Is Jamaica Homophobic?
Originally published on BigThink.comVideo also available via the link above
Question:
Why are homosexual acts illegal in Jamaica?
Bruce Golding: It is rooted in a number of things. Firstly, we are a predominately a Christian country and a fervently Christian country. It may not be reflected entirely in terms of how we live sometimes, but we are passionately committed to certain basic Christian principles, which [...] homosexuality.
But we have become quite tolerant. We are tolerant provided that homosexual lifestyle does not invade our space. And what do I mean by that? Persons who wish, because of their own inclination, to live in a homosexual relationship, do so in Jamaica and there are many such persons in Jamaica.
The society in Jamaica in general do not want to be… do not want it to be flaunted.
They don’t want it to be sort of thrown into the face, because there are some real fears.
There are some real fears.
The basic unit of a society is a family, and there is a passionate concern in Jamaica about protecting the integrity of the family.
And it is felt that encouragement or recognition of the appropriateness of the homosexual lifestyle is going to undermine the effectiveness of that family unit and, in that process, undermine the basic fabric of a society.
But I think much of what has been carried in the international media in terms of homophobia in Jamaica is grossly exaggerated. Homosexuals in Jamaica, they live and they enjoy their relationship.
They are intermingled with heterosexuals, they have normal relations with heterosexuals, but they do have their private relationships.
And so long is that is so, I don’t believe that the people in Jamaica are going to be particularly perturbed.
What is illegal in Jamaica is buggery, which is in fact making homosexual acts illegal. There have been very, very few prosecutions; very, very few. And in most instances, there are prosecutions because there is a complaint by a victim. So that it’s not the flashpoint issue that many people in the international media claim that it is.
Recorded on September 25, 2010
Interviewed by David Hirschman
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
HOME REMEDIES for yeast infections and UTIs .... GYNOISSUES.
Infections in the urinary tract are caused when bacteria from the rectum go into the urethra and into the bladder. Bacteria transfer takes place during sex, fondling and defecation and wiping. In women, the short urethra (a tube that connects the urinary bladder to the genitals) makes entry of bacteria into the bladder easier.
Yeast infections are caused by an overgrowth of candida, and are exacerbated by warm, moist conditions. Things like birth control pills, improper drying of underwear, use of scented soaps and the wearing of non-cotton underwear can help yeast to thrive. Many women get recurring infections, and more and more, they seek out at-home treatments to minimise the discomfort and to avoid repeatedly visiting the doctor.
At-home treatments that work, even temporarily include:
For UTIs
Gynaecologist at the University Hospital of the West Indies, Professor Horace Fletcher said women who hold their urine are at greater risk of getting UTIs because the bacteria get a chance to grow and increase. The bacteria can even go into the kidneys through the urethra.
Dr Fletcher said one of the best ways to prevent a UTI is to empty the bladder regularly. This flushes out the bacteria. It also helps if the woman drinks a lot of fluids.
Also:
• Women should empty their bladders before and directly after sex.
• They should not hold their urine for an inordinately long period.
• They should wipe themselves from front to back after passing stool never back to front, as this will transfer faeces from the anus into the vagina.
• Drink adequate amounts of fluid to flush out bacteria. Cranberry juice is believed to reduce infections. However, most clear fluids like coconut water, spring water and apple juice will flush out the bladder. Some scientists, however, believe that cranberry juice (or dried cranberry or cranberry sauce) also prevents the bacteria from sticking to the bladder wall.
For yeast infections
While there are ways in which you can tackle the problem of yeast infections at home, you have to first ensure that what you have is actually a yeast infection. You can usually tell this if you have had one, or several, before. If you’re unsure, it’s best to visit your doctor. Some symptoms of a vaginal yeast infection are:
• An unusual thick, odourless, whitish vaginal discharge.
• Burning on the vulva during sexual intercourse.
• Uncontrollable itching and a burning sensation in the vagina and the skin surrounding the vagina (vulva).
• Unexplained swelling and redness of the vulva.
• Burning sensation during urination.
Home remedies for yeast infections
Some of these remedies have been tested and tried by women for ages. If symptoms persist, it’s best to visit your doctor.
