S.E. Cupp is a lovely young lady who read too much Ayn Rand in high school and ended up joining the dark side. Cupp, an author and media commentator who often shows up on Fox News programs, is undeniably cute. But her hotness is diminished when she espouses dumb ideas like defunding Planned Parenthood. Perhaps the method pictured here is Ms. Cupp’s suggestion for avoiding an unwanted pregnancy. [The Blaze]

• Butter, frosting, and romance

A 16-year-old student was suspended after allegedly giving a classmate a cupcake laced with his semen, Minneapolis City Pages reports.

St. Paul police spokesman Sgt. Paul Paulos told the Pioneer Press the boy gave cupcakes to "quite a few people" on May 9, but "only one supposedly had semen." Unfortunately, the unlucky classmate ingested the baked good, so authorities are unable to confirm the allegations. [Huffington Post]

As the HuffPo piece points out, it "harkens back" to that dude who fed his unsuspecting students jizz cookies. And also this spit in a burger story, the guy from high school who claimed he jizzed in people's milkshakes at McDonalds, and every urban legend ever.

If you've caught yourself thinking that adding semen to food might be a great way to get a little cheap protein in your diet, please allow me to remind you that this continues to exist: Natural Harvest: A Collection of Semen-Based Recipes. If life gives you semen, make semenade, I guess.

• Be careful!

An outraged UFT chapter leader yesterday called on union boss Michael Mulgrew to step down if he traded away his members’ rights to school officials who hushed up his alleged classroom affair with a guidance counselor.

The startling accusations came in a federal lawsuit filed in Suffolk County that names Mulgrew, the United Federation of Teachers, Mayor Bloomberg and Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott.

Jeff Kaufman, a union chapter leader at Aspirations Diploma HS in Brooklyn, said he and other teachers “would expect him to resign’’ if he’s guilty.

[NY Post]

Yikes.

• Canadian sex!

The show includes life-sized, full-frontal nude photos of males and females at various stages of life, and Canada's Sun newspapers have described a "climax room" showing animations of aroused genitals with a voice of a man describing an orgasm.

In the exhibit, clinical sexologist Jamy Ryan discusses anal sex: "If you're comfortable with trying that activity, go ahead and do it. It could be fun for you. But if you're not, you don't really have to do it. It's not an obligation."

Moore spokesman James Maunder said it was clear the exhibit fell outside the museum's mandate of fostering scientific and technological literacy.

"This content cannot be defended, and is insulting to taxpayers," he said.

Responding to criticism, St-Onge said: "The exhibition is designed to present information in a scientific, frank and accessible manner, an approach that the Canada Science and Technology Museum supports." [Reuters]

Boo on them for caving to the demands of the puritans, but seriously, can you even IMAGINE how much of a freakout there would be if an American museum tried to mount (ha) this exhibition? People still get shirty around here when science museums present evolution as a fact. We're barely allowed to teach sex ed in school. Remember the Chris Ofili kerfluffle from back in the day? There wasn't even any masturbation in it!

Let's all move to Canada and make animated masturbation videos.

• Swiss Army Librarian Dot Net
• Or this could work.

“He was with his wife and he accused the other guy of looking at porn,” one police source said. “The guy looking at porn picked up a chair and hits him. The guy who was offended said, ‘I have a knife,’ and stabs him in the chest,” the source continued.

[a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/man-stabbed-watching-porn-brooklyn-heights-public-library-cops-article-1.1079078#ixzz1v2kMHIo9">Daily News]

It doesn't exactly seem fair that the stabber got arrested but the other guy hit him with a chair and didn't, but I guess I don't really know the rules of library brawls. Let this be a lesson to us all.

• This is the Bachmann.

Each shape is determined by voter approval ratings amongst registered republican voters for each of the GOP presidential candidates. The height is a measurement of time, beginning December 10, 2011 and ending on April 1, 2012 (bottom to top). The width of each object is the quantity by percentage (out of 100%) of approval for that candidate. All data comes directly from Gallup polls.

Here is a video about the project:

I'm happy that the woman he attacked has been able to see justice served. But I'm also struck by the coded language in all of the descriptions of her and the attack. It is made very clear that she is the "right" kind of victim—a school teacher, not drinking, not selling sex, not doing drugs, cisgender, petite, young and "innocent."

