Girl on the Net

Here goes: a round-up of some things you need to read. Which I’m switching to Friday because, hey, who wants to do work on Friday when you could instead be reading about feminism, censorship and condoms?

The good: Bridget Minamore on choice and feminism

Can you be a feminist and take nude selfies/wear make-up/eat a packet of Wotsits? Bridget Minamore neatly sums up the problem with the seemingly endless examination of whether a certain decision is feminist or not:

“Last week, the Guardian’s Hadley Freeman argued that “empowerment” had lost its meaning, citing selfies and Spanx as just two examples in which women have had empowerment marketed to them. But I think this perpetuates a stale conversation. Sometimes, it’s just not that deep; whether it’s narcissistic or not, people can simply like taking photos of themselves. Women aren’t saying that all selfies, all the time, are always feminist.”

It’s something I’ve tried to put my finger on before, but never quite got there, and so Bridget’s piece is now my go-to link to send people when they ask if a certain thing is feminist or not.

Read the full piece here, and if you don’t already follow Bridget on Twitter then you should. She’s ace.

The bad: porn censorship as a replacement for sex education

In case you’ve missed it, a recent policy note from the DCMS (Department for Culture, Media and Sport) created waves by suggesting that restricting access to porn would help ‘protect’ young people from anal sex. There are lots of problems with this.

First, check out this fantastic blog by Cicely Marston, who co-authored the research DCMS based its note on: The government cited my research in its campaign against porn and anal sex – here’s why I disagree

Secondly, Pandora Blake has also written a fantastic overview of the objections to the government’s approach. It’s a treasure-trove of interesting links and reading.

“There are no simple technological solutions to social problems. Rather than restricting internet freedom, efforts would be better spent on improving and funding sex education in schools; making it a mandatory part of the curriculum, and making it more relevant to the internet age.”

Bonus thing: Condoms as a personality test

The above two bits were quite heavy for a Friday, weren’t they? So here’s something lighter.

Abbi Rode is an awesome sex blog run by Abbi – she writes a combination of sexy, funny, and occasionally enraging anecdotes. This morning I spotted her latest post on condoms, and the way in which people talk about them. Positive, negative, occasionally whiny? Basically someone’s attitude towards your sexual health boundaries can tell you quite a lot about whether they’re a dick.

“he claimed that sex with condoms bored him as it made things too linear. Mother of divine Jesus have you ever heard the like?”

I love Abbi. She’s ace.

Have a lovely weekend, and if you have a spare minute please go and review my book on Amazon. I know, I ask you this frequently, but that’s because I really want you to do it.