iamateenagefeminist:

Inspired by this tweet I’ve decided to make a list of all the times I recall thinking about or being worried about being raped.

1. When I am in an elevator by myself
2. Walking back to my dorm/apartment by myself at night
3. Riding my bike to go swimming at the gym in the early morning
4. Walking to…

When I took initiative to say hello to the stranger walking away from my building as I walked toward it, at 2 am on a Sunday. Because I didn’t know what else to do.

mohandasgandhi:

TYT: Is James Deen Luring Teen Girls To Porn?

Is porn star James Deen luring teen girls to porn? That was the suggestion made on ABC’s Nightline. Ana Kasparian, neuroscientist Cara Santa Maria, and Cenk Uygur break it down on The Young Turks - is Deen the new Ron Jeremy?

Salon: Porn is coming for your daughter

This isn’t a new story and dozens of people have already talked about this whole “controversy” but I’d like to open the discussion up again to briefly talk about a few things which were barely mentioned in the video.

I don’t care to get into problems within the porn industry or any potential problems which can arise if underage “children” watch pornography but we’re having a bit of a different discussion when we’re talking about older teenagers watching pornography. Teenagers have sex, even more watch porn. It’s the most normal thing in the world, given their budding sexual urges. However, only girls seem to be “slut-shamed” for viewing porn. Where were all the articles in the mainstream media about Jenna Jameson, Eva Angelina, or Sasha Grey “luring” boys into porn specifically? Media attention surrounding female porn stars generally focuses on the so-called “morality” of the nature of what they do for a living: having sex on film. We’ve seen that a little bit with all of the hype surrounding James Deen but the moral focus has been placed on the female viewers and James Deen is pegged as some sort of a predator because young girls are simply exploring their sexualities.

This type of purity trip is actually extremely dangerous and it has real world consequences because it sexualizes young girls in an unhealthy way. It’s normal for young boys to watch porn and explore their sexualities but it isn’t for young girls. They must remain pure and repress their natural sexual urges, not embrace them. Girls and women are not to be autonomous human-beings in control of their sexualities, instead we’re to dictate 18th century moral standards they must abide by. Any girls who deviate from this moral standard of purity are pegged as “sluts” and the dehumanizing sexualization that results from all types of slut-shaming encourages rape culture. Furthermore, repressing natural sexual urges and the culture that results from such discourages girls from being taught or seeking information about comprehensive sex education, which is essential towards promoting safe sex, preventing STDs and unwanted pregnancies, and discouraging rape culture.

There are some real discussions to have about the porn industry but this isn’t one of them and the narrative it presents promotes unhealthy ideals about sex, girls, and women.

Everything she says is exactly right. Amen. Cosigned. Print.