Let’s Talk About Sex

By Sierra Talcott

One of the conversations parents tend to dread most with their kids is the one about sex. This conversation usually isn’t the most helpful either. There might be some mumbling about a condom and a banana, but that is generally it. With this mindset, the Internet or trial and error becomes the best teachers, and while trial and error can be a good method for some things, pregnancy prevention is not one of those. I remember the first time I had sex, the guy told me afterwards that he was not sure if he had put the condom on right. As a young woman who did not want to get pregnant, this was not something I wanted to hear.

This is why sexual education from a young age is so important. Not only does it help inform young adults about sex, but it also makes conversations about sex less taboo. This can lead better conversations about pregnancy prevention, but also just about sexual experiences in general. This is a good thing, especially for women, as we can have a harder time climaxing than men. Why not talk about the g- spot and variety of positions, because let’s face it, sex is fun! With the appropriate knowledge about how to have safe sex, young adults can be more open about their experiences and create more positive ones. Withholding sex education doesn’t stop sex, it just leads to the potential of more negative sexual experiences.

Practicing safe sex.

The United States has one of the highest teen pregnancy rates among first world countries. For every one thousand girls aged between fifteen and nineteen, about 57 become pregnant every year. This means that about 615,000 teenage girls who become pregnant each year in the United States. Of that number, eighty two percent of the pregnancies are unintended. With six out of every ten young women having sex, the odds of pregnancy are very high for most teenage girls.

Teenage mothers are at a higher risk for illness, stillbirth, miscarriage, and neonatal death. They are also less likely to graduate from high school and more likely to live in poverty and rely on welfare. Not only do they bare the costs of an unintended pregnancy but the rest of society feels the effects as well. $9.4 billion is lost each year from tax revenue, public assistance, child healthcare, foster care, and criminal charges, all stemming from unplanned teenage pregnancy.

This leads to the question, how can we help reduce teenage pregnancy rates? The answer to this is comprehensive sexual education. Comprehensive sexual education is based on teaching girls about self- agency and their rights as individuals, and is gender focused. It involves teaching about human development, anatomy, and reproductive health as well as sexually transmitted infections. Comprehensive sexual education also teaches about how to explore the positive values associated with sex and teaches young people about how to identify sexual abuse, as well as many other issues with regard to healthy relationships.

Comprehensive sexual education has often been surrounded by myths that this type of education encourages teenagers to have more sex. This has been proven to be untrue. Research conducted by the National Survey of Family Growth showed that teens who received comprehensive sex education were fifty percent less likely to experience pregnancy than those who received abstinence-only education. States who teach comprehensive sexual education tend to have the lowest pregnancy rates.

Comprehensive sexual education not only delays sexual experiences in youth, it also focuses on teaching age-appropriate sexual education to youth. Kindergarten through second grade students learn about family structure, their body parts, and also what to do if they are inappropriately touched. In third through fifth grade, students learn about puberty and start to learn about HIV. In sixth through eight grade, students learn about relationships, decision making, and how to resist social pressure. In later grades, students learn more about sex, including abstinence. This information being taught is vital to setting youth up for success later in life. Comprehensive sexual education doesn’t only teach about sex but also about relationships and how to have healthy ones, which is something that is helpful for everyone to learn.

While comprehensive sexual education has positive results, there has been backlash against it, primarily from conservative-minded people. As of 2018, only 24 states mandated sexual education for youth. Thirty-seven states require that if sexual education is taught, abstinence must be taught along with it. Out of those thirty-seven states, twenty-four state that abstinence must be stressed. This is compared to only thirteen states that require that sexual education must be medically accurate. Looking at the numbers, it is clear that states care more about teaching abstinence than providing medically correct information, which is astounding. This is also detrimental to youth, because abstinence-only education is not only ineffective but can give youth a skewed idea of what a healthy relationship looks like.

Abstinence-only education often stresses that sex should be saved for marriage, which in reality is not what happens in most intimate relationships. A recent survey by the Guttmacher Institute, concluded that ninety-five percent of Americans have had sex before marriage. With this being the case, clearly abstinence-only education is an outdated way of thinking.