• Yoghurt is said to be very effective in treating and preventing yeast infections when added to your diet and when added directly to the vagina. An easy way is to simply dip a clean tampon into yogurt and insert it into the vagina overnight. Ensure that the yoghurt used is plain with no flavourings, sugars or fruit, and that it also contains live cultures.
• Garlic is said to have antibacterial and antifungal properties. Just like yoghurt, garlic may be used both as a dietary supplement and also directly applied to the vagina. Yoghurt and garlic are the two leading choices among yeast infection home remedies. Women who have used it advise that you either eat a clove of fresh garlic once or twice per day at the onset of yeast infection or apply garlic directly to the vagina. A fresh garlic clove can be wrapped in gauze and inserted into the vagina overnight for treatment, until the symptoms ease.
Was LA Gay and Lesbian Centre correct? (Observer Letter) .... Mr. West at it again
Dear Editor,
On September 18, UNAIDS reported that there was a more than 25 per cent decline in new cases of HIV in 22 of the most affected countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. Michel Sidibe, UNAIDS executive director, said that "the world was making real progress towards achieving the sixth Millennium Development Goal (MDG6) of halting and reversing the spread of HIV/AIDS by 2015.
The picture is, however, not as encouraging among men who have sex with men (MSM). HIV epidemics are advancing among MSM in both resource-rich and resource-poor countries and also in countries like France where homosexuality has been legal since 1791.
In September 2010, the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States stated , "Gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (MSM) represent approximately two per cent of the US population, yet are the population most severely affected by HIV and are the only risk group in which new HIV infections have been increasing steadily since the early 1990s ... MSM have consistently represented the largest percentage of persons diagnosed with AIDS and persons with an AIDS diagnosis who have died."
In 2006 the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Centre, recognising the unique challenge HIV presented to the gay community launched an ad campaign stating:
" HIV is a Gay disease. Own it. End it". The campaign was controversial and divided the gay community which had sought to change the stereotypical image of gay men being promiscuous and most likely to be infected. Despite the controversy, the LA Gay and Lesbian Centre insisted that their campaign was supported by fact.
In 2006 LA public health data showed that three out of four HIV cases were the result of gay sex.
Why are MSM in developed countries unable to achieve the successes of the resource-poor countries of Sub-Saharan Africa? What does the epidemiological data indicate about HIV in MSM? Was the LA Gay and Lesbian Centre correct in its conclusion?
W West
wayne_west@hotmail.com
On September 18, UNAIDS reported that there was a more than 25 per cent decline in new cases of HIV in 22 of the most affected countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. Michel Sidibe, UNAIDS executive director, said that "the world was making real progress towards achieving the sixth Millennium Development Goal (MDG6) of halting and reversing the spread of HIV/AIDS by 2015.
The picture is, however, not as encouraging among men who have sex with men (MSM). HIV epidemics are advancing among MSM in both resource-rich and resource-poor countries and also in countries like France where homosexuality has been legal since 1791.
In September 2010, the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States stated , "Gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (MSM) represent approximately two per cent of the US population, yet are the population most severely affected by HIV and are the only risk group in which new HIV infections have been increasing steadily since the early 1990s ... MSM have consistently represented the largest percentage of persons diagnosed with AIDS and persons with an AIDS diagnosis who have died."
In 2006 the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Centre, recognising the unique challenge HIV presented to the gay community launched an ad campaign stating:
" HIV is a Gay disease. Own it. End it". The campaign was controversial and divided the gay community which had sought to change the stereotypical image of gay men being promiscuous and most likely to be infected. Despite the controversy, the LA Gay and Lesbian Centre insisted that their campaign was supported by fact.
In 2006 LA public health data showed that three out of four HIV cases were the result of gay sex.
Why are MSM in developed countries unable to achieve the successes of the resource-poor countries of Sub-Saharan Africa? What does the epidemiological data indicate about HIV in MSM? Was the LA Gay and Lesbian Centre correct in its conclusion?
W West
wayne_west@hotmail.com
ENDS
notes:
So Mr. West is at it again and one wonders what the point of all of this? probably to show that HIV/AIDS is a gay problem and that we (MSMs) are the fault of it.
I am expecting a response to this from the L.A Gay and Lesbian Centre.
