Some health friendly tips for the female reproductive organs.

Visit any medical website, and you’ll learn that vaginal dryness is a common health complaint that women have regarding sexual intimacy. It can lead to itching, burning and painful sex, and is caused by a number of things such as menopausal or hormonal changes, childbirth, surgeries, medicine, douching and lack of adequate foreplay.  If you do experience dryness, they recommend the use of personal lubrications.

Makes common sense, right?

What most sites rarely explain is that they type of lubrication you use can either make the dryness disappear…or end up forcing you to put a Do Not Enter sign over your nether bits.

Ansel Muir Hall, the CEO of Blossom Organics, a company that makes natural and organic aloe-based lubrication explains that the reason may be in the ingredients. Personal lubricants are popular and the market is “dominated by brands that are starting to offer better products, but most [sold today] include a host of ingredients that are truly questionable,” he explains.

As one of 3 co-founders for Blossom Organics, Hall (who is named after Ansel Adams and John Muir) told me that the company was founded on the principle that people want clean and healthy alternatives.

“Women are becoming concerned with living cleaner, healthier lifestyle. This means making good, smart choices about the products they use, but an area equally or more important that has been largely forgotten is intimacy products.”

There’s also been a general apathy among some environmentalists to examine sexuality and sexual health concerns. It’s a trend that is slowly changing as more advocates find what some advocates call their e-Spot. “If a woman is concerned with what she put on her skin, she should be even more concerned with what she’s putting in the most absorbent skin her body – her vagina,” says Hall.

What ingredients should you avoid in lubricants?

Though this list isn’t by any means complete, some questionable ingredients include: parabens, petrochemicals, benzene derivatives such as sodium benzoate, methyl, ethyl and propylparaben, and benzoate of soda. Boric acid, salicylates and cinnamic aldehyde (an ingredient used in ‘hot’ lubricants) are also questionable.

Hall’s question to women who want to have safer, healthier, better sex is this: why take the risk? Companies like Blossom Organics offer great alternatives. Go with natural, organic and proven safe ingredients, he says.

Whose Fault is It?

Many women have a reaction to the product they are using, and might think the problem is their body, not the lubrication. One reason these ingredients need to be avoided during sex is because your skin can absorb things more readily than if it’s something taken orally.

Take just one potentially toxic ingredient: Parabens.

According to Lisa S. Lawless, Ph.D. and founder of Holistic Wisdom, an organization which provides empowering education, products and resources to promote sexual wellness, it’s best to avoid them all together. In an article for NaturalNews.com, she writes:

“Parabens are controversial toxins that have been shown to alter estrogen in females, increase allergies, decrease sperm count in men, contribute to skin cancer and disrupt normal fetal development in pregnant women.”

Regulations are poor and inadequate, she explains. The consequence is that many products contain toxins, and “there are many unanswered questions about what consumers are using on and inside their body.”

What’s more, most consumers in the middle east and beyond are unaware of what is in their personal lubricant or the effect on their health.

“If a woman is concerned with what she put on her skin, she should be even more concerned with what she’s putting in the most absorbent skin her body – her vagina.” Ansel Muir Hall

11 Possible Brutal Consequences

When it comes to safe sex and using the right lube, it’s consumer beware. Unless you know exactly what’s in that jar of jelly, you could be exposing yourself to some potentially unpleasant side effects and health concerns, suggests NaturalNews.com and other sites. Loopholes in the regulation of the sex product industry, limited testing or inadaquate reporting (depending on where a consumer lives) of reactions mean that you could experience any number of ailments and not know what ingredient, or combination of exposures, contributed to the following conditions.

• Rashes and/or skin lesions
• Fatigue
• Nerve degeneration
• Yeast (candida) infections
• Inflammation
• Myalgia
• Cancer
• Reduced sperm count
• Birth defects
• Liver damage
• Insulin resistance

Safer sex tips

Our advice is simple

1. Only use a product that clearly reveals all the ingredients to you.

2. Avoid using anything with the ingredients listed above.

3. If you can’t find or order a product like Blossom Organics, and are in a pinch, consider using something like coconut oil, vitamin E or even olive oil (though oils are not advised for use with latex condoms).

