May Issue: At Your Leisure

Quote of the Month

“I love to be individual, to step beyond gender.”

-Annie Lennox

Word of the Month

Ze (pronoun): One of many coined gender neutral pronouns used in lieu of he and she.

Sentence: Tim was lost while taking the bus. Ze asked for directions to the nearest museum and was able to get there on time.

Reporter Recommends: Rethink the Gender Binary

We live in a diverse world where each and every human being is the sum of unique attributes and identities. With this in mind, why do we still utilize a gender assignment system that is biased towards two specific permutations?

This is the underlying problem behind gender binary, which is our current model for how we refer to gender. It lumps people into one of two categories (male and female) at birth and can stereotype how we treat them and how they act. For example, men can only identify as men, act masculine, biologically be male and only love women. 

The gender binary model leaves out all other people that do not fit this description. This is where the latest model for gender and sexuality steps in. A person in this new model can be described under four parameters: gender identity, gender expression, biological sex and sexual orientation (for definitions of these terms, check out Gender and Sexuality Terms  on pg. 6).

Each parameter exists on a spectrum, on which people can choose to place themselves. Beyond that, each spectrum can be thought of as three dimensional as opposed to a linear binary, allowing for greater diversity. While this model is not perfect, it allows people to better communicate their own identity and can also educate people on how to rethink social standards.

Remember that beyond how a person identifies is an individual just like anyone else, with their own needs, goals, favorite movies and what not. Get to know them, if it’s important ask politely their preferred identification and live life happily.

Stream of Sex

Japan holds the record for the world’s largest orgy. 250 men and 250 women met at a private warehouse to fornicate while being recorded by a camera crew for a DVD. All couples were tested to be STD free and each sex act was choreographed so that they would get it on simultaneously.

Harvard is home to a student BDSM sex club called the Harvard College Munch. It acts as a safe haven for people who engage in these acts, free from sexual abuse.

The original version of Coca-Cola was dubbed Pemberton’s French Wine Cola and was a mixture of coca, kola nuts and damiana, a shrub with aphrodisiac qualities. Touted as a “wonderful invigorator of sexual organs,” the product was advertised to, among other things, cure low libido.

There is evidence that male saliva contains traces of testosterone, a hormone which can raise libido in males and females. It was also found that kissing lowered cortisol or stress levels in both men and women.