Most bizarre sex-ed game ever

The Middlesex-London Health Unit in Ontario decided it needed a new way to reach high schoolers when it comes to sex education. And what do teenagers like more than video games? The result is quite possibly the most bizarre game ever, Adventures in Sex City.

Sounds awesome, right?! The game is just a True or False quiz about various sex facts. That part of the game is actually pretty good; it covers a lot of common misconceptions people have. But that’s not the strange part. Let’s meet the characters you get so select from the Sex Squad:

  • Wonder Vag “is a virgin, believes in true love and promotes abstinence until marriage.” She’s also a stereotypical blonde white girl.
  • Willy the Kid “was bullied as a child because he never grew taller tjem 4 feet, and is now sensitive to others who are different. He joined Sex Squad to prove size doesn’t matter.” Except that he’s drawn with a giant bulging package, and is black. Totally not stereotypical. Oh, and apparently his special power is “massive rock hard strength.” What?
  • Power Pap “is sexually active and is a strong believer in getting tested regularly. After a close encounter with a horrible STI, she was treated and now dedicates her life to testing and pap tests.” She also looks Latino to me, but I’m going to assume I’m looking way too into this and it’s not some message about race and sexual activity.
  • Captain Condom “was a scientist who constantly worked in his lab to create the perfect condom. Due to a freak accident, he is now half condom half man.” Oh scientists. What’s his special power, he likes people ejaculating inside of him?

But cheesy superheroes isn’t the bad part. “In the dark of the night, Sex City is in panic because of the terrible Sperminator whose sole mission is to infect all citizens with various sexually transmitted infections.” Gem over at Startled Disbelief has to best summary of this super villain:

The Sperminator is “a flying burly white guy in a Speedo and Mexican wrestling mask, with two giant penises for arms.”…The Sperminator spews STI-infected sperm onto your character, causing your character to utter phrases such as “Eww, that’s sticky!” or “Aagh, right in the face!”

While I still feel a bit confused after playing the game, I think Gem has a good point:

“That said, this isn’t really a game. It’s a true-or-false sex-ed exam with a really bizarre hook. I’m sure that’s the point: the designers want it to be so over-the-top ridiculous that people are clamouring to play it even though it’s a terrible game—and in playing it, these people might actually learn something. As terrible as the game is, I’m convinced that it will likely accomplish its goal.”

The only thing the worries me is the way they portray the Sperminator. I know it’s a silly game, but should we really be labeling people with STI’s as evil, horrible people who are purposefully going around trying to infect others? People with incurable STIs are still able to have loving relationships.

Anyway, appropriate advice for Valentine’s Day: don’t be a fool, wrap your tool. And go play that silly game.

10 Most Sexist Super Bowl Ads

EDIT: I’ll put this disclaimer up top, since I think no one is actually reading my comments. I realize that sexist advertising does work, but I’m disappointed that it does. These ads stereotype men just as badly, if not worse than they stereotype women. I’m not sure why all you guys are raging at me so much since I’m on your side. Now if you’ll excuse me, apparently I have to go prepare to tear off some testicles and shave my head or something (thank you, commenters, for proving my point).

There was so much buzz about the Tim Tebow/Focus on the Family Super Bowl ad that it ended up being kind of anticlimactic. I’m fairly apathetic about football; I’m one of those people who dutifully watches all of the commercials and then leaves the room when the actual game is on. But Jesus Christ – are Super Bowl ads always this sexist or have I just not been paying attention?

This year was so bad that it was hard to narrow them down to ten. But here’s a showcase of what I consider the 10 most sexist ads from the 2010 Super Bowl:

10.

Motorola – Megan Fox | Viral/Other | SPIKE.com
Hurrrrr Megan Fox in a bubble bath. Everyone ogles her and/or frantically masturbates. That has everything to do with a cell phone.

9.

Bridgestone – Wife or Life? | Viral/Other | SPIKE.com
Ha. He loves the tires on his car more than his wife. That’s funny, right? …Right?

8.

Bud Light – Lost Parody | Viral/Other | SPIKE.com
You know, I think this commercial is actually meta-sexist. It’s actually showing how fucking annoying it is to have men totally disregard your opinions because you’re a woman. Too bad Budweiser fails to recognize this in nearly all of their other commercials.

7.

E*TRADE – Babies and the Ladies | Viral/Other | SPIKE.com
Apparently even babies have stereotypical hyper-jealous girlfriends.

6.

Dove – Life Cycle Song | Viral/Other | SPIKE.com
Men are the ones who are strong and brave and have to do random silly crap for their obligatory wife, right? I didn’t realize Dove was originally just for women, but apparently I’m just not manly enough to recognize that.

5.