4. Never use something like motor oil, petrolatum or mineral oil.

The biggest challenge is getting the word out there,” says Hall of Blossom Organics when it comes to using good, healthy ingredients in intimate care. “We need to have an a more open dialogue about the importance of sexual health in our society. We are moving in that regard, and people are making that happen.”

In other words, it is up to you to be smart and practice safe sex when it comes to your intimate wellbeing.

Read More Sexual Health News:

3 Ways Eco-Consciousness Can Improve Your Love Life

Why are Environmentalists Avoiding the e-Spot?

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Condoms have been around for 400 years, with very little improvements over the last 50 years, according to Grand Challenges in Global Health, a research foundation established by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation – the one that funded a new kind of toilet.

To bring the condom into the 21st century, Global Health is offering the grant to anyone who can develop the best “testable hypothesis” for a condom that can preserve or enhance pleasure. “The primary drawback from the male perspective,” they state is that, “condoms decrease pleasure as compared to no condom, creating a trade-off that many men find unacceptable, particularly given that the decisions about use must be made just prior to intercourse.”

Will this improve the use of condoms in the Middle East, an area that traditionally has shunned the sheath?

According to some reports, condom use in the Middle East is lower than any other region in the world. Worldmapper writes: “Of all the older boys and younger men in the world, 47% report to have used a condom at the last time of high-risk sex. The region with the highest condom use is North America, at 63.5%. The lowest condom use is in the Middle East at 36.8%.” The authors acknowlege that reporting biases make it challenging for researchers to study condom use, particularily with ‘high-risk’ sex acts. High risk sex is define as intercourse with someone a man does not live with or is married to.

An improved condom will do more than make protected sex feel better for men. Condom discomfort is one of the reasons that men and women opt not to use them. Other concerns, especially for women, can include physical irritation, drying, unpleasant smells and taste sensations, suggests Amanda Hess in a Slates article.

We’ve previously reported on the importance of developing female-friendly condoms that are made from sustainable products and are eco-friendly to those who are using them and the planet. That’s why we hope whoever wins the 100,000 grant does more than build a more pleasurable condom: make sure it is eco-conscious too.

If a local inventor wins the grant, they would join Israel recipients who are working to build a better toilet.

Read more sexual health news:

 How do Tree-Humpers Prevent Pregnancy?
GMO Foods Shrining Sexual Health in a Womb Near You
Ecosexy Love Begins with L Condoms

The post Bill Gates Seeks Next Generation Condom appeared first on Green Prophet.

A plant-rich diet is best for your sexual and reproductive wellbeing.

The Mediterranean Diet is often hailed as an excellent choice for those who want to ensure lifelong vitality, fertility and reproductive stamina. This diet is noteworthy for what’s it in – whole grains, legumes, nuts and seeds, fresh fruits and vegetables, fatty fish and limited dairy, eggs and red meat – as it is for what’s not in it: processed foods. Others tout the value of vegan (“Vegan” is the new “Viagra” is a popular meme) and vegetarianism as best for us and our nether bits.

Whatever foods make it to your shopping list and table, there are some key ingredients that serve all foodies and lovers of aphrodisiacs alike. I call these the 4 Fs of eating for optimal sexual health.

First of all, it makes sense that the more fresh foods we eat, the better our overall health and vitality will be. The SLOW food movement emphasizes eating sustainably and locally grown. Organic and whole serve our bodies, minds and souls best. Sexual vigor depends on having strong and well-functioning organs to pump the blood and produce the hormones that regulate our sexual activities. Ovulation and sperm production are enhanced by nutrition-rich diets. Phytochemicals, enzymes and antioxidants are also essential.

Sometimes it gets overwhelming to choose wisely when there’s so much advice about nutrition out there. That’s why the 4 Fs comes in handy. If eating for sexual health ranks high on your shopping list, and you want to stock a sex-friendly pantry, consider eating more:

Fiber: We need this to clean out the debris in our bodies. Fiber is essential for our digestion, and fiber from whole-grains also helps with insulin function. Think of things like millet, quinoa (which is a yummy alternative to use in Tabouli salad), buckwheat and amaranth, sweet potatoes and whole grain breads as the go-to choices for healthy sexy menus.

