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gender roles

Pre-Packaging Gender Roles: Abstinence-Only Programs Perpetuate Dangerous Stereotypes

By Martha Kempner, SIECUS

November 5, 2009 - 10:20am

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The notion that men and women sure are different is at the center of best-selling books, at least one Broadway play, and pretty much all episodes of “Everybody Love Raymond.” But as much as it can be mined for humor, it can also be pretty damaging. While there is some truth to the whole “men are from Mars women are from Venus” kind of thinking, the solution isn’t, as ab-only programs would have us believe, to accept these behaviors as innate and unchangeable and let either sex (though let’s face it, mostly men) behave badly as result. Instead students should be asked to question the nature, validity, and origin of these gender stereotypes, and to explore how stereotypes affect communication within friendships and sexual relationships.

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You Can't Keep the Lid On Forever: A Mad Men Salon

By Amanda Marcotte, RH Reality Check

August 20, 2009 - 7:00am

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"Mad Men" is all about the hard truths, and the hard truth is that being a woman forging her own path in the early 60s was very lonely indeed.

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Women or Objects? A "Mad Men" Salon

By Amanda Marcotte, RH Reality Check

August 13, 2009 - 7:00am

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True, second wave feminists didn't burn their bras--or their girdles or their garters--but "Mad Men" suggests that they probably should have.

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Nostalgia for Those Louts: A "Mad Men" Salon

By Sarah Seltzer, RH Reality Check

August 12, 2009 - 7:00am

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Astute and unflinching examination of gender politics has proved to be the secret of the rise of "Mad Men" in popular culture. RH Reality Check is hosting a salon on the program.

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Men Are From Apatow-Land, Women Are From Venus

By Sarah Seltzer, RH Reality Check

August 7, 2009 - 7:00am

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In "Funny People," men are always from Mars and women from Venus--and the central question is how Mars should gently approach Venus despite his libidinous need to fornicate with her.

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Why Same-Sex Marriage Isn't (Is) A Threat to Heterosexual Marriage

By Amanda Marcotte, RH Reality Check

June 18, 2008 - 7:00am

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Same-sex couples might be able to teach straight couples a thing or two about egalitarian relationships. And that's the precise threat to traditional marriage social conservatives are afraid of.

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