Response to Sara's Post

This weeks reading were really enlightening. I enjoyed "Why Black Sexual Politics" and the readings from Listen Up the best. "Enlightened Sexism" also had some really good points I really liked such as well the title which pretty much says it all. When I told people i was reading a book and the chapter was "Sex R Us" I got really funny reactions. This "hypersexuality" that she speaks of in the media may be dangerous for kids and teenagers and have adverse effects. This reading also correlates really well with the stories in Listen Up. The story that I really liked was Rebecca Walker's "Lusting for freedom". This story gives you some insight into a world where sex and sexual experience can be empowering and not just about the sexual acts itself but growing and loving your body. She is really brave for telling us when she lost her virginity and how considering that is a touchy subject for most people. I really like this quote that she says in this story it states "Sex can look like love if you don't know what love looks like." I appreciate and understand this quote and I wish more young girls did and didn't search and seek love from a boy who just want sex from them. I also liked the idea that sex should be limited from just what is involved in it or something that should only be used in the realm of marriage and kids I think all young women should be able to explore their sexuality without fear of what society says about it. The other story by Sonia Shah about her sister trying to navigate two patriarchies one that gains approval and one that does not because of the culture she is from. I think this is interesting look at how international students and first-generation young people in the United States must navigate their sexuality in a realm that doesn't forget their culture. The ideas expressed in"Why Black Sexual Politics" were really interesting. To see the ideas of the glorification and associations with black women being animalistic and hypersexual can be seen in artists and video today. The way ideas in the past seem to perpetuate themselves in the present is crazy and if we don't stop this idea now it will continue in the future.