Peace and tolerance
H
Cuba - Ten Years Fighting HIV/AIDS and Reaching Out to Gays
By Dalia Acosta
HAVANA, Oct 12, 2010 (IPS) - Raúl Regueiro remembers every detail about the creation, 10 years ago in Cuba, of the project for the prevention of HIV/AIDS among men who have sex with men, and the way the initiative crossed the boundaries of purely health-related concerns to address the question of social inclusion.
"Although homosexuality had been mentioned before, up to that point no work had been done with men," Regueiro told IPS. A co-founder of the project, Regueiro's idea is now applied in 14 provinces on the island and involves around 1,700 volunteer health outreach workers who act as direct links with Cuban communities.
"It was the first time the people most affected by HIV/AIDS participated in a programme that was focused on educating people and on other aspects as well," recalls Regueiro, who is now assistant to the United Nations Development Programme's (UNDP) programme to combat HIV in this Caribbean island nation.
"By using peer education as a tool, men who have sex with men (MSM) themselves urged each other to practice safe sex," said Regueiro, who was at the meeting that founded the MSM-Cuba programme in August 2000, at the National Centre for Prevention of Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) and HIV/AIDS.
The AIDS epidemic, which in its initial stages mainly affected gay men, rubbed salt in a particular wound in Cuban society.
After the period of state-sponsored homophobia in Cuba in the 1960s and 1970s, the appearance of the first cases of HIV/AIDS in 1986 became another excuse for the rejection of gays, who were already vulnerable members of society. This was exacerbated by compulsory quarantine of those who contracted the infection, a practice that continued into the early 1990s.
In Cuba, eight out of 10 HIV-positive people are men, according to official sources that have recorded about 13,000 cases in this country of 11.2 million people.
Out of the total male HIV-positive group, over 80 percent have sex with other men, equivalent to 7.6 percent of all Cuban males in the 12-49 age range, according to a 2009 study by the National Statistics Office (ONE).
And about 60 percent of the HIV-positive males said they were bisexual. The study also found an increasing trend within the group toward living with stable partners.
A previous ONE study in 2006 found that the MSM-Cuba HIV/AIDS prevention programme had saved about 3,000 men from becoming infected with HIV.
Scientific research into MSM behaviour and the training given to health outreach volunteers through the programme also led to greater recognition and visibility for this segment of the population. Educational strategies for MSM about HIV/AIDS were discussed at the "highest level of the government," Regueiro said.
The expert, who was national coordinator of the project until early last year, described how specific prevention actions targeting gay and bisexual men were adopted by provincial and municipal governments, organised as the Working Group to Prevent and Fight HIV/AIDS (GOPELS).
The actions have had the greatest impact among gays, as they tend to be more open than bisexual men about their sexual orientation.
This may be the reason for the considerable increase in condom use by MSM, either with their stable partners or in occasional encounters, which was documented in the 2006 and 2009 ONE studies. However, consistent condom use is still below the 75 percent level necessary for controlling the epidemic, according to a 2003 Canadian research study.
Yoire Ferrer, who helped launched the programme in Santiago de Cuba in the southeast of the country, said the initiative has been "extremely useful" for the national health service and is unique in terms of its "coverage level and the links established with sexual minorities."
"We have capacity-building and management programmes at all levels, and we promote recognition of sexual diversity and encourage respect for and acceptance of gay, bisexual and heterosexual men," Ferrer told IPS in an e-mail from Santiago de Cuba.
Health interventions among populations suffering from discrimination encompass "the whole range of sexuality-related elements, and help improve quality of life by addressing issues like self-esteem and empowerment, focusing on the individual as a social and sexual being," Omar Parada, a co-founder of the project, told IPS.
Parada, a mechanical engineer by profession who coordinates the MSM-Cuba programme in the eastern province of Granma, regretted that "many MSM are staying the closet." In his view, community work and social inclusion efforts should be expanded.
"We should not limit ourselves solely to issues related to STIs, HIV, self-esteem and empowerment," said Parada, who added that what is needed is "a multi-directional agenda that embraces advocacy, discrimination and human rights."
In the past 10 years, the programme has done a great deal of research on sexual minorities, especially MSM, in spite of the fact that within academia "there is still a lot of discrimination, rejection and fear about these issues," Andrey Hernández, the present national coordinator of MSM-Cuba, told IPS.
According to Hernández, the programme has a constantly updated map of MSM meeting places that men frequent in search of spontaneous or paid sexual encounters with other men. Although some work has been done to understand this segment of society, sociological approaches are still very timid.