The petite brunette wore a frilly lavender blouse, and her high-pitched voice quavered as she rushed through her statement.
[Post]

In any case:

More girls in the U.S. are remaining virgins until their late teens and into their 20s, with the biggest rates of decline in sexual activity seen among African-Americans and Hispanics, the CDC says.

More than half of girls between the ages of 15 and 19 — 57% — reported that they had never had vaginal intercourse in the latest CDC survey covering 2006-2010, up from 49% in 1995.

and

Teen pregnancy rates have dropped more than 40% since their peak in 1990, and they remain at a 30-year low.

but

Even with the decline in teen pregnancies, the birth rate among teens in the U.S. is still among the highest of any industrialized nation.

Hmm, I wonder if that has anything to do with this sort of thing.

“A lot of women have been waiting a long time for something like this,” Chrysalis co-founder Cy Lauz told Lingerie Talk.

“Speaking from personal experience, I found no products that specifically cater to transgender women. There are some things for cross-dressers and drag queens, but they’re all sexually exploitative.

“I wanted a product that actually celebrated who we are, something that made us feel beautiful but is also practical.”

Now, for the curious, let’s get to the big question: What exactly distinguishes lingerie for the TG market?

Chrysalis will launch this spring with a basics collection of bra-and-panty ensembles in five colors. The power-mesh panty is designed to create a seamless look by using a special panel that “tucks us in,” Cy said, while the bra comes with hidden pockets that hold full-cup inserts to create the appearance of a natural bustline.

The result is a product line versatile enough to work with different body shapes and still achieve traditionally feminine lines. (The models used in Chrysalis‘ promotional photos are all TG women.)

Cute, basic panties—everybody needs em. What an awesome idea. Lingerie shopping for cis women can be a hassle, so I can only imagine how much more fraught it is for trans women. Hopefully they'll be making these in plus sizes, as well.

via @charlieglickman

• If you think this is debauchery, I don't even know what to tell you.

The restaurant has already tried to land deals with Triangle Sports, which is closing on Flatbush Ave., and with paint-store owner Michael Pintchik, who owns several buildings between Atlantic Ave. and Grand Army Plaza.

But so far, no dice.

“Hooters has been trying to come into this neighborhood, and twice they were rejected by the largest property owners in the district,” said Sharon Davidson, the executive director of the North Flatbush Business Improvement District.

“The Pintchiks want to keep the neighborhood neighborhood- friendly, and they won’t rent to Hooters,” she said.

And even though the local property owner that rejected them is a dude, the article claims that "local moms are ready for battle." Yes, nothing like setting up the false dichotomy between moms and Hooters employees. Yawn. Anyway, there you go, no Hooters thus far, maybe Hooters someday, so be on high alert for shit-flipping. Which, look, I'm no fan of Hooters because their wings are terrible, but this is just beyond histrionic:

Phoebe McGraw, 62 — who has lived on Bergen St. for more than four decades — described the eatery as “trash traffic.”

“From here they’ll go to strip joints,” she said. “It’s heartbreaking. They’re destroying something special.”

Heather McMaster, 35, agreed that the curvy waitresses will bring too much debauchery to the family-oriented neighborhood.

“It doesn’t surprise me that businesses like Hooters are coming along with the stadium,” she said.

But, she said, the restaurant would never attract customers because it’s a “misogynistic, sexist outfit and nobody from the neighborhood will go.”

Jesus, it's just ladies in short shorts. Relax, everybody.

• April Flores and Hoodman in Artcore, directed by C. Batts Fly. Courtesy of Carlos Fly.

The question put to the panel—which was comprised of director/performer Sinnamon Love, performer Tina Horn, ex-producer Dan Reilly, Museum of Sex curator Sarah Forbes, creator of Make Love Not Porn Cindy Gallop, the aforementioned Madison Young and moderated by Lynsey G.—was whether porn's job was to entertain or educate, or neither or both. The panel fairly unanimously agreed that though most porn is not created with the intent to be an educational tool, it often served that purpose.

I didn't exactly expect to see such a smart, reasonable response in the mainstream press, though. The discourse around sex and sex work in the US can get pretty ugly, pretty fast. Remember Melissa Petro, the teacher fired for being open about her sex worker past? Anyway, so I was pleased and surprised to come across this ABC piece today. It has some great quotes from smart people, including Sienna Baskin from the Sex Workers Project:

Anyway, the guy's a complete doofus, obviously. There's stuff like this:

It's harmful, and New York State Bill A1008/S323 is being introduced to outlaw it. (Here, sign this petition in support of the bill.) This all via Melissa Gira Grant's wonderful new blog, Post Whore America, which everybody should be reading. She writes:

Condoms-as-evidence is NYPD’s own sexed-up form of stop-and-frisk. As a result, close to half of the sex workers surveyed for this report say they have had condoms taken from them by cops, and close to half have stopped carrying condoms altogether, for fear of getting charged for the crime of protecting their own health.

