research the topic of interest, there are several other sites cited if further information is desired by the reader.

The purpose of the site is to “Advance sexual and reproductive health worldwide through research, policy analysis, and public education,” which relates well to a few of the topics we are discussing in this course. The policies and recent action that has occured will be useful for our class to learn about since many of these topics are controversial political issues.

This website allows you to learn all about being a gay teen, it offers support, advice, and information on all the things a gay teen may encounter. This site applies to Sex, Power, and Politics, as we discuss themes such as age, sexuality, and what people under the age of 18 have for rights.

http://gayteens.about.com/

http://www.doublex.com/

Double X is a website for women that addresses almost every part of life. It features articles about news, life, entertainment, and health, plus blogs and videos. The articles range from serious issues such as opinions on what Obama should do about healthcare to the international spin-offs of “America’s Next Top Model”. The website provides a nice balance between news and fun. Another plus of the website is its interactivity. Visitors can participate in polls and forums. The site also provides links to other sites that address gender issues. Double X seems to appeal to many age groups with information relevant to teens, moms, and working women.

Another important point – the website seems legitimate, well-researched, and updated frequently. It has a 12 person staff that seems interactive with the users (and you can add them on facebook!) Finally, the site seems dedicated to providing humor to subjects that can sometimes be a little depressing.

This website covers a variety of issues women go through. The topic for today was ’empty nest syndrome’ and dealing with kids going off to college. It has articles about body image, many on abortion, sex, pregnancy, relationships with men, violence, contraception, etc. These issues touch every woman. Our class is all about how women and politics intermingle, and this website covers some hot button issues in the media and in the world today.

http://womensissues.about.com/

Queer Justice: Nolo’s LGBT Law Blog discusses gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender related news. On it are posts covering such issues as gay marriage, adoption, civil rights, law and legislation, and Federal LGBT policy. The blog also has a long list of related links that may be helpful for further research.  This blog relates to Sex, Power, and Politics because it brings laws, current events, and politics relating to LGBT community to light.

Emily Doskow is the main contributor to the site and is a practicing attorney and mediator in the Bay Area (near San Fransisco, CA). Doskow reports current events accurately; however, she does often slip in her own personal opinion and comments on whatever matter is being discussed, offering questions at times for the reader to contemplate. Doskow has also written a number of books, including her recently coauthored book, Making it Legal: A Guide to Same-Sex Marriage, Domestic Partnership & Civil Unions.

http://www.queerjustice.com/

The website that I encounter was an online magazine called Suite101.  This magazine posts over 400 different topics.  The article that I read was in the Gender Inequality section.  This article talked about the differences between female and male circumcision practices.  Females are treated by uneducated and unspecialized individuals who remove the womyn’s entire genitalia area; leaving womyn without the satisfaction to feel pleasure during intercourse.  This website’s main goal is to give people a chance to say how they feel about certain topics, especially those about gender inequality.

This website is clearly relatable to our course because though it gives importance to many topics, it emphasizes in politics and society.  Our class in part focuses on the legal aspects of daily life; as well as how our gender and society play a role in those aspects.  Suite101 expresses through a variety of topics the differences in the treatment of a person due to gender that many societies have.

http://womensrights.suite101.com/article.cfm/male_and_female_circumcision_basics

The Equal Rights Trust is a non-governmental actor that is independent from any particular political identity or country.  Not only does this organization address the pressing discrimination issues within the United States, but it additionally has an international focus that emcompasses all the regions of the world where social justice is lacking.  The ERT actively supports the idea that social and political equality are natural, irrevocable human rights.  It takes a legal position in the matter by helping to enforce antidiscrimination laws and holding both governments and non-state actors accountable.

This site has links to the Universal Declaration on Human Rights and also offers various publications including “country overviews” regarding different states’ antidiscrimination laws and policies.  One is also able to find many current events newspaper articles related to the political and social struggle our wold is making towards greater equality.  The ERT homepage will provide information on a variety of important themes that we will discuss in SPP.

http://www.equalrightstrust.org/about-ert/index.htm