Fruits and Veggies: Suggesting people eat more fruits and vegetables seems like a no-brainer. In addition to getting your 5-9 servings a day, make it a habit to have 3-5 different colors on your plate at each meal. This will make it more likely that you get a wider variety of nutrients from your plant-based diet. A healthy and sexy body depends on an abundance of vitamins and minerals that feed the brain and the heart.

Fats: Healthy fats are a necessity for sexual wellbeing. First of all, the brain needs these to function. Essential fatty acids like Omega 3 and 6 are absolutely necessary for hormone production. The key to eating fats is to make sure they are the right kind – in this case, healthy options include olive oil, fatty fish like salmon and tuna (though one must also consider where our fish comes from and avoid mercury contaminated fish) avocado, nuts and seeds. Middle East cuisine contains an ample supply of these types of fats compared to the typical Western diet that includes more animal fats. Not surprisingly, lower rates of erectile dysfunction are found in societies that eat the right kinds of fats (and excercise, etc.)

Flavor: This is the most esoteric suggestion of the four. Foods that are delicious and well seasoned please the palate and much as our parts. Experimenting with herbs and spices enhances the cooking and eating experience for the chef and the guest. In some cases, there is evidence that certain herbs and spices have aphrodisiac or healthy benefits. The role of flavor is even deeper than infusing the food with vitaliciousness. What we eat and how we eat in a fast paced world can benefit from savoring the flavors, allowing our tongues to caress the textures in our mouths, letting the joy of consumption take over for a bit.

The 4 Fs are just one pillar of vital eating. How we eat and where our food comes is intimately connected to taking better care of the planet and one another. After all, sexual wellbeing thrives when our bodies are nourished the right way, and when our minds and hearts are receptive and invigorated by meaningful connections to one another.

Image of portrait of a young woman eating lettuce, Shutterstock

Read more Food News:

Food Shortage Could Force World to go Veggie

The World’s Most Expensive Spicy Aphrodisiac: It really Works!

Tinamarie Bernard is a natural intimacy coach and blogs at www.tinamariebernard.com.

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Following our report on turmeric‘s benefits for natural breast health, science is finding more evidence for Mother Nature’s healing possibilities. According to ScienceDaily.com, “scientists at Aston University and Russells Hall Hospital have discovered that an extract from a common plant in Pakistan may help treat breast cancer.”

While more research is needed, according to the report, the results were free from the side effects such as hair loss associate with modern cancer treatments. The plant, called Fagonia cretica, is part of a family of plants that grow in arid, desert regions including Africa, the Mediterranean and Middle East regions.

From the ScienceDaily.com report:

“The plant, Fagonia cretica, and known as Virgon’s Mantlem, is commonly used in herbal tea. It has been traditionally used to treat women in rural Pakistan who have breast cancer, but up until now this treatment has been regarded as something of a folklore remedy. However, patients in Pakistan who have taken the plant extract have reported that it does not appear to generate any of the serious common side effects associated with other cancer treatments, such as loss of hair, drop in blood count or diarrhea.”

Now, scientists at Aston University in Birmingham and Russells Hall Hospital in Dudley have undertaken tests of the plant extract and demonstrated that it kills cancer cells without damage to normal breast cells in laboratory conditions.

Professor Helen Griffith and Professor Amutul R Carmichael who lead the study are now aiming to identify which element or elements of the plant are responsible for killing the cancer cells with a view to eventually begin trails with human cancer patients.

Professor Helen Griffith of Aston University said; “More research is needed to establish the role of the extract in cancer management and It now needs to be demonstrated that this extract is as effective in killing cancer cells inside the body as it is within laboratory. The next steps are to identify which element of the plant is responsible for killing the cancer cells with a view to eventually begin trails with human cancer patients.”

 

As an plant family, Fogonia is distributed across many regions. The rural communities in Pakistan and beyond who are familiar with it as a potential medicine or supplement ‘may not benefit from it’s development as a pharmaceutical,’ writes a Nature and Science blog devoted to natural medicinal discoveries. “The populations who know and use the herb, perhaps originally because they have few other affordable or effective options, are not likely to see much recognition of their prior art in having knowledge of the herb as a medicine.” 

