I'm a Barbie girl, in a Barbie world

by: Natalie Elliott

As humans, we all want to be the best we can be in all parts of life. As Americans, though, we are raised to want to be the best in more materialistic ways. We want the fame, the fortune, and the looks. There is definitely pressure on everyone to look and be a certain way in order to be happy, but there is no doubt that women receive much more pressure on a daily basis.The pressure is to be or become perfectly fit and sexually desirable.
Even at a young age, girls are bombarded with dolls with impossible figures and airbrushed magazine models posing in sexual manners. One of the greatest influences on girls in American history would have to be the famous Barbie doll. With her sleek, blonde hair, perky blue eyes, and invisible waist, she corrupts the minds of preteen children. Recently, however, the doll has influenced older women in their 20's who are now old enough, and have access to new technologies, to look just like their childhood idol.
Women are now going through major surgeries and expenses just to change any and all parts of their bodies to achieve that great, sexy look. The top procedures are tummy tucks, breast lifts/implants, laser hair removal, lip injections, and don't forget the small procedures like hair dying, brow plucking, "mani/pedis", and much more.
This epidemic has gone so far that there are women that actually go under the knife and laser to look exactly like the Barbie doll. The most famous woman is Valerie Lukyanova, a 20-something Russian model who has gone to epic proportions, literally! Her body and facial features are so doll-like and artificial that when she was featured in a magazine, people believed she was a photo shop creation.

It's amazing how much the cosmetic industry has boomed and influenced our citizens in the past century. As an American society, we should praise women for their intelligence, understanding, and natural appearances and not treat them as sexual objects. This is not the case and may not be for a while.

Hysteria: A Film of the Victorian Era's Sexuality

Kimberly Guthrie

Hysteria: A Film of  the Victorian Era's Sexuality

         

        Taking place in the Victorian Era, the film Hysteria gives light on the invention of the vibrator, while also providing viewers with in-depth analysis of sexuality during that time. During the late 19^th century in England, Dr. Mortimer Granville finds a job helping out females who are suffering with the disorder, Hysteria, however he soon struggles with work thus leading up to his invention of the vibrator, while also finding love throughout his journey ^[1].

            Dr. Granville’s work of relieving hysteria, leads him to having a high female clientele due to the fact that over half the women in town suffered with its symptoms. Hysteria was a common disorder for about 3/4th of Victorian women, as its symptoms ranged from anxiety, erotic fantasies, irritability, and nervousness ^[2]. It dates back to the BC era, where it was cured with sex or herbs, thus later Sigmund Freud accounted the mental disorder to only be applied to women. ^[3] Nonetheless as women went to doctors to cure their sickness, the procedure was done by a manual stimulation, which often caused doctors like Granville to experience much hand fatigue. The procedure would lead up to a women having an orgasm, however because doctors at the time did not believe that women had sexual sensations, they called it a paroxysm ^[2]. Rather than try to find a medical cure for the disorder, doctors wanted to treat their chronic hand fatigue hence the vibrator was invented in 1869 by Dr. George Taylor ^[2]. The American physician patented what he called the Manipulator, which was a large motorized table attached with a hole and a ball in the center ^[3]. Hysteria the invention of the electromechanical vibrator by the main character Mortimer Granville is more focused upon ^[1].  With the invention of the vibrator it gave

women more control over their sexual feelings, and as the invention continued to improve through technology its popularity also led to the increasing of openness within sexuality and in the sex industry due to its heightened publicity.
However, in