GoDaddy.com – Danica Patrick at Spa | Viral/Other | SPIKE.com
Yep, because two stereotypically hot women talking to each other sexily while one rips her clothes off has everything to do with web hosting. Not to mention it totally reduced Danica Patrick to nothing but a hot babe. I’m not a NASCAR fan, but it’s quite an accomplishment to be the first woman to win an Indy car race. Apparently that doesn’t matter when you have boobs.

4.

GoDaddy.com – News | Viral/Other | SPIKE.com
…Ditto.

3.

Dodge – Promise to my Wife | Viral/Other | SPIKE.com
God, women. They’re just so bitchy and demanding. They all make men do such tedious things like basic hygiene, and never, ever, ever have to do what her partner wants. I mean, psshhh, what relationships feature compromise? Instead you must assert that you want a fancy, manly car that obviously no woman would also want!

2.

FloTV – Spine Removal | Viral/Other | SPIKE.com
All men like sports. All women like shopping. Men who do not conform to these strict gender roles are whipped, spineless, and girly, therefor buy our product. …Uh, what?

1.

Bud Light – Book Club | Viral/Other | SPIKE.com
You know, I don’t know if women or men should be more annoyed by these commercials. At least my gender is being portrayed as the one who is trying to engage in thoughtful intellectual conversation. Men? Yep, you’re just all beer, sexually innuendo, and douche baggery. The problem is we’re supposed to see this sort of behavior as humorous – I mean, who would want to go to a book club?! Anyone with a Y chromosome must sympathize with that dude, and run out and buy some Bud Light. Oh, and women? Eh, they’re probably too busy drinking wine coolers or something, no need to advertise toward them.

I know there are probably going to be people who will say I’m taking this far too seriously. But you know what? These types of commercials are fucking annoying. It has become the norm to make fun of women as jealous, domineering, wet blankets whose goal in life is to whip men into submission and ensure they never ever have fun. We’re supposed to laugh at these and go, “Ha, his girlfriend is a bitch. Amen brother.” Why do people want to condone this?

Not only does it stereotype both men and women, but it effectively ignores women as consumers. These are targeted towards men, because obviously the Super Bowl is so pumped full of testosterone that anyone with a uterus runs away from all TVs screaming in fear. If it’s not a joke about a stupid girlfriend, it’s something pink and flowery that somehow assumes I want to lose weight.* Can’t we just…I don’t know, have gender neutral ads when gender neutral products are being advertised?

Sigh, I give up for now. I guess I’ll go paint my toenails and emotionally manipulate some men before I go to bed.

*If you haven’t done so already, you must go watch Sarah Haskins’ Target Women series on advertisement towards women. She’s hilarious, but the commercials are kind of depressing.

Greta Christina on Atheism & Sexuality (with video)

Greta Christina‘s talk at Purdue last night was awesome! We had about 80 people in attendance, which I consider a great success, especially because 1) it was snowing pretty good and 2) that’s more than IU had even with good weather (neener neener, insert silly disparaging remarks about our rival here). Thankfully you don’t have to take my word for it, because we have it on video*.

My favorite bits:

– Her Broccoli Analogy against emotivism
– Sex connecting us to our tetrapod cousins
– Her closing remarks about porn and other media

Yeah, now you have to watch it, don’t you? It’s long but worth it. (podcast?)

I actually think one of the best parts was the Q&A at the end, because it really showcased Greta’s talents. She’s prepared to answer pretty much any question about atheism, and she can do so in a concise, punchy, memorable matter. This was especially important for the couple “questions” that were really people (probably philosophy students) pontificating for 20 minutes about some theological concept against atheism that didn’t relate to the topic at all. While my response probably would have been a short “Irrelevant, moving on,” Greta replied intelligently just as quickly.

The drive home was probably the most interesting part of the night for me. The weather was pretty crummy, so a two hour drive to Chicago took three, and I think I counted 5 cars in ditches along I-65. Hooray for snow! But talking with Greta for three hours was a special pleasure – I should have been taping that, since it was effectively the Extended Edition of her lecture (featuring Jen McCreight). We discussed everything from our annoyance of feminists who reject science, to why she totally needs to get a Twitter account, to why the hell there are so many billboards for adult stores and strip clubs in conservative Indiana (backlash? truckers? Illinois laws? Anyone have a better hypothesis?)

I’ve heard nothing but happy reviews from other Purdue students – thank you so much for coming, Greta!
Secretary, Treasurer, Greta, and President. Who says there aren’t any female atheists?!

*Yes, I know the audio has some annoying background hum. If anyone out there is savvy with audio editing, let me know and I can send you the mp3 file.

Don’t forget: Greta Christina at Purdue tomorrow!

