politics

Hip Mama

An online parenting webzine "bursting with political commentary and ribald tales from the front lines of motherhood" with blog entries, links to stories, recipes, news, chat and more.

From OW! to WOW! Demystifying Painful Intercourse

At least once every couple of days, someone posts or writes into Scarleteen reporting that vaginal entry -- usually intercourse or manual vaginal sex, and usually (but not always) with male partners -- is painful, uncomfortable, or unfulfilling for them. Whatever sort of vaginal entry we're talking about -- with fingers, a penis or a dildo, with partners of any gender -- not only doesn't have to be painful, it really shouldn't be. More than that, any kind of sex shouldn't be about a lack of pain, but about the presence of pleasure.

What? Bush nominates someone who'll support the extreme right to the Supreme Court?

I don't believe it! Who saw it coming? How could this happen?

(Yeah, I'm no more convincing with playacting than the administration is.)

In a completely unsurprising turn of events, following Bush's failed (though one has to wonder if it wasn't supposed to) attempt to bring the conservative-but-not-conservative-enough Gidget-esque Bush loyalist Harriet Miers into the O'Connor's Supreme Court seat, Bush has now brought in a candidate who Pat Robertson calls "a grand-slam home run."

A Calm View from the Eye of the Storm: Hysteria, Youth and Sexuality

When we look in the mirror as a culture, our tendency toward hysteria always seems to hover in our communal blind spot. We’re not very good at seeing when groups with a political or social agenda are manipulating us with fear, often the unreasonable, irrational fear of the taboo.

The Bees and...the Bees: A Homosexuality and Bisexuality Primer

Many teens have a lot of questions when it comes to homosexuality and bisexuality. In a culture that is often so damning of orientation and sexual identity outside heterosexuality, many teens become nervous when they feel attracted to those of the same sex, worried that they might be gay. Others suspect (or are even very sure) that they are homosexual or bisexual, but are afraid to say so either because they aren't completely sure and feel they will be branded in some way, or simply because they fear being rejected, outcast or scolded by their friends, family or community. While at least 8 million people in the United States are homosexual, about 70 million people still think it is an "illness" or "perversion."

Looking, Lusting and Learning: A Straightforward Look at Pornography

What IS pornography? Why do people use it? Should I like it or not?

Abortion: One Woman's Story

When I was 16, due to a very irresponsible pairing of an impetuous one-night stand and a few days of partying, I woke up one morning to discover I had mononucleosis and walking pneumonia. As if that wasn't enough, my period was late.