Overall, this is good news for women who are interested in learning more about herbs for breast health, enhancing breasts naturally or who understand the delicate balance between living sustainably and sexual wellness. With environmental toxins being likely culprits for a variety of concerns including increasing breast size, it’s important that further research is completed that does more than simply identify the cancer-fighting compounds within this plant. Really smart science would ask those who are familiar with Fagonia‘s properties to share how best to serve these specific cups of tea while honoring humanity’s long history of turning to nature for what ails us, breasts and all.

:: Image via Diana Blackwell

Read more breast health news:

Are Hormones in the Environment Making Breasts Bigger?
How do Tree Humpers Prevent Pregnancy?

You can follow Tinamarie on twitter and facebook. 

The post Tea Extract from Pakistan May Help Treat Breast Cancer appeared first on Green Prophet.

Easy access to odorless, tasteless knock-out drugs makes victimizing women easy. These drugs go by  hip names like Cat Valium, Special K, Bump, Ruffies, and, with horrible humor, Black Hole – referring to the unconsciousness and amnesia that victims experience.

A woman trying to bring her rapist to justice is all too often brushed off with a cold “You asked for it.” And a woman raped while drugged has no way to prove her claim, for the chemicals dissipate in the bloodstream within a few hours.

But soon a woman won’t have to wonder if the cute guy she’s chatting with is really OK. Chemists at the Tel Aviv University have invented a device with a sensor that changes colors instantly when popped into a spiked drink.

The inventors, Prof. Fernando Patolsky and Dr. Michael Ioffe, presented the technology at the Nano Conference 2011 in Israel. They say that the sensor can detect the most commonly used date rape drugs with 100 percent accuracy.

Dr. Ioffe adds, “Currently, the system is geared towards detecting GHB and ketamine. We hope to expand the system so it will identify additional date rape drugs as well.”

Now working on making the device small enough to carry in a purse, perhaps in the shape of a pen or straw, the researchers explain that all it takes to make it work is one tiny sip to draw liquid up. If the drink is drugged, the straw immediately changes colors. The sensor would come in a disposable cartridge that works two or three times, and would be inexpensive to replace.

This sounds cumbersome to casual drinkers and after a few might be hard to use. But we are optimistic.

While looking for added investors, Drs. Patolsky and Ioffe hope to offer the anti-rape date device for sale in the next year.

The state of Middle-Eastern women’s empowerment from Green Prophet:

• Slutwalk in Israel
• King Abudullah gives women the right to vote
• Egyptian women protestors forced to take “virginity” tests

The post Date rape straw can taste GHB appeared first on Green Prophet.

Score one small victory for consumer groups and ecosexuals everywhere: The United State’s ban on bisphenol-A or BPA is a small step towards ending our romance with toxins. That’s the good news. The downside is that this ruling by the Food and Drug Administrations has no direct bearing on consumers in the Middle East. A ban on BPA in bottles is insufficient in the long term, failing to address the many sources of this compound or the long list of other compounds tweaking our reproductive health.

BPA is a hormonally active chemical found in everything from cash register receipts to soup and beverage cans to plastic wrap and bottles. An ‘estrogen mimicker’, it has been linked to precocious puberty in females and the feminization of males including urogenital defects, such as penises that are malformed, among other things.

It is simply insufficient protection against the potential harm to all of us.

The Wall Street Journal reports: “BPA is found in hundreds of plastic items from water bottles to CDs to dental sealants. Some researchers say ingesting the chemical can interfere with development of the reproductive and nervous systems in babies and young children. They point to dozens of studies showing such an effect from BPA in rodents and other animals.

“But the FDA has repeatedly stated that those findings cannot be applied to humans. The federal government is currently spending $30 million on its own studies assessing the chemical’s health effects on humans.

“It is estimated that ‘about 90 percent of Americans have traces of BPA in their urine, mainly as a result of food and beverage packaging.

Despite the FDA’s caution regarding applying the results of animal studies to human outcomes, consumer groups have taken a stronger stance

For example, the Plastic Pollution Coalition states that “the alarm over the widespread use of BPA is entirely warranted. BPA has been linked with increased risk for cardiovascular disease, breast and prostate cancer, early puberty, obesity, diabetes, infertility, erectile dysfunction, and learning and attention-related disorders.”