Over time, MSM-Cuba "has become a voice, a representative, an open door to generate relationships, including friendships, while fomenting personal growth," Regueiro said.
"The HIV/AIDS epidemic has shown how important community participation is for any effective response," he said. (END)
HAVANA, Oct 12, 2010 (IPS) - Raúl Regueiro remembers every detail about the creation, 10 years ago in Cuba, of the project for the prevention of HIV/AIDS among men who have sex with men, and the way the initiative crossed the boundaries of purely health-related concerns to address the question of social inclusion.
"Although homosexuality had been mentioned before, up to that point no work had been done with men," Regueiro told IPS. A co-founder of the project, Regueiro's idea is now applied in 14 provinces on the island and involves around 1,700 volunteer health outreach workers who act as direct links with Cuban communities.
"It was the first time the people most affected by HIV/AIDS participated in a programme that was focused on educating people and on other aspects as well," recalls Regueiro, who is now assistant to the United Nations Development Programme's (UNDP) programme to combat HIV in this Caribbean island nation.
"By using peer education as a tool, men who have sex with men (MSM) themselves urged each other to practice safe sex," said Regueiro, who was at the meeting that founded the MSM-Cuba programme in August 2000, at the National Centre for Prevention of Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) and HIV/AIDS.
The AIDS epidemic, which in its initial stages mainly affected gay men, rubbed salt in a particular wound in Cuban society.
After the period of state-sponsored homophobia in Cuba in the 1960s and 1970s, the appearance of the first cases of HIV/AIDS in 1986 became another excuse for the rejection of gays, who were already vulnerable members of society. This was exacerbated by compulsory quarantine of those who contracted the infection, a practice that continued into the early 1990s.
In Cuba, eight out of 10 HIV-positive people are men, according to official sources that have recorded about 13,000 cases in this country of 11.2 million people.
Out of the total male HIV-positive group, over 80 percent have sex with other men, equivalent to 7.6 percent of all Cuban males in the 12-49 age range, according to a 2009 study by the National Statistics Office (ONE).
And about 60 percent of the HIV-positive males said they were bisexual. The study also found an increasing trend within the group toward living with stable partners.
A previous ONE study in 2006 found that the MSM-Cuba HIV/AIDS prevention programme had saved about 3,000 men from becoming infected with HIV.
Scientific research into MSM behaviour and the training given to health outreach volunteers through the programme also led to greater recognition and visibility for this segment of the population. Educational strategies for MSM about HIV/AIDS were discussed at the "highest level of the government," Regueiro said.
The expert, who was national coordinator of the project until early last year, described how specific prevention actions targeting gay and bisexual men were adopted by provincial and municipal governments, organised as the Working Group to Prevent and Fight HIV/AIDS (GOPELS).
The actions have had the greatest impact among gays, as they tend to be more open than bisexual men about their sexual orientation.
This may be the reason for the considerable increase in condom use by MSM, either with their stable partners or in occasional encounters, which was documented in the 2006 and 2009 ONE studies. However, consistent condom use is still below the 75 percent level necessary for controlling the epidemic, according to a 2003 Canadian research study.
Yoire Ferrer, who helped launched the programme in Santiago de Cuba in the southeast of the country, said the initiative has been "extremely useful" for the national health service and is unique in terms of its "coverage level and the links established with sexual minorities."
"We have capacity-building and management programmes at all levels, and we promote recognition of sexual diversity and encourage respect for and acceptance of gay, bisexual and heterosexual men," Ferrer told IPS in an e-mail from Santiago de Cuba.
Health interventions among populations suffering from discrimination encompass "the whole range of sexuality-related elements, and help improve quality of life by addressing issues like self-esteem and empowerment, focusing on the individual as a social and sexual being," Omar Parada, a co-founder of the project, told IPS.
Parada, a mechanical engineer by profession who coordinates the MSM-Cuba programme in the eastern province of Granma, regretted that "many MSM are staying the closet." In his view, community work and social inclusion efforts should be expanded.
"We should not limit ourselves solely to issues related to STIs, HIV, self-esteem and empowerment," said Parada, who added that what is needed is "a multi-directional agenda that embraces advocacy, discrimination and human rights."