Our youth deserve the best education possible when it comes to sexual education, and comprehensive sexual education is the way to do it. We live in a world where sexual relationships are constantly evolving, and it would be a disservice to the next generation to not give them the tools needed to have healthy sexual relationships. Sex is not only fun, it is also a healthy thing to do and should be treated as such. While abstinence is still important for youth, they need to have the tools in place to stay safe if they choose not to go that route. The consequences of not educating youth about safe sex falls mainly on teenage girls, who have every right to be taught how to prevent pregnancy so that they can choose what route they would like to take in life.

The Evolving Roles of Women in U.S. Politics

By Molly Fredriksson

When the word politician comes to mind what do you envision? Since the beginning of time, men have predominately run governments across the globe. World-wide, women only account for 24% of government. It is easy to forget that feminism is a relatively new idea to impact our politics when you compare it to how long males have dominated politics across the world.  And, of course, the meaning of feminism takes a different form in every country, changing how much women have been involved in government. Recently, women have begun to challenge the male-dominated positions. In Washington D.C., more females than ever are currently serving in Congress. But, it was a long line of women before them that helped pave a way to make it possible for them to hold such powerful positions, such that shape countries agendas, make or break economies, influence the public, create new policies, and so on.   

World in a woman’s hand
Source: Google Creative Commons

Hi, It’s Me, Kailen.

Me on the Rims in Billings, Montana

By Kailen Skewis

Hello, my name is Kailen Skewis! I am a contributor to the Women’s Center’s blog this semester. I am a twenty-year-old, third year, English major with a creative writing (fiction) emphasis. I’m not exactly a stranger to writing, but this is my first time ever doing it for an organization. I’ve been writing, journaling and creating for as long as I can remember. I tend to stick to fiction, so writing for the blog will be a new challenge for me, but I think I am up for it. I am extremely excited to start writing about the topics that I am passionate about and to share my thoughts with you.

Bailey and I, a friend I met in the dorms

College so far has been an amazing experience for me, and I can’t believe that I am already near the end. I came to the University of Idaho as nearly a junior in credits as a transfer from North Idaho College and I immediately fell in love with the campus and the people here. I spent my first year in the dorms where I met a ton of new friends. One of these friends and I got very close, and now we share an apartment together off campus.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the Real Big Deal

Ruth Bader Ginsburg, otherwise known as RBG, is the second woman ever to be appointed to the Supreme Court. She was appointed by Bill Clinton in 1993 and after the first woman to be appointed to the Supreme Court, Sandra Day O’Connor, retired, she was the only woman on the court for a while. In 1972, Ginsburg co-founded the Women’s Rights Project at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and, in 1973, she became the ACLU’s general counsel.

The Women’s Rights Project and related ACLU projects participated in over 300 gender discrimination cases by 1974. All the while, RBG was a wife and mother. Within the first few years of this project, Ginsburg fought six cases of discrimination before the Supreme Court, and won five. She chose to focus not just on problems faced by women, but demonstrated that gender inequality was detrimental for both men and women. She took part in expanding the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to include women. She also argued for a widower with children who, when his wife passed, was unable to collect any benefits to help him support his dependents. She’s part of the reason that jury duty became mandatory for women as citizens of this nation, and why women in Oklahoma could legally drink at the same age as men.

Good News!

By Mary Emert

On Tuesday November 6^th the nation held its midterm elections and the stakes, to some, have never been higher. And, in some places the results have never been better. A record number of women, people of color, and people from the LGBT+ community ran, and a record number of them won as well ushering in new faces to represent America.

Congress will have a record breaking 118 women, next year making up 22% of congress which is a significant jump from the 20% currently in office. Many of these women were inspired after the 2016 election, and many of them are democratic working towards women’s rights to birth control, safe abortion, and equal treatment in politics.

Two of these women, Sharice Davids and Deb Haaland, happen to be Native American both women are very involved in their tribes and interested in the rights of Native Women, who unknown to many have the highest missing and murdered percentages among any minority. Davids also identifies as a lesbian making her the first openly LGBT+ member of Congress from Kansas.

In this she is not alone either. Colorado Democratic Rep. Jared Polis, will be the first openly gay governor of Colorado. Chris Pappas will be New Hampshire’s first openly gay member of Congress. Lesbian Angie Craig defeats anti-LGBTQ congressman in Minnesota, will be first openly gay person elected to Congress from the state. Two transgender women, Gerri Cannon and Lisa Bunker, were elected to the New Hampshire House of Representatives. According to the Los Angeles Blade, Cannon and Bunker will join Virginia state Del. Danica Roem as the only openly trans members of any U.S. state legislature. Democrats Susan Ruiz and Brandon Woodard become the first LGBT+ members of

Creating immortality for equal representation

She Should Run

By Sierra Rothermich

Think of a woman you look up to…

Think of a woman who has inspired you…

Think of a woman who has impacted your life…

Should she run for office?