If you’re anywhere near West Lafayette, IN, you should totally come to Greta Christina‘s talk tomorrow!More information is available at the Facebook event. It should be a lot of fun. Greta is one of my favorite bloggers, so I’m personally pretty excited to meet her. And seriously, what’s more interesting than religion and sex?! I need to think of some questions to ask her. Maybe we’ll even solve the age old conundrum of what atheists cry out during sex.
I’m lucky enough to get Greta to myself for a couple of hours as I drive her to Chicago after the event. Of course, apparently there’s going to be a snow storm tomorrow, complete with sleet and icy rain. Sheesh, can’t I drive atheist bloggers around without some sort of drama? God must be smiting us.

Don't forget: Greta Christina at Purdue tomorrow!

If you’re anywhere near West Lafayette, IN, you should totally come to Greta Christina‘s talk tomorrow!More information is available at the Facebook event. It should be a lot of fun. Greta is one of my favorite bloggers, so I’m personally pretty excited to meet her. And seriously, what’s more interesting than religion and sex?! I need to think of some questions to ask her. Maybe we’ll even solve the age old conundrum of what atheists cry out during sex.
I’m lucky enough to get Greta to myself for a couple of hours as I drive her to Chicago after the event. Of course, apparently there’s going to be a snow storm tomorrow, complete with sleet and icy rain. Sheesh, can’t I drive atheist bloggers around without some sort of drama? God must be smiting us.

Friday Feminist Roundup

No, I don’t plan on making this a weekly tradition – I’m not organized enough to have required themes for certain days. I just have a bunch of feminism related articles that I’ve accumulated throughout a busy week, and I figure I’d dump them all at once.

  • Australia bans porn containing female ejaculation and small breasts. Why? Apparently they think female ejaculation is just urination and fake body fluids. Yeah, not sure how it can be both. And the small boobies? Apparently if you’re an A cup, that’s too close to pedophilia. Thank you Australia, as if women weren’t insecure enough about their bust size, now a huge group is too creepy to think about sexually because they’re not womanly enough. Awesome.
  • School district pulls Diary of Anne Frank because Anne, a developing young woman, dared to talk about vaginas. Apparently female genitalia is the most horrifying aspect of the book, not the fact that she was forced to live in hiding from fear of death and then later died in a concentration camp. Overprotective parents are awesome.
  • In case games for girls weren’t mollifying enough, you can now get a Ouija board in pink! Because apparently the gender neutral versions don’t channel ghosts who can answer girl specific questions like “Who will call you next?” and “Will you be famous?” Come on, we all know girls only care about talking on the phone, becoming the next Paris Hilton, and pink woo bullshit.
  • Being attractive and feminine in the sciences isn’t easy. Go read about this chemist who also happened to be an NFL cheerleader, and the stereotypes she faced along the way. I actually think being more of a tomboy has helped me avoid negative stereotypes – which isn’t necessarily a good thing.

School bans the dictionary because it’s too sexual

We can stop worrying about Harry Potter, Catcher in the Rye, and The Perks of Being a Wallflower when it comes to banning books. Folks, we have bigger fish to fry: Merriam Webster’s Dictionary.

After a parent complained about an elementary school student stumbling across “oral sex” in a classroom dictionary, Menifee Union School District officials decided to pull Merriam Webster’s 10th edition from all school shelves earlier this week.

School officials will review the dictionary to decide if it should be permanently banned because of the “sexually graphic” entry, said district spokeswoman Betti Cadmus. The dictionaries were initially purchased a few years ago for fourth- and fifth-grade classrooms districtwide, according to a memo to the superintendent.

“It’s just not age appropriate,” said Cadmus, adding that this is the first time a book has been removed from classrooms throughout the district.

…Really? The dictionary is now corrupting our youth? Give me a break. First of all, how many kids sit down with the goal of reading the entire dictionary and will accidentally stumble upon a naughty word? Or more importantly, who fucking cares if they do? Heaven forbid if parents have to explain things to their children. Are we going to require gender specific dictionaries now, so little girls can’t accidentally find the word “penis”?

There are already plenty of fifth graders who know stuff about sex. The dictionary seems like a fairly benign source of information when you consider where else they’re hearing things from – or not hearing things from, which is often the most dangerous scenario. I was in 5th grade during the Monica Lewinsky scandal, so I quickly learned what oral sex was. Did I immediately run out and start sucking dick? Of course not.

Thankfully some of the parents in that town are rational human beings, so hopefully the dictionary won’t remain banned:

“Censorship in the schools, really? Pretty soon the only dictionary in the school library will be the Bert and Ernie dictionary,” said Emanuel Chavez, the parent of second- and sixth-grade students. “If the kids are exposed to it, it’s up to the parents to explain it to them at their level.”