In the past 10 years, the programme has done a great deal of research on sexual minorities, especially MSM, in spite of the fact that within academia "there is still a lot of discrimination, rejection and fear about these issues," Andrey Hernández, the present national coordinator of MSM-Cuba, told IPS.
According to Hernández, the programme has a constantly updated map of MSM meeting places that men frequent in search of spontaneous or paid sexual encounters with other men. Although some work has been done to understand this segment of society, sociological approaches are still very timid.
Over time, MSM-Cuba "has become a voice, a representative, an open door to generate relationships, including friendships, while fomenting personal growth," Regueiro said.
"The HIV/AIDS epidemic has shown how important community participation is for any effective response," he said. (END)
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Bisexuality does not reinforce the gender binary
Bisexuals have been unfairly accused of reinforcing the notion that there are only two genders and thereby oppressing trans people. But those who make such criticisms of bisexuality are actually the ones doing the marginalizing, writes Julia Serano.
originally published on
The Scavenger
10 October 2010
Increasingly these days, I come across people who are ostensibly bisexual—in that they partner with both women and men—but who refuse to identify with that term.
Now this, in and of itself, is not necessarily a bad thing, as words (and especially identity labels) evolve over time and invariably go in and out of fashion.
What does bother me, however, is the explanation that is often given for this lack of identification: That the word bisexual supposedly “reinforces the gender binary,” or “reinforces the notion that there are only two genders.”
As a bisexual-identified trans woman*, I find this argument extremely problematic for a number of reasons.
While there may be an infinite number of potential genders, there are two general types of sexed bodies: female and male. Granted, there is a lot of variation within, and some overlap between, these categories (e.g., intersex people, trans people who physically transition from one sex to the other).
However, this variation and overlap does not automatically invalidate the existence of female and male bodies, but rather it simply means that these categories are far more complex than most people are willing to acknowledge.
In addition to this, we live in a society where all people are automatically (and often nonconsensually) read as either female or male, and where different assumptions, expectations and restrictions are placed on a person based upon which of these two sexes they are perceived to be.
The reason why I identify as bisexual is two-fold.
First, on a physical level, the attraction that I feel toward male-bodied people feels very different to me on a visceral level than the attraction that I feel toward female-bodied people. And having sex with a female partner feels very different to me than having sex with a male partner.
Such feelings are difficult to put into words, and I am not quite sure what the source of this difference is, but presumably it is related to what makes exclusively homosexual or heterosexual people attracted to one sex or the other, but not both.
I know that some people describe themselves as pansexual, which may work well for them, but I personally am not a big fan of that label with regards to my own sexuality, as it erases the way in which my attraction toward women is different from the attraction I experience toward men (and vice versa).
The second, and far more important reason (at least for me), why I embrace the word bisexual is that people perceive me and react to me very differently depending on whether the person I am coupled with is (or appears to be) a woman or a man.
In the hetero-mainstream, when I am paired with a man, I am read as straight; when I am paired with a woman, I am read as queer. In queer settings, when I am paired with a woman, I am read as lesbian/dyke/queer and viewed as a legitimate member of the community.
But when I am paired with a man (especially when the man in question is cisgender), then I am not merely unaccepted and viewed as an outsider, but I may even be accused of buying into or reinforcing the hetero-patriarchy.
So in other words, the “bi” in bisexual does not merely refer to the types of people that I am sexual with, but to the fact that both the straight and queer worlds view me in two very different ways depending upon who I happen to be partnered with at any given moment.
This aspect of the bisexual experience is not captured by the word “pansexual,” nor by the more general word “queer.” In fact, I regularly call myself queer, and when I do, people often are surprised when I mention that I date men (as though in their minds, bisexuality does not truly fall under the queer umbrella).
Anyone who is familiar with the history of the bisexual movement can tell you that the reason why some queer people began outwardly identifying as bisexual rather than as gay or lesbian (the two predominant queer identities throughout the ’70s and ’80s) is precisely because of this insider/outsider issue.
So long as a bisexual woman was only sexual with women and called herself a lesbian, she was accepted. But as soon as she admitted to, or acted upon, her attraction to men, she would be ostracized and accused of being a part of the problem rather than the solution.
This is why the label bisexual came into prominence—as a way to gain visibility within the queer community and to fight against exclusion.