SheShouldRun, a national organization that aims to expand the number of women in office, wants us to ask ourselves that question. Sofia Pereira, Community Manager for SheShouldRun, said Women already contribute to our communities in so many ways–whether you’re a scientist, a stay at home mom, a non-profit leader or an entrepreneur. Yet, out of the over half a million elected offices that exist in America, women make up less than a third.

By 2030, SheShouldRun aims to fulfill their goal of having 250 thousand women running for office. However, to accomplish that goal, as women we must be ambitious and act. This means we need to express our strength, determination, and passion to inspire women now and into the future. Inspiring others requires using our thoughts, ideas, and values to create a legacy of equal representation.

7 Women with Disabilities who You Should Know

By Makayla Sundquist

Bada** and disabled? Can those two words coincide? Oh, they most definitely can. Even though women with disabilities are typically portrayed negatively in the media, real life women are combating ableism (discriminating against persons with disabilities) and making history. Here are 7 women with disabilities whose names and stories you need to learn…

  Melissa Stockwell

Stockwell celebrates a victory in Auckland, New Zealand. Photo via her website

Melissa Stockwell is a Paralympic athlete who competes for the United States as a triathlete. She has won gold in multiple world championships. However, Stockwell was famous long before her athlete career. She was the first American female soldier to lose a limb in the Iraq war. Her left leg was amputated after a car bomb in 2004. She started competing in triathlons after having her leg amputated. Talk about bada**!

            Judy Heumann

Huemann gives a TEDx talk describing the need to continue fighting for disability rights. Photo via youtube.

Next on the list of totally awesome disabled women is Judy Heumann. Heumann became the first teacher in New York City to teach in a wheelchair. She also played a critical role in the passing of Section 504, the first civil rights protection for people with disabilities. What Section 504 does is prohibit programs that receive federal funding to discriminate against people with disabilities. She currently works as a Special Advisor for International Disability Rights. Go Judy!

Oprah 2020?

Oprah Winfrey receiving an award from President Obama

By Chloe Rigg

The beginning of a new year. A time of resolutions, the hopes of better weather, and award shows. After Oprah Winfrey’s phenomenal speech at the Golden Globes, “Oprah 2020” lit a spark throughout social media. I love Oprah as much as anyone. However, amongst this I must ask, “Would ‘Oprah 2020’ really be what our country needs?” Having our next president be an African American woman would help bring about the change we need, but is Oprah the right woman? Oprah is a celebrity with no political experience, and though vastly different than President Trump, she wouldn’t know how to properly run our government. She already has an established presence with her career, and continuously  . She does all these things throughout the US, without a spot in the White House. But, fear not. This doesn’t mean you are stuck with another “white stiff in a suit.” Instead, here are a few women of color who have plenty of political experience and would be great candidates to break the glass ceiling. (Oprah would probably love these, too.)

A Picture of the American Sex Worker

By Rosemary Anderson

As I write this article, I want to make it known that the sex industry is not always positive for women and girls. According to the U.S. National Library of Medicine, sex workers around the world have a 45 to 75 percent chance of experiencing violence during their careers.

When sex workers do experience violence, they are not protected by rape shield laws and are not eligible for compensation funds.

Many see sex workers as objects, non-human, and second-rate members of society. This makes sex workers even more prone to being victims of violence.

Women are forced into sex work without their consent, others are forced into sex work because of financial situations, and some choose sex work as their profession.

The Women of the Alt-Right

A previously posted open-sourced photograph of Lana Lokteff was removed because she did not consent to her image being published in association with this article.

By Rosemary Anderson

The American alt-right movement wants to strip women of the right to vote, allow men to use violent tactics to “keep women in line,” and force women back into the home–but alt-right men are not the only ones who support these statements. Women do too.

With the rise of the alt-right, increasingly more women have become involved in the movement.

Racism, sexism, transphobia, homophobia, anti-Semitism, antifeminism: all are words that can describe the alt-right. So how do people get involved in the first place? Specifically, how do women get involved?