             The film also informed the audience of the gender roles in the Victorian Era reflected by its numerous characters. Emily Dalrymple was the ideal women of that era with her obedient and soft-spoken persona. She was compliant to her father’s requests to marry Granville, despite not knowing him, and it was later revealed in the movie how she wished to follow her own beliefs rather than her father’s ^[1]. The 19^th century’s gender roles were based on sexual spheres, hence Emily’s character represented how women ^[4]. In contrary, Charlotte Dalrympe was a feminist that reflected the “New Woman” phenomenon. The New Woman was a feminist ideology by Henrik Ibsen, in which women express their need for equality and took place in the suffragette movement ^[5]. Throughout the film, Charlotte expressed her feministic views, and was often looked down upon at societal functions, like Emily’s engagement party. The 19^th century was also known for its sexual commerce of prostitution, which rapidly grew in towns ^[6]. Although the film did not speak much about prostitution, it was revealed in the court case that the character Molly was formerly a prostitute and the opinions of prostitutes were shown in the other characters’ judgmental perception of her^[1].

were placed into a private sphere while her father was a prime of example of how men were in the public sphere

            With the gender roles being separated into the private and public spheres, it led to companionate marriages ^[4]. The companionate marriage focused upon the separate spheres, while also marriages at that time were centered less on finances, although it remained significant, but more on love and affection ^[7]. The changes in courtship were reflected in the movie by the relationship between Granville and Dalrymple sisters. While Dr. Dalrymple chose Granville to marry Emily, it was only for his finances and power as a physician.

However, Granville ultimately decided to marry Charlotte, in which the two shared a private affair that was popular at the time, and had a relationship more so based on love and affection.

            By watching the film Hysteria, the audience was able to understand the history of sexuality that occurred during the Victorian era. While the disorder hysteria had a wide range of symptoms, it was quite evident of the misdiagnosis that was taking place. In the scene where Charlotte reacted to the arrest of her friend, Fannie, her resistance made the judge believe that she was suffering from hysteria ^[1]. Nonetheless, doctors of the 19^th century lacked knowledge on women’s physiology in general. As Charlotte argued with Granville that sex was a natural part for women too, he found it unbelievable because of the double standard that took place stating that only men could be sexually open^[7]. The Victorian Age was a prominent part of the history of sexuality because with the invention of the vibrator more research was given forth to the sexual pleasures of women, while it also gave more attention to the sexual needs of individuals thus sparking sexual libertinism.

New generation meets new coming-out reactions

By: Tyler Harris

LGBT youths are commonly traumatized when it comes time for them to come out to their parents. In the past, very few came out until they were adults in fear of rejection and negative reactions.

It is understandable why very little people in the past came out, even to their parents. In the 19th century, Thomasine Hall was physically investigated by five female neighbors in order to determine her sex because of how she was dressing. [1] Back then, neighbors went as far as forcibly examining people whose sexuality was questioned. It is no wonder that teenagers would be petrified to find out what their own parents would do if they were to come out of the closet.

This new generation however has found that families are reacting more to the news with hugs, love, and even yawning.

Evidence of this is found in 22 year old Ryan Ward’s YouTube video, in which he comes out to his mother. Ryan was extremely worried his mother would be disappointed or sad, even though he knew she loved him. He found inspiration from watching other YouTube videos of people coming out to their parents. After shedding many tears, Ryan came out to his mom open, who accepted him with open arms, and was laughingly more worried that he had ran over someone with his car. [2]

Acceptance is very important in a world where the average age of coming out is 16 years old as of 2010, down from 25 in 1991. [3] In the past, even if a gay youth’s parents did not accept them, they at least were likely moved out, graduated from college, and already out living on their own so that their parents’ opinions did not dictate their daily life. Most gay youth are coming out when they still live with their parents who they still depend on, therefore acceptance and support is crucial. Recent research has shown that highly rejected LGBT young people are more than 8 times more likely to have attempted suicide as those who are not or are only a little rejected. [4]

Luckily, more and more stories like Ryan’s are being shared now that the new generation is finding places like YouTube to not only find acceptance, but encouragement by seeing how other parents react. One of the largest YouTube projects, It Gets Better, has found great success in reaching out to LGBT youth.