I dunno. Bert and Ernie are two dudes living together. That may be a bit to homoerotic for small children to handle.

Greta Christina to speak at Purdue on Atheism & Sexuality

You want to know a perk of being President of an atheist club? You have a lot of say over what speakers get invited to your school. We’ve already had Hemant Mehta and PZ Myers speak here, and when I saw that Greta Christina was added to the Secular Student Alliance’s speaker bureau, I knew I had to snatch her up! And I’m happy to announce that my Favorite Atheist Blogger Trifecta will be completed, and you’re invited to see Greta speak at Purdue:

Atheism & Sexuality

Friday, Feb 5th
5:30 – 7:00 PM
WTHR 172, Oval Dr.
West Lafayette, IN

One hour lecture by Greta Christina with time for Q&A, free and open to the public

The sexual morality of traditional religion tends to be based, not on solid ethical principles, but on a set of taboos about what kinds of sex God does and doesn’t want people to have. And while the sex-positive community offers a more thoughtful view of sexual morality, it still often frames sexuality as positive by seeing it as a spiritual experience. What are some atheist alternatives to these views? How can atheists view sexual ethics without a belief in God? And how can atheists view sexual transcendence without a belief in the supernatural?

Sponsored by the Society of Non-Theists and the Queer Student Union

If you’re in the West Lafayette area, you should definitely come (and RSVP on Facebook)! Though if you’re closer to Indiana University in Bloomington, Greta will be speaking there the night before – keep watching the Secular Alliance of IU’s website for more information.

I’m happy to be hosting a great reply to that Porn and Popcorn nonsense that happened last semester!

Religiosity as a mating strategy

A new study out of Arizona State University has some interesting findings on people’s self described religiosity as a mating strategy:

To probe the relationship between sex and God more explicitly, Kenrick and colleague Yexin Jessica Li presented hundreds of students at their university with dating profiles of highly attractive men or women, then probed them about their religious beliefs. A control group of 1500 students merely filled out the religion survey.

Men and women who looked at attractive members of the same sex reported stronger religious feelings than those who checked out prospective mates or just filled in the survey. They were more likely to say “I believe in God” and “We’d be better off if religion played a bigger role in people’s lives.”

“It’s an interesting and surprising phenomenon,” says Kenrick, who speculates that people ramp up their belief in a system that tends to enforce monogamy when they’re confronted with fierce sexual competition.

This correlation is interesting, but I think you have to be careful on how to interpret the results. It’s not saying that being religious makes someone a better mate or more faithful. Rather, these people think that others will view high religiosity more favorably. Religious people generally see religiosity as a “good” trait, so they may exaggerate their beliefs when in a competitive environment.

For some anecdotal evidence, I know I did this when I was trying to woo a Lutheran in high school. I was still agnostic then, but I would ramp it up to vague philosophical deist around him. I wasn’t purposefully trying to deceive him; it was subconscious. But it worked – we ended up dating for nine months.

If you had a bunch of nonbelievers competing for a mate, we may have the exact opposite effect – we’d exaggerate our skeptical thinking because we see that as a “good” trait to have. We may be extra careful about saying something superstitious or making emotional arguments. Or if I was wooing a vegetarian, I probably wouldn’t order a steak for dinner and wear a fur coat. It’s human nature to modify your behavior in order to make others happy or find a mate, and this study illustrates that religious belief is no different – a behavior subconsciously used to suit your needs in social situations, not necessarily something you believe in for its truth.

Is your vagina pink enough?!

Oh goodie! Just when I thought society was starting to run out of ways to make women shameful about their bodies, we get My New Pink Button, “a temporary dye to restore the youthful pink color back to your labia.” I can’t make this shit up, people.As if women didn’t already have seventy billion “beauty products” marketed to them as necessary essentials, now we have to worry about the color of our fucking vaginas? If a guy complained to me that my vagina wasn’t pink enough, I wouldn’t have to buy this product because that guy would not be seeing my vagina again any time soon.

I’m not going to stop women from wearing make up, using creams, attempting bizarre diets, or dying their vagina. Whatever, that’s your choice – even I enjoy getting dolled up once in a blue moon. But feeling beautiful is different from being shamed into body modification. Not only are we adding insecurities, but it’s simply a waste of money. One jar is $29.95 and contains 20 uses, each which last up to 72 hours. If somebody is seeing your vagina frequently enough that you need it pinkified every day, minus a week each month for a period let’s say, you’ll spend about $140 on this stuff a year. I’m sorry, but I have better things to do with my money.

At least they give you options, though. You can choose from four shades of pink, cutely named Marilyn, Bettie, Audry, and Ginger, the last one specifically made for “Women of Color.” …Yeah, I don’t need to say any more, do I?

(Via Womanist Musings)