Skip to main content

Home/ New Media Ethics 2009 course/ Group items tagged Sex

Rss Feed Group items tagged

Filter: All | Bookmarks | Topics Simple Middle
Weiye Loh

Censoring Sex Education - 3 views

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1002815/1/.html International guidelines on sex education reignite debate By Ong Dailin, TODAY | Posted: 04 September 2009 071...

Sex Education

started by Weiye Loh on 04 Sep 09 no follow-up yet
Weiye Loh

Is it a boy or a girl? You decide - Prospect Magazine « Prospect Magazine - 0 views

www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/...-girl-sex-selection-conception

Bioethics

shared by Weiye Loh on 01 May 10 - Cached
  • The only way to guarantee either a daughter or son is to undergo pre-implantation genetic diagnosis: a genetic analysis of an embryo before it is placed in the womb. This is illegal in Britain except for couples at risk of having a child with a life-threatening gender-linked disorder.
  • It’s also illegal for clinics to offer sex selection methods such as MicroSort, that sift the slightly larger X chromosome-bearing (female) sperm from their weedier Y chromosome-bearing (male) counterparts, and then use the preferred sperm in an IVF cycle. With a success rate hovering around 80-90 per cent, it’s better than Mother Nature’s odds of conception, but not immaculate.
  • Years ago I agreed with this ban on socially motivated sex selection. But I can’t defend that stance today. My opposition was based on two worries: the gender balance being skewed—look at China—and the perils of letting society think it’s acceptable to prize one sex more than the other. Unlike many politicians, however, I think it is only right and proper to perform an ideological U-turn when presented with convincing opposing evidence.
  • ...4 more annotations...
  • A 2003 survey published in the journal Human Reproduction showed that few British adults would be concerned enough about their baby’s gender to use the technology, and most adults wanted the same number of sons as daughters
  • Bioethics specialist Edgar Dahl of the University of Geissen found that 68 per cent of Britons craved an equal number of boys and girls; 6 per cent wanted more boys; 4 per cent more girls; 3 per cent only boys; and 2 per cent only girls. Fascinatingly, even if a baby’s sex could be decided by simply taking a blue pill or a pink pill, 90 per cent of British respondents said they wouldn’t take it.
  • What about the danger of stigmatising the unwanted sex if gender selection was allowed? According to experts on so-called “gender disappointment,” the unwanted sex would actually be male.
  • I may think it is old-fashioned to want a son so that he can inherit the family business, or a daughter to have someone to go shopping with. But how different is that from the other preferences and expectations we have for our children, such as hoping they will be gifted at mathematics, music or sport? We all nurture secret expectations for our children: I hope that mine will be clever, beautiful, witty and wise. Perhaps it is not the end of the world if we allow some parents to add “female” or “male” to the list.
  • Weiye Loh on 01 May 10
     
    Is it a boy or a girl? You decide ANJANA AHUJA   28th April 2010  -  Issue 170 Choosing the sex of an unborn child is illegal, but would it harm society if it wasn't?
Weiye Loh

POrn is Good! - 20 views

"Also, I do not believe that people are born knowing how to engage in sexual activity. " From a Socratic perspective, knowledge is inherent in us. You just need to ask the right question at the ri...

pornography

started by Chen Guo Lim on 01 Sep 09 4 follow-ups, last by Weiye Loh on 03 Sep 09
Weiye Loh

Sex: New York City unveils condom finder for smartphones, users satisfied - National Cu... - 0 views

www.examiner.com/...or-smartphones-users-satisfied

Social Media Mobile Sex Education

shared by Weiye Loh on 26 Feb 11 - No Cached
  • he application uses GPS technology and is available for the iPhone and Android devices. The over-the-air (OTA) downloadable app has access to New York City's more than 1,000 free condom outlets. When a user launches a search for rubbers, the nearest five locations are shown, allowing for enough time to act before the mood is lost.
  • The smartphone application that locates free condoms was a huge hit for New Yorkers this Valentine's Day, users said Tuesday, Feb. 15. The program was launched by the New York City Health Department to help the turned-on find protection at a moment's notice--no matter where they are.
  • The health department has come under significant fire for its free condom initiative. Parents have complained that it urges children to experiment with sex. "We're not promoting sex," Sweeney said. "We're promoting safer sex. In New York City and around the country, adolescents and pre-adolescents have sex whether you give them condoms or not."
Weiye Loh

The Irrationality of the Anti-Sex Lobby - 0 views

www.freedominapuritanage.co.uk/?p=1511

Pornography Sex Sexuality Ethics

shared by Weiye Loh on 24 Feb 11 - No Cached
  • with so little ethical and credible research on children in this area, the case is far from closed. See, for instance, the recent Scottish Executive report on the topic, with indications that both children’s and parents’ understanding of sexualised imagery is rather more nuanced than the media and government give them credit for. [i] However, as far as the public are concerned, there is no debate to be had. And so the endless ‘childhood in crisis’ nonsense is trotted out again and again.
  • when it comes down to Facts vs. Fear Related To Your Kids, most people will choose the fear option “just to be on the safe side”.
  • So what are the options? Basically, to find the trigger issues that will help people understand why restricting adult access to adult materials is in no-one’s interest, why it is important to support the rights of sex workers to work, and why deciding what children are and are not exposed to is a job for families and communities, not governments.
Weiye Loh