It Gets Better was sparked by the recent suicides of four students who were gay. Sex columnist Dan Savage sat down with his partner Terry Miller and began talking about the bullying they endured and what life was like, as well as encouraged others to send in their video testimonials about being LGBT as well. In just under one month, the channel received over 1.2 million views, with more than 650 people of all ages, religions, and sexual orientations submitting their own story. [5]

In today’s social networking world, the internet has made it much easier for LGBT youth to understand that they aren’t alone, it gets better, and that there are always people out there who support them no matter what.

Footnotes:

1. Demos, John. "Daughters of the Revolution." The New York Times. Last modified April 28, 1996. http://www.nytimes.com/1996/04/28/books/daughters-of-the-revolution.html.

2. Peters, Terri. "The new coming-out speech: on YouTube, met with hugs... and yawns - Moms .com." TODAY. Last modified March 17, 2014. http://www.today.com/moms/new-coming-out-speech-youtube-met-hugs-yawns-2D12143558.

3. American Friends of Tel Aviv University. "Age of 'coming out' is now dramatically younger: Gay, lesbian and bisexual teens find wider family support, says researcher." ScienceDaily. Last modified October 11, 2011. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/10/111011112759.htm.

4. Ryan, Caitlyn. "Helping Families Support Their Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) Children." San Francisco State University. Last modified September, 2009. http://nccc.georgetown.edu/documents/LGBT_Brief.pdf.

5. Cruz, Nicole S. "YouTube channel tells gay teens: It gets better." Los Angeles Times. Last modified October 9, 2010. http://articles.latimes.com/2010/oct/09/nation/la-na-adv-gay-youtube-20101010.

Haight and Ashbury Street

Will Foster

Haight and Ashbury Street : The Counterculture

            When we began to talk about the counterculture in class, I assumed that I had learned it all in my high school history class. I was highly mistaken. My high school teacher basically said “everyone was on drugs, the end.” There is so much more to it than that. As I was defining the important terms I was confronted with something I had never heard of. Thus was the “Haight and Ashbury Street” term. I was immediately interested and had to do some more research.

             In essence, if the counterculture had a specific location, it just might have been Haight and Ashbury Street. This location, found in San Francisco, California[1], was in fact a whole district. The areas surrounding these two streets became a highly publicized place. From the research that I have gathered, it seems that the youth of this time and area, were looking for a place where they could carry out their “Hippie” lifestyle. This obviously included the use of drugs and alcohol, as well as the practice of casual sex.[2]

               I think that, even though we can describe the changes in society as a swinging pendulum between liberal and conservative[3], society always became more liberal eventually. We saw in the movie “Kinsey,” that even in the 1930’s people were very sexually ignorant, and people did not know what the female anatomy really looked like.[4] We went from that situation, to people hanging out in places like Haight and Ashbury street, and Woodstock fully naked. The counterculture and the Haight and Ashbury street district was maybe a more bold swing towards a liberal society, but I think it was inevitable that this kind of culture would eventually arise. Everything was leading up to it.

            It seems that this counterculture might have been the big step that lead to our society today. We all know that we live in a highly sexualized culture. However, in the 1800’s I doubt people expected that this kind of culture would even exist, let alone be extremely popular. They were very conservative, and   As we got into the 20’s with flappers and pimps and things of that nature, maybe then it became more evident that we were headed to this kind of sexualized society.

            Haight and Ashbury street eventually became “too mainstream” (In today’s terms) and the real hippies vacated the area. Many people that were not so much concerned with the hippie lifestyle as much as being in a huge social setting began populating the district and soon it lost its reputation of being where the hippies were.[5]

            Now there are obviously not hippies living in the district like there were in that time, but no one will ever be able to wipe the height of the Haigh and Ashbury street district away from our countries

---

[1] Danaparamita , Aria. "Haight-Ashbury's Hippie House: Preserving San Francisco's 1960s Counterculture." PreservationNation Blog. http://blog.preservationnation.org (accessed April 27, 2014)

[2] "The History of Hippies - San Francisco, California - The Haight-Ashbury Homepage." The History of Hippies - San Francisco, California - The Haight-Ashbury Homepage. http://www.lovehaight.org/history/counterculture.html (accessed April 27, 2014).

[3] Moore, Crystal. "The Sexualized Society." Lecture,, Charlotte, North Carolina, April 17, 2014.

[4] Kinsey. DVD. Directed by Bill Condon. Beverly Hills, CA: Twentieth Century Fox :, 2004.

[5] Danaparamita , Aria. "Haight-Ashbury's Hippie House: Preserving San Francisco's 1960s Counterculture." PreservationNation Blog. http://blog.preservationnation.org (accessed April 27, 2014)

Rape Culture in America

By: Mekenzie Enloe

            Have you ever walked outside, especially at night, and felt uncomfortable and scared that someone might attack and rape you? If so, then you have been a victim of this tragedy in America called rape culture. This is the environment that we inhabit today; one in which rape is a commonplace and the media does nothing expect normalize it. As much as people like to say that it only affects a woman, that’s simply not true. The reality is that men are bothered by it, just not as prevalently.[1] It is more important than ever to recognize this disaster and change it.

            Rape culture is far from a new phenomenon. When early explorers came to the new world they created sexual imperialism and increased the prevalence of rape. Even documents such as the “Law of War and Peace” which said rape should not be permitted contradicted itself by later stating it was permitted in times of war.[2] Moving into the colonial era rape wasn’t much better. It was considered a crime only if the girl was under the age of 10, unmarried or engaged and even then the woman had to give witnesses to say she had not consented.[3] That pushes the blame to the victim, which often happens today as well. The Victorian era didn’t prove to be any better sexually as sexual commerce and the degrading of woman was at an all time high, especially amongst prostitutes. This was immensely due to the growing cities providing men anonymity as they acted out sexually.[4] This sexual dominance only escalated as time went on and in some areas, such as North Carolina, it was legal for a husband to rape his companion until the early 1990’s. Feminists and other groups worked diligently for years to change what defined rape and to change the rape culture, but progress was slow. It wasn’t until 2012 that the Federal Bureau of Investigation changed what defined aggressive rape.[5] History shows that rape culture has been around for years and has more importantly shown that much progress needs to be made in changing this.

            Modern culture says that it’s the woman’s fault for dressing inappropriately or for walking alone. It is one in which the girl is blamed for drinking too much and putting herself in a sketchy situation. Time magazine tells a story of a girl who was raped by her roommate’s boyfriend while in college and told she shouldn’t have been drinking or rather than asking about the perpetrator asked what the victim was wearing. Twenty percent of women have survived some type of sexual assault and approximately seventeen percent of men have been abused by the time they legally become an adult.[6] Why is society looking at this and standing there motionless?

            I am so tired of having to walk around in modest outfits, walk in groups and carry pepper spray anywhere I go because I am in danger! Society needs to pull out their own pepper spray and knock down the culprits. It is time that media stops writing songs normalizing rape and officials stop victim blaming. How do we change this? Simply, stop degrading women, speak out against this crime, be supportive of those suffering from this, and quit buying and watching media that gives in to and creates rape culture.[7] Learn from the history and change the future.

---

[1] Women's Center, "Rape Culture," Marshall University, http://www.marshall.edu/wcenter/sexual-assault/rape-culture/ (accessed April 27, 2014).

[2] Moore, Crystal, "Native American Sexuality & Sexual Violation in the Conquest of the Americas," Lecture, History of Sexuality, Charlotte, January 21, 2014.

[3] Moore, Crystal, "Sex in Colonial America, 1400-1800," Lecture, History of Sexuality, Charlotte, February 4, 2014.

[4] Moore, Crystal, "Sexual Commerce in Victorian America," Lecture, History of Sexuality, Charlotte, February 27, 2014.

[5] Eichelberger, Erika, "Men Defining Rape: A History," Mother Jones, http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2012/08/men-defining-rape-history (accessed April 27, 2014).

[6] Maxwell, Zerlina, "Rape Culture is Real," Time, March 27, 2014.

[7] Women's Center, "Rape Culture," Marshall University, http://www.marshall.edu/wcenter/sexual-assault/rape-culture/ (accessed April 27, 2014).

The Clery Act and It's Purpose on College Campuses?

By: Tiara Fulton

The Clery Act, also known as the Jeanne Clery Act, the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act, or the Campus Security Act, is a federal law that was signed into law by George H.W. Bush in November 1990. This is a law that came about following the death of a student at Lehigh University in April 1986. The student, Jeanne Clery, was raped, strangled, mutilated with a broken glass bottle, and then ultimately murdered.  This horrendous crime all happened in a place that she should have been safe in, her own dorm room by a fellow Lehigh University student Josoph Henry. [1] Henry was a student who lived off campus but was still able to gain entry into her residence hall by doors that had been propped open by pizza boxes. The residents of the hall found it convenient to have the doors propped open for reasons that are still unknown, but ultimately their decisions turned out to be unsafe. After two hours of deliberation on April 1987, the jury found Josoph M. Henry guilty and was sentenced to death by electric chair. However, during the trial of Josoph Henry, Jeanne Clery’s parents learned about the inconsistencies of Lehigh University campus security and filed a $25 million dollar lawsuit against the University for negligence.  [2]

The Clery Act, is enforced by the Department of Education, and requires all colleges and universities to disclose information about the crime that happens on and around the campuses. They must publish an Annual Security Report (ASR) by October 1^st that shows campus crime statistics, security policies, and the guaranteed rights of sexual assault victims. This report must be made available to all students, employees, and prospective student. Colleges are also required to have a public crime log.  Colleges with a police department are required to have a crime log that list the nature, date, time, and general location.

The crime statistics must disclose major crimes such as homicide, sexual offenses, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, vehicle theft, and arson. Hate crimes must also be reported such as theft, assault, intimidation, and vandalism. Colleges must deliver warning about crimes that pose aserious threat to students, falculty, and staff.  Arrest for alcohol, drugs, and weapons must be reported. An emergency response, notification, and testing policy must be enacted on all college campuses. Campuses must also publish an annual fire safety report, and enact policies and procedures for missing students. This helps to eliminate some the confusion during the beginning stages of a missing person investigation.[3]

As a student of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, it is comforting to know that my university is required by the Clery Act to keep students safe through various policies and keep us informed through published reports and emergency notification. Although the death of Jeanne Clery is very tragic, her untimely death was able to bring about a change on all campuses across the United States and started a cause that has now protected so many lives, and will continue to protect the lives of college students. If I wasn’t for the Clery Act who knows what campus security would be like today? Would we notified about an intruder on campus? Would we know the crime rates that happened the previous year? Would many other students have lost their lives until finally it was made clear that something needed to be done? What the parents of Jeanne Clery did after their daughters death to prevent other incidences such as their daughters horrific murder, is remarkable. All students should be thankful for the Clery Act.

---

[1] Peterson, Margie . "Murder at Lehigh University Shocked the Nation 25 Years Ago." Emmaus Patch. http://emmaus.patch.com/groups/politics-and-elections/p/murder-at-lehigh-university-shocked-the-nation-25-years-ago (accessed April 27, 2014).

[2] Gross, Ken, and Andrea Fine. "After Their Daughter Is Murdered at College, Her Grieving Parents Mount a Crusade for Campus Safety." People, February 19, 1990.

[3] "Summary Of The Jeanne Clery Act." Clery Center For Security On Campus. http://clerycenter.org/summary-jeanne-clery-act (accessed April 28, 2014).

The Cause of Sex Trafficking In Cambodia and the Effect it has On The Daughters

By: Tachina Hardy

During the 18^th Century there were many variations of prostitution and one was known as the Yellow Slave Traffic. The Yellow Slave Traffic consisted of women working in brothels, human zoos or out the house of their owners. This occurred from Asia to the West Coast. This slave traffic consisted of babies, teenagers, and children. They were put in harsh living conditions and were forced to solicit the men who walked past. [1] With this being such a long time ago you would assume the means to receive an income would have changed, however this is not the case for those who reside In Svay Pak.  

Sex trafficking in Cambodia can be considered to be fairly new. It takes place in a village outside of Cambodia’s capital known as Svay Pak. Svay Pak is an impoverished fishing village that is known for mothers to sell their kid’s virginity or sell them in general to help make ends meet or to pay off debt. Many wonder how this village and many others in Cambodia have been able to flourish in this industry and the answer to this would be bad economy and law enforcement. Between the years of 1975 through 1979 Cambodia experienced genocide which stripped them of their educated individuals and many of the social structures that kept the village up and running. It was also said that insufficient law enforcement from the government because it had been reports that government officials were an accomplice to the brothels that sold the kids by accepting bribes. With the government officials in compliance with brothels and no outlets for the kids such as schools or any recreational elements they are free for their parents to do whatever they want with them which in this situation is to sell them for financial stability. [2]

Multiple families in Svay Pak are Vietnamese migrants who are in poverty and have poor living conditions. They live in houseboats along the Tonle Sap River that has nets attached to them so they can catch fish. The water in this river is dirty and the families that do live on this river get by on less than a dollar a day, this leaves no room for safety. With that being said many moms sell their kids for this very reason. This leads me to a story of a girl I Svay Pak named Kieu. She was sold by her mom to a Cambodian Man of 50. She received $500 from this “transaction”. When Kieu’s mom was asked why she sold her daughter’s virginity her response basically was that they needed the money to pay off debt from a loan shark which was $200. She then sent her back because they had more debt to pay off. This all stems from Kieu’s father becoming ill with tuberculosis and they had no one to maintain the fishing nets. Kieu says that although she knows the men are being pleased by her acts with them make her feel very bad. Kieu’s relative Sephak was also sold by her mother as well. She was sold to a Chinese man for three nights and her mother was paid $800. Sephak wondered why her mother would do such a terrible thing toward her. The sexual act with the Chinese man made her feel weak and it hurt her. What the lack of money can cause someone to do!

Another victim of sex trafficking would be Toha who was the second oldest out of eight children. She was sold for sex by her mother at the age of 14. The man who her mom sold her to begun to request to see her again; her mom urged her to go seeing that the money was more than needed but Toha refused. The constant pressure from her mom to go work at a brothel lead Toha to self-mutilation. She did this because she wanted to kill herself because of the memory she had of being raped for three days. Not many days following her suicide attempt Toha was sent to a brothel where she only withstood 20 days and she managed to gain access to a telephone; she called a friend who then got into to contact with a former pastor who then got her help and was able to retrieve her from the brothel. Toha now lives in an AIM shelter where she is being given an education and has begun weaving bracelets; which are sold at stores. [3]

The many economic woes that present themselves within the community of Svay Pak forced the mothers to make drastic decisions which resulted in a tragic fall for their daughters. Although the act of sex trafficking may provide an income to the impoverished families that reside in Svay Pak the mothers do it at the expense of their young daughters who will never again have a normal life unless they get lucky as Toha did; and the odds of this happening in Svay Pak are slim to none.

---

[1] Crystal Moore, "Sexual Commerce." (lecture., University of North Carolina at Charlotte, 2014)

[2] Human Trafficking, "Cambodia." Last modified 2006. Accessed April 27, 2014. http://www.humantrafficking.org/countries/cambodia.

[3] Hume, Tim, Lisa Cohen, and Mira Sorvino. CNN, "The Women who Sold Their Daughters into Sex Slavery." Last modified December 11, 2013. Accessed April 27, 2014. http://www.cnn.com/interactive/2013/12/world/cambodia-child-sex-trade/.