They reference a review of more than 800 studies published last month in the journal Endocrine Reviews [that] shows that even extremely small doses of BPA can be toxic.

“The study authors conclude that due to the effects of low doses of hormone-disrupting chemicals, “fundamental changes in chemical testing and safety determination are needed to protect human health.”

BPA is just one worrisome compound in some plastics.  According to an October 2011 list compiled by TEDx’s Endocrine Disruption Exchange, there are at least 870 known chemicals that can mimic hormones and therefore alter our bodies and our systems.

In a May 2012 article on harmful chemicals, Nicholas D. Kristof of the New York Times wrote that “nation’s safety system for endocrine disruptors is broken.”

Citing several studies and conclusions by scientists  – linking things like congenital birth defects in boys to micro-penises in alligators – it’s the opinion of this author that regulatory agencies and governments around the world have essentially failed to protect their citizens from a decades long assault on our sexual and reproductive health.

Kristoff writes: “Scientists have long known the tiniest variations in hormone levels influence fetal development. For example, a female twin is very slightly masculinized if the other twin is a male, because she is exposed to some of his hormones. Studies have found that these female twins, on average, end up slightly more aggressive and sensation-seeking as adults but have lower rates of eating disorders.”

Why after almost 20 years since the term endocrine disrupters was coined are we still so exposed and at risk from these chemicals? Aside from a failure of adaquate protection, in part it may also be because mos don’t fully appreciate how nuanced and sensitive the endocrine system is.

It takes very little of a hormone, synthetic or not, to impact us. Microscopic levels of exposure (parts per billions), the timing of exposure (fetal exposure is often far riskier) or long-term damage (in some cases, it is children of those who were exposed who suffer the consequences) means we are all at risk.

What can you do besides avoid plastic bottles with or without BPA? The answer is simple: Avoid plastics all together.

Read More BPA News:
BPA Chemical Banned From Baby Bottles, Cups in the US
BPA Disrupts the Quality of Eggs Retrieved in IVF Treatment
BPA- What’s the Big Deal, Baby?
The author is a regular contributor to Greenprophet.com and blogs at www.tinamariebernard.com.

Image of hormones by Shutterstock

The post BPA is One of Hundreds of Endocrine Disrupters appeared first on Green Prophet.

Jet fuel in breast milk? Breasts getting bigger than generations ago? These are just two discoveries that investigative journalist, Florence William’s, shares in her latest book about the environmental impact on breasts.

Breasts: A Natural and Unnatural History (2012) is more than an ode to those beguiling curves; it is part of the growing body of research and awareness about eco-conscious intimacy, a movement some are calling ‘ecosexuality.’ A term originally coined by Greenpeace about 10 years ago, among other things ecosexuality invites us to examine the impact of toxins on our reproductive selves.

“For such an enormously popular feature of the human race — even today, when they are frequently bikinied, bared, flaunted, measured, inflated, sexted, YouTubed, suckled, pierced, tattooed, tassled and in every way fetishized — it’s remarkable how little we know about their basic biology,” Williams says.

Being made primarily of fat and glandular tissue, “breasts, it turns out, are a particularly fine mirror of our industrial lives,” Williams explains. “In the course of a lifetime, [they] meet many friends and foes: lovers, babies, ill-fitting undergarments, persistent pollutants, maybe a nipple ring, a baggie of silicone or a dose of therapeutic radiation. It’s a lot to ask of breasts.”

Measurable consequences include bigger breasts developed earlier with toxins finding hiding places in unsuspecting bosoms. Toxins come from industrial sources including air pollution. William’s had her breast milk tested and found that it was laced with miniscule amounts of jet fuel. However, consumers are also inadvertently exposed to daily household use items.

Many of those are in our beauty, cleaning and pleasure aid products. For example, lead in lipsticks reduces fertility in men and women. Toluene in nail polish and hair dye stops menstruation and decreases sperm count. Phthalates are reproductive toxins found in fragrances, cosmetics, and personal care products (even many vibrators and dildos). Bisphenol-A in plastics has been shown to cause spontaneous abortions and alter a man’s sperm.