Back in the ’50s and ’60s, all LGBT people were simply called “homosexual.” We were all present during the first queer uprisings and the early days of what was simply called “gay liberation.”
But as the movement picked up momentum, bisexuals and trans folks were both thrown under the bus, albeit for slightly different reasons. In a world where the straight mainstream assumed that gay men wanted to be women and lesbians wanted to be men, it is not surprising that many lesbians and gays felt uneasy about the presence of trans people in their movement.
And in a world where the straight mainstream insisted homosexuals could become heterosexual if they simply set their minds to it, it is not surprising that many lesbians and gays felt uneasy about the existence of bisexuals.
While the reasons for bisexual and transgender exclusion from lesbian and gay communities during the ’70s and ’80s may be somewhat different, the rhetoric used to cast us away was eerily similar: We, in one way or another, were supposedly “buying into” and “reinforcing” heteronormativity.
Transsexuals, transvestites, drag artists, butches and femmes were accused of apeing heterosexist gender roles. Bisexuals were accused of purposefully seeking out heterosexual privilege and (literally) sleeping with the enemy.
According to many lesbians and gays (both past and present), bisexuals and trans folks are not merely assimilationist, but we don’t even exist! According to this “homo-normative” logic, trans people are really gay men and lesbians who transition in order to pass in the straight world. And bisexuals are really either heterosexuals dabbling in a bit of sexual experimentation, or gays and lesbians who just haven’t fully come out of the closet yet.
It is because of this history of erasure and exclusion that bisexual and trans activists became more outspoken in the late ’80s and early ’90s, and fought for visibility and inclusion within the lesbian/gay/queer umbrella.
While most queer acronyms include Bs and Ts these days, our communities still remain largely invisible and have little voice in the now relatively mainstream LGBT movement. And the rhetoric that has been used against us for decades (i.e. that we are “assimilationist” and “reinforce heterosexism”) can still be heard in gay/lesbian/queer communities to this day.
This is precisely what makes my blood boil when I hear people say that the word bisexual “reinforces the notion that there are only two genders.”
First, it insinuates that self-identified bisexuals somehow oppress trans people. While I’m sure that there are some bisexuals out there who harbor anti-trans attitudes, in general, I have found that bisexuals are exponentially more accepting of trans folks, and way more likely than to consider us to be legitimate romantic and sexual partners, than the exclusively homosexual majority in our community.
So the idea that bisexual-identified people are oppressing trans folks is both wildly inaccurate and ahistorical, as it ignores the decades of marginalization both our communities have faced at the hands of the exclusively homosexual majority.
Second, exclusively homosexual people have been accusing bisexuals of “reinforcing” this or that for decades because of who we sleep with, and now we are supposedly “reinforcing the gender binary” simply by calling ourselves bisexual?
Knowing the long history of homosexual attempts to obliterate bisexuality using the “reinforcing” trope, it is difficult for me to view this as anything other than part of the systematic erasure of bisexuality from queer communities.
And can somebody please tell me how the term “bisexual” somehow reinforces the binary, yet “gay” and “lesbian” supposedly do not?
Most self-identified lesbians use that term to signify that they partner with women, but not men. Most gay men use the term “gay” to signify that they partner with men, but not women. So why are gays and lesbians not accused of “reinforcing the notion that there are only two genders”? Oh, that’s right, because their identities are accepted and seen as legitimate, while bisexual identities are not.
The funny thing about gay/lesbian/queer folks (and this can also be said about many feminists as well) is that often we are just as prejudiced as people in the straight mainstream, we just use different language to express it.
When somebody is transgender, or transsexual, or bisexual, or engages in BDSM, or sex work, and/or expresses themselves in a feminine manner, we almost reflexively accuse them of “buying into the system” or of “reinforcing” heterosexism/patriarchy/the gender binary/capitalism/insert-evil-hegemonic-ideology-of-choice-here.
For me, the word “reinforcing” is a red flag: Whenever somebody utters it, I stop for a moment to ask myself who is being accused of “reinforcing” and who is not. There is almost always some double standard at work behind the scenes.
And given the turbulent history of who gets to be considered inside and outside of the gay/lesbian/queer community, it does not surprise me that the only people who are never accused of “reinforcing” the hetero-patriarchal-gender-binary are non-feminine, cisgender, exclusively homosexual folks.