Sex work shouldn't be illegal in the first place, but carrying around condoms DEFINITELY shouldn't be, and isn't, except when it is.

Sorry, freelancers. But for those of you with jobs that have income withholding, why not spend a chunk of your refund on a little something nice for yourself and/or your partner(s)? Refunds are celebratory wads of cash, made for spending on fun stuff. Pure treat yo self. Right? I assume? I wouldn't know, I haven't gotten one since I was like 18. Anyway! Six options for those us feeling flush right now:

• He brought them together.

Four years ago, then-City Council Member Melinda Katz was on the cover of the NY Post for announcing that she was pregnant via in-vitro fertilization—making her a single mom. Katz, who was also running for City Comptroller at the time, kept the father's identity a secret, "I did this purely through modern technology. It was done in a doctor's office. It was done at my wish and my desire." Now, Katz has revealed the donor was Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa—and now the pair are getting married!

Life is strange! Follow your heart! Love conquers all! Sperm!

• If only our impoverished public schools could afford these! So much easier!

Tennessee senators approved an update to the state's abstinence-based sex education law that includes warnings against "gateway sexual activity."

In a new family life instructions bill, holding hands and kissing could be considered gateways to sex.

Which is all well and good, but what about pre-gateway sexual activities? Things that could lead kids down the garden path to where they would consider a kiss or hand-hold? We must stop them even before they get to the gateway, or else all is lost. No wonder states with abstinence-only sex ed have the highest rates of teen pregnancy! They're not even thinking about the pre-gateway!

Here are some additional things Tennessee youths need to be on the lookout for, if they want to preserve their purity:

• This guy.

"Sometimes people are threatened by gays and lesbians because they are fearing their own impulses, in a sense they 'doth protest too much,'" Ryan told LiveScience. "In addition, it appears that sometimes those who would oppress others have been oppressed themselves, and we can have some compassion for them too, they may be unaccepting of others because they cannot be accepting of themselves."

Which you know, duh. It's always the most virulently homophobic mega-pastor that is paying some guy to let him blow him in a bar bathroom. Sure. The study also talks about how authoritarian parents can create homophobes. Which is also interesting, I guess. But the problem with findings like this is that they seem to willfully ignore the fact that our society is structurally homophobic. It's built into the very bones of how things function. So sure, maybe the reason this guy or that guy latches on to gayness as his pet thing to scream about is because he's afraid of his own desires, but clearly the real reason that vast swaths of people are homophobic is because we live in a homophobic culture. It's built into everything! You have to actively work to not normalize straightness and other gayness in everyday life.

This refusal to talk about structural inequalities—and the intersections of oppression they create—is baffling to me, and ultimately harmful. I guess it's easier to look at some guy tweeting about how he'd kill his kids if they were gay and say "he's probably just gay himself, lol" than to try and figure out how to address a culture that values straightness, whiteness, male-ness, cis-ness, and wealth to the detriment of everybody else. Like yeah, tearing that down and rebuilding from scratch would be quite a job, and would also require everyone to admit to what extent they harbor bias and benefit from the bias of others.

I guess I'm just not sure what, exactly, studies like this are meant to accomplish. How come people are so homophobic? Is it because under federal law, gay people do not have all the rights that straight people have? Nah, it's probably something else. To the study-mobile!

"Hi, my name is Brad Carmack, calling on behalf of Protect Marriage Maine. Will you vote to maintain the traditional definition of marriage as between a man and a woman?"

This was my phone pitch in October of 2009. Calling from Provo, I was a volunteer in the effort to persuade Maine voters to oppose same-sex marriage. The following month the Maine referendum prevailed by 53 percent to 47 percent. Victory!

And certainly, the Mormon church is HUGELY conservative on many things. But I grew up with a bunch of LDS kids, and my impression of them and their religious practice wasn't of some rigid, hateful doctrine. Out of all the super-religious kids at my school—and there were lots, it's weird being raised atheist in Texas—the Mormons often struck me as some of the most willing to consider the whys of religion, rather than just being like "them's the rules."