Breast cancer rates vary around the globe, with women in Israel having rates similar to the west. It kills fewer women than heart disease, but because its scars reach deeper than our skin, it’s the rallying call that resonates with women’s private erotic selves. This touches on another aspect of the ecosex movement; our attitudes towards pleasure, our bodies and what is considered ‘natural.’ For better or for worse, Williams message about breast health underscores the complicated relationship society often has with the female body.

From the author’s website:

“Feted and fetishized, the breast is an evolutionary masterpiece. But in the modern world, the breast is changing… and attracting newfangled chemicals. Increasingly, the odds are stacked against us in the struggle with breast cancer – even among men. What makes breasts so mercurial – and so vulnerable?”

Her investigation follows the life cycle of the breast from puberty to pregnancy to menopause, bringing her from a plastic surgeon’s office where she learns about the importance of cup size in Texas to a lab where she discovers the presence of environmental toxins in her own breast milk.

Endowed with a witty and inquisitive voice, Williams explores where breasts came from, where they have ended up, and what we can do to save them.

Florence Williams work often focuses on the environment, health and science. She is a contributing editor at Outside Magazine and a freelance writer for New York Times, New York Times Magazine and numerous other publications.

Read more breast health news:
Ecosex and Why Environmentalists Are Avoiding the e-Spot
Are Hormones in the Environment Making Women’s Breasts Bigger?
Natural Breast Enhancement

The post Breast Milk Worth More Than Oil appeared first on Green Prophet.

People will soon be having sex with robots as the latest in sex tourism, suggests a recent news report.  This novel twist on ‘clean technology’ (the inventors point out that the androids will be made of bacteria-resistant fibers) is enough to turn us green, and not with envy. More of the puke, I’m going to be sick, let me run to the market and get some organic veggies and eat them raw kind of green. We are already living in a wired world. Do machines have to commandeer our genitals too?

That’s the con. A pro? Maybe robot hookers will offer a meaningful solution to the problem of sex slavery (a concern in the Middle East and globally). Let’s examine the wild wired world of robots for pleasure from two sides: the revolting and the revolutionary.

It’s a wild wired world

Computers and mobile phones, gadgets of all sorts and capabilities, have hijacked daily functioning. Pretty soon, our refrigerators will tell our cell phones to direct our cars to the grocery store because we are out of milk. We won’t even have to drink the stuff to know it’s gone. I loved the movie Wall-E, but I don’t want to look like that, blobbed out with machines doing all the living for me.

Technology has already sucked out part of our brains. I used to remember friends’ phone numbers. Not anymore. It took me months to get my own new home phone number firmly imprinted in my brain, that part of my cerebrum completely dulled by years of cell phone address book dependency.

Social networking now means my computer and I chat away with great friends, people I’ve never met, all over the globe. We could pass each other on the streets and never know one another for real. We’re having complete relationships with strangers sans touch, feel, sight and sound.

Sure, sex with machines promises to give us mind-blowing orgasms, but I’m not convinced that is in our best interest.  Call me an evolutionist worrywart, but what about good old-fashioned procreation? Oh, I understand it now. We won’t need to reproduce anymore. The robots will replicate themselves. By the time they look like people, somewhere in 2050, we won’t notice when our Sexbots pull the plugs on us.

Clean Tech?

According to reports, this revolutionary tourist attraction (gives new meaning to that word) won’t be cheating because the machines are machines, not human. Plus the robots will be cleaned between each ‘use.’ Not exactly what I have in mind when I think of clean technology. Sanitized sex all the way…somehow I’m feeling dirty just thinking about it.

Ending Human Rights Abuses?

That’s the revolting view of robotic prostitution. Up next: what are the implications of android prostitutes, and would their use help eradicate coersive sex work from a human rights perspective?

More Robot and Tech News:
Your Pee Could Power EcoBot III
Absurd 24 carat iPads sell for $5,500
How to Make Paper From Potty

Photo sexy robot by Shutterstock

Tinamarie Bernard is the author of People Planet Pleasure Purpose: Five Meaningful Ways to Embody Eco-Conscious Intimacy. 

The post Robot Sex the CleanTech Future of Tourism? appeared first on Green Prophet.

SlutWalk started in Toronto, Ontario, Canada in April 2011 in response to the slur of a Toronto Police officer who suggested that women could remain safe by avoiding dressing like ‘sluts.’ Since then, the movement has spread across the globe as a worldwide protest against aggression and rape. Activists are reframing the dialogue, calling on societies to place the blame on the perpetrators, and not the victims.

We’ve covered the social justice angles in our OpEd, connected the dots between environmentalism and women’s issues, and revealed that Israel is the first country in the Middle East to organize three SlutWalks. Now we’re providing interested readers with links to the Facebook event pages, including dates and location information (please note: most of the information on Facebook is in Hebrew).

Tel Aviv SlutWalk will take place on Thursday, March 22, 2012, (starting off at Gan Meir at 18:00).  The Haifa SlutWalk is scheduled for March 30, 2012, and the Jerusalem SlutWalk is set for Friday, April 27, 2012.

From the Tel Aviv SlutWalk facebook event page (please note, the organizers are clear that attendees from all walks of life are invited, including those who prefer modest dress):

When all over we are hearing the claim that women who choose to dress revealingly, drink alcohol or act in a certain way are responsible for being raped and sexually harassed we have to protest.

This assumption hurts not only the rape victims but also women in general. Women feel that their basic rights to live and act the way they choose is threatened. Men, too, are also affected by this attitude. They are treated as incompetent beasts with no self awareness and who therefore cannot control themselves.

In the 24th of January, 2011, a policeman in Toronto, Canada, said that to stay safe and not become victims women must not dress like sluts. A sentence like this, that was said in an official conference of the Canadian police force displays the sad state that exists all over the world. And so was born the idea of The Slut Walk, which spread all over the world.

In Israel, the situation isn’t different. When victims finally muster up the courage to ask for help they are often answered with the sentence: “you asked for it”. This general state of mind, blaming the victims themselves for what they went through, climbs up into the highest ranks of government and army.

Because of the initiative of The Slut Walks in Haifa and Jerusalem, we’d like to have a walk of our own – here, in Tel Aviv. Let’s prove that our wardrobe is our own choice and ours only. Our body is our own and therefore we have the right to dress and look the way the way we want – whether it pleases other people or not. It is no excuse for rape, or any form of sexual harassment.

Come with revealing clothes, or don’t come with revealing clothes. Come dressed exactly the way you want to dress. No one will judge you- that’s the cause. It is everyone’s right, men and women, to dress the way they want. We will be walking from Gan Meir to Rabin Square in revealing clothes. Dress the way you wish and come march with us!

As the only democratic country in the Middle East, it is not surprising that Israel is hosting the first SlutWalks in the region. Morocco has a Facebook page devoted to similar efforts, but Israel remains the leading edge nation in the region with regards to women’s rights and environmental activism, with hundreds of participants expected to show up in Tel Aviv, Haifa and Jerusalem for the planned protest marches.

Read More on Women’s Rights:
SlutWalk Israel – A First for the Middle East
Egyptian Women Forced to Take ‘Virginity’ Tests 

The post Hundreds Join SlutWalk Israel on Facebook and the Streets appeared first on Green Prophet.

Israel will host the first SlutWalk in the Middle East this weekend, but the movement has growing support in other countries, including Morocco. Will these efforts finally lead to greater freedom for women of all religious persuasions?

When I wrote the article, The Middle East Needs More Sluts, the response was overwhelming and heated, with opinions following roughly along religious lines.  Secular and progressive readers understood that the title was more than a headline grabber, and an invitation to reconsider the negative stereotypes of language used to denigrate and control women. The more conservative respondents were horrified by the language, and pointed to the moral values of modesty, something they couldn’t see in women who seemed to dress, look or act certain ways.

Both groups have valid points. Now that SlutWalk is coming to Israel, will they meet at the intersection and finally talk?

Even as I champion the causes of social justice and women’s rights, particularly sexual and reproductive wellbeing, I’m also conscious how that freedom must be balanced with a deep sense of self and other respect.  Modesty and sexual freedom may not seem like common bedfellows, but they are part of the whole continuum of empowering women and men alike.

That is because the real power of SlutWalk is the separation of a woman’s worth from her sexuality. Male or female in fact – our morality and virtue must be severed from our reproductive rights and abilities. SlutWalk isn’t just for those who dress provocatively or experience their sexuality outside current social morays.  It’s a statement of freedom for everyone who specifically understands and wants to eradicate harm from vitriolic language and ‘slut-shaming,’ as well as those who believe that full and complete female emancipation benefits us all.

What’s more, creating an environmentally sustainable world rests on women’s shoulders.  “Women are often the first ones to transmit [environmental] values to their societies and children,” wrote Green Prophet founder and editor, Karin Kloosterman, in SlutWalk Israel –  A First for the Middle East.

Israel isn’t the only country in the MENA region focused on this effort. SlutWalk Morrocco boasts an active Facebook page for those who read French.

Finally, another essential factor of SlutWalk cannot be stressed enough: The surest route to maintaining environmentally sustainable populations is basic sexual rights for women.

It Starts With Basic Human Rights

The International Women’s Health Coalition’s stance on the right of women to control their sexuality is unequivocal on this.

“The right of women to control their sexuality—the basis for sexual rights—is an indivisible part of their human rights, and that without it, women cannot fully realize their other human rights. This notion has been reaffirmed at several subsequent international meetings, but in practice, few countries’ laws and policies provide women with effective protection against coercion, discrimination, and violence, and fundamentalist states and movements all over the world consistently target women’s sexual and reproductive autonomy.”

Nicholas D. Kristof, renowned a New York Times Op-Ed columnist and co-author with Sheryl WuDunn of, Half the Sky: Turning Oppression Into Opportunity for Women Worldwide (2009), pointed out that critical relationship between elevating the roles of woman and building stronger societies.

He writes: “greater female involvement in society and the economy appears to undermine extremism and terrorism.  Now it is emerging that male domination of society is also a risk factor; the reasons aren’t fully understood, but it may be that when women are marginalized the nation takes on the testosterone-laden culture of a military camp or a high-school boys’ locker room.”

How Women Help the Planet

Creating an environmentally sustainable world also requires the full participation and emancipation of women. Robert Engleman, author of More: Population, Nature, and What Women Want (Island Books, 2007), addressed this in an interview with WorldWatch Institute.  He asserts that in societies where women’s rights are equal to men’s, women take control of their own fertility and invariably have two or fewer children, on average. Such low fertility rates then lead to a gradual decline in population in the absence of net immigration.

“It makes sense that those who bear children and do most of the work in raising them should have the final say in when, and when not, to do so. By making their own decisions based on what’s best for themselves and their children, women ultimately bring about a global good that governments could never deliver through regulation or control: a population in balance with nature’s resources.”

SlutWalk Israel may not be a comfortable medium for many in the Middle East, and there are those who will denounce the effort as meaningless, offensive, disrespectful or ill-advised. “But when enraged voices need to be heard, maybe a SlutWalk is a good way to vent frustrations and create a lot of press attention to the issues at hand,” writes Kloosterman.

Other bloggers have taken even stronger stances:

“Let’s separate sex and power for one second, and admit that in a 21st Century world, telling women that what they wear somehow impedes their message is antiquated. We ought to move forward in a world where a woman can dress how she would like and not be told she’s “asking for it”, not be told she’s not “serious” because her manner of dress doesn’t conform to so predetermined, archaic norm prescribed by men in order to control their impulses. The desire to rape is a psychological urge primarily experienced by men that they must deal with. Leave women out of it.”

And Alona Ferber for Haaretz Daily Newspaper wrote: “Whether or not you agree with the medium, perhaps one of the most important messages SlutWalk can deliver is that whatever their religion, taste in clothes, or sexual preference, women, and men for that matter, should be free to make their own choices, without being subject to prejudice, stereotype or violence.”

I couldn’t agree more.

Read More on Women’s Rights:
SlutWalk Israel – A First for the Middle East
Egyptian Women Forced to Take ‘Virginity’ Tests During Protest, Amnesty International
US Senator Olympia Snowe Leads Women in Renewed Call for Women’s Rights in the Middle East
When Females Rule Fornication, Mother Earth Delights

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