The word bisexual may not be perfect, but it does have a rich political history, one that involves fighting for visibility and inclusion both within and outside of the queer community.
If the word does not resonate with you personally, then simply do not use it. But if you happen to forgo identifying with the word, don’t dare say that it is because you believe that bisexual “reinforces the notion that there are only two genders,” as that claim goes beyond personal statement, and enters the realm of accusation, as it insinuates that people who openly call themselves bisexual (e.g. me) are at best, naive about gender politics, and at worse, oppressing trans people.
If anything, it is the “reinforcing” trope that has historically been used to undermine both bisexuals and trans folks, and we should learn to stop using the very same language that has been used to marginalize us in the past.
Julia Serano is an Oakland, California-based artist, activist, and author of Whipping Girl: A Transsexual Woman on Sexism and the Scapegoating of Femininity. More about all of her creative endeavors can be found at juliaserano.com.
* In many of my past writings (for example my book Whipping Girl), I have described myself as a lesbian/dyke. What can I say, other than “Things change, people change, hairstyles change...”
Monday, October 11, 2010
Lesbians and Breast Cancer ....
October is Breast Cancer awareness month and since some researchers and health care professionals believe that lesbians may be at greater risk for breast cancer then heterosexual women, I thought it would be appropriate to get some facts out to the lesbian community.
First of all, let me start by saying that just because your a lesbian does not mean that you are automatically at a higher risk for breast cancer.
However, having one or more of the risk factors below might put you in that catagory. A lesbian without the risk factors is at no greater risk than a heterosexual woman for breast cancer.
Breast Cancer Risk Factors include:Family History
Women whose mothers, grandmothers or sisters have had breast cancer are two to three times more likely to develop breast cancer. However, 85% of women with breast cancer have no family history of the disease.
First childbirth
The risks are higher among women who have never had (and breastfed) a baby or whose first childbirth occurred after the age of thirty.
The risk is reduced by as much as 50 percent for women who have had one child.
Menstrual history
Early first period (before age 11) and late menopause (after age 52) both increase risk.
DietHigh-fat, low-fiber diet increases the risk of Breast Cancer. The risk also increases with women who are overweight. (Nearly 30 percent of lesbians are obese, compared to 20 percent for women overall.)
DietHigh-fat, low-fiber diet increases the risk of Breast Cancer. The risk also increases with women who are overweight. (Nearly 30 percent of lesbians are obese, compared to 20 percent for women overall.)
Age
Risk increases with age. This disease is rare in women under the age of thirty. Women over fifty make up 77% of breast cancer cases.
Alcohol
Women who consume two to five alcoholic drinks a day have a higher risk of breast cancer than do non-drinkers. (Research has not shown that lesbians drink more than the general population, however, they do have a greater history of problems with alcohol.)
Smoking
Research has shown that women who smoke have a 30% higher risk of developing breast cancer compared with women who have never smoked. Research has also shown that 25% of lesbians said they were smokers compared to 19% of heterosexual women in a 2007 Harris Interactive survey.
Genetic Alterations
Specific alterations in certain genes, such as those in the breast cancer genes (BRCA1 or BRCA2), make women more susceptible to breast cancer.
Hormone Replacement Therapy
Recent evidence suggests that menopausal women who have long-term exposure (greater than 10 years) to hormone replacement therapy (HRT) may have a slightly increased risk of breast cancer.
Socioeconomic Factors
In the United States, white women from upper-socioeconomic classes living in urban areas are more at risk for breast cancer than other women, for reasons researchers do not yet understand.
Environmental Factors
Research has not yet proven whether there are breast cancer risk risks involved in a number of environmental exposures, including radiation, UV rays in sunlight, artificial sweeteners, pesticides and electromagnetic fields that surround electronic devices like microwave ovens and cell phones.
Health Care
Another issue that lead researchers to believe that Lesbians are at a higher risk is due to the fact that lesbians are less likely to seek routine health care because of the discomfort of coming out to their health care providers and less access to health insurance. With fewer doctor visits, lesbian are less likely to have mammograms and professional breast exams. Studies also show that lesbian women are less likely to perform breast self-exam regularly. For these reasons, lesbians women may be less likely to have cancers detected at earlier, more treatable, stages.
Click here for: How to reduce your risk for breast cancer: