Statutory rape laws are meant to protect the young, vulnerable and often defenseless in society from those that seek to exploit their naiveté. We are glad statutory rape laws exist, especially when we picture a middle-aged man seducing a wide-eyed teenaged girl. These statutes make it easier to prosecute and deter rape, which we know is often difficult to do given the general skepticism surrounding rape allegations. Few of us, however, think about the times when statutory rape laws can result in stiff penalties for behavior we don’t view quite …

How old were you when you started thinking about sex? A recent survey of African American youth conducted by the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy andEssence magazine is illuminating the attitudes young people have about sex and relationships. While much of the survey’s results will sound familiar — I can remember having some of the same thoughts and feelings as a young woman – one finding might just be the key to helping our young people make wiser decisions for their health and futures.

August is coming to a close which, for me, almost always means back to school time. No, I’m not preparing to send any little ones off to class with a backpack full of Elmer’s glue and safety scissors. I’m the one downloading textbooks to my iPad and printing out syllabuses as I prepare to finish up my third degree. While I enjoy learning and the sense of embarking on a new journey that accompanies the beginning of each semester, I have to be on the defensive around this time of …

From the “Ask a Lady” column at The Hairpin I bring you Acquaintansex:
Q. I have a few questions for you! Well actually just one question: “Am I going to be able to get laid after college?”
I just graduated and moved to a new city. I only know coworkers, and LOL that is it. I have like two friends who are products of mutual friends from elsewhere and I am slowly meeting some others but … I like to have casual sex with acquaintances, although not really more than like five times max and actually …

Take a minute to read this before you schedule your next bikini wax. While it might not cause you to alter your grooming routine, perhaps you’ll pause and think before baring your goods on the esthetician’s table.

The no-kids-allowed movement is spreading
What’s the matter with kids today and why doesn’t anyone want them around? In June, Malaysia Airlines banned babies from many of their first class cabins, prompting other major airlines to consider similar policies.Lately, complaints about screaming kids are being taken seriously, not only by airlines, but by hotels, movie theaters, restaurants, and even grocery stores.
I really have no problem with this at all. Even parents want to have space away from their darlings.
You’re not a monster if you want a childless Harry Potter night when kids can attend …

It’s a simple fact of life just as natural as breathing: every 28 days or so, a post-pubescent female will shed her uterine lining if she has not become pregnant or otherwise caused her cycle to go on hiatus. Attitudes toward menstruation have varied throughout the years. In early Native and South American cultures, women retreated to “moon huts” together where they sat on mossy grass to soak up their blood and recycle it back into the earth. They meditated and made major community decisions while there. In ancient Rome …

Just read this article on GOOD – Do All American Schools Need to Teach Chinese?:
Given the phenomenal growth of the Chinese economy, more American schools are adding Mandarin Chinese to their foreign language offerings. But no Western nation is taking Chinese language education more seriously than Sweden. Time reports that the Swedish education minister Jan Björklund recently announced plans to add Chinese to their nationwide grade school curriculum. According to Björklund, learning Chinese is going to “be much more important, from an economic perspective” than the traditionally offered European languages. Do American schools need to do …

How’s this for news? A recent study by the National Bureau of Economic Research found that when poor people have access to health insurance, they’re more likely to see doctors on a regular basis, get preventive screenings, access and take prescription medications, and have an overall positive outlook on their health. This might seem painfully obvious but our elected officials in Congress are presently considering the worthiness of providing health insurance to the poor through Medicaid, the state-administered federal health care program for low-income individuals. In the interest of resuscitating America’s economy and cutting …

When/if you get married*, do you plan to take your husband’s last name? I bet you’ve thought about it at least once … For some women, it’s about tradition and the idea of becoming bound as one with your spouse. For others, taking on your husband’s name feels like giving up much more than your personalized tote bags. What if you learned that the decision to keep or change your name post-nuptials had a real effect on your income potential? Would that affect your decision?

Prague, Rio de Janeiro, Berlin, London – all places I’m considering for a fabulous New Year’s vacation with the girls. With the first official day of summer this week, you’ve probably got more BBQs and bikinis on the brain than noisemakers and Auld Lang Syne, but you might want to start looking up flight deals once you hear how a vay-cay with your girls can help ease stress and improve your relationships.

June is Men’s Health Month and in 1994, the U.S. Congress designated the week leading up to Father’s Day as Men’s Health Week – a time to raise awareness of preventable health problems and encourage men and boys to seek out early detection and treatment of disease. As a feminist and women’s health advocate, I am well aware of the continued threats to women’s sexual and reproductive health as well as the need to increase access and awareness around those issues.