How tech tools have changed today's prostitution business - 0 views

flowingdata.com/...d-todays-prostitution-business

Prostitution Technology New Media

shared by Weiye Loh on 17 Feb 11 - No Cached
  • Sudhir Venkatesh, a professor of sociology at Columbia University, along with his students, has been studying the sex work industry since the 1990s. In a recent article for Wired, Venkatesh describes how the business has changed over the past couple of decades.
  • Technology has played a fundamental role in this change. No self-respecting cosmopolitan man looking for an evening of companionship is going to lean out his car window and call out to a woman at a traffic light. The Internet and the rise of mobile phones have enabled some sex workers to professionalize their trade. Today they can control their image, set their prices, and sidestep some of the pimps, madams, and other intermediaries who once took a share of the revenue. As the trade has grown less risky and more lucrative, it has attracted some middle-class women seeking quick tax-free income.
kenneth yang

CYBER TROOPERS MAKE ARREST FOR SEXUAL SOLICITATION OF A MINOR - 8 views

BALTIMORE, Aug. 12 -- The Maryland State Police issued the following news release: A man who had been making online plans to allegedly have sex with someone he thought was a 13-year old girl, had h...

started by kenneth yang on 18 Aug 09 no follow-up yet
jaime yeo

Spread of HIV misinformation online - 6 views

"HIV denialists" - people who deny that HIV will cause AIDS, have been spreading information about their beliefs on the Internet. There is a cause for concern that such false information will deter...

misinformation online rights truth

started by jaime yeo on 21 Aug 09 no follow-up yet
Weiye Loh

The Guardian - 0 views

m.guardian.co.uk/?id=102202&story=http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2010/mar/18/evolution-morality-psychology

Morality Ethics Evolution

shared by Weiye Loh on 01 May 10 - Cached
  • We can't expect people to be either as self-denying as conservatives or as altruistic as liberals seem to wantThe question: What can Darwin teach us about morality?
  • to some extent, we are a species with an evolved psychology. Like other animals, we have inherited behavioural tendencies from our ancestors, since these were adaptive for them in the sense that they tended to lead to reproductive success in past environments.
  • It does not follow that we should now do whatever maximises our ability to reproduce and pass down our genes. For example, evolution may have honed us to desire and enjoy sex, through a process in which creatures that did so reproduced more often than their evolutionary competitors. But evolution has not equipped us with an abstract desire to pass down our genes.
  • ...4 more annotations...
  • All other things being equal, we should act in accordance with the desires that we actually have, in this case the desire for sex. We may also desire to have children, but perhaps only one or two: in that case, we should act in such a way as to have as much sex as possible while also producing children in this small number.
  • Generally speaking, it is rational for us to act in ways that accord with our reflectively-endorsed desires or values, rather than in ways that maximise our reproductive chances or in whatever ways we tend to respond without thinking. If we value the benefits of social living, this may require that we support and conform to socially-developed norms of conduct that constrain individuals from acting in ruthless pursuit of self-interest.
  • Admittedly, our evolved nature may affect this, in the sense that any workable system of moral norms must be practical for the needs of beings like us, who are, it seems, naturally inclined to be neither angelically selfless nor utterly uncaring about others. Thus, our evolved psychology may impose limits on what real-world moral systems can realistically demand of human beings, perhaps defeating some of the more extreme ambitions of both conservatives and liberals. It may not be realistic to expect each other to be either as self-denying as moral conservatives seem to want or as altruistic as some liberals seem to want.
  • realistic moral systems will allow considerable scope for individuals to act in accordance with whatever they actually value. However, they will also impose constraints, since truly ruthless competition among individuals would lead to widespread insecurity, suffering, and disorder. Allowing it would be inconsistent with many values that most of us adhere to, on reflection, such as the values of loving and trusting relationships, social survival, and the amelioration of suffering in the world. If, however, we are social animals that already have an evolved sympathetic responsiveness to each other, the yoke of a realistic moral system may be relatively light for most of us most of the time.
  • Weiye Loh on 01 May 10
     
    Morality, with limits | Russell Blackford Russell Blackford guardian.co.uk Comment Thu 18 Mar 2010 09:00 GMT
Weiye Loh

News: Tabloid Science - Inside Higher Ed - 0 views

www.insidehighered.com/...criticism_of_research_projects

Science Funding

shared by Weiye Loh on 17 Mar 11 - No Cached
  • The Sex Life of the Screwworm -- a silly subject for federally funded research, no?Some members of Congress thought so: they singled out the project about 30 years ago as the nation’s top symbol of wasteful spending -- and later apologized when, upon further review, they realized the research was actually incredibly useful. Now, at a time when Congressional scrutiny of science spending (supposedly silly and otherwise) is rising, the other side of the debate is reviving the symbol of the screwworm to bring attention to its cause, through a method that seems too un-scientific to be true: a tabloid.
  • Using silliness to combat accusations of silliness, the Association of American Universities published its inaugural issue of "Scientific Enquirer," defending federal funding for research that may seem utterly irrelevant at first glance, but is actually productive.
  • The screwworms scored the cover story for the January 2011 issue. “Sex and the Screwworm,” the headline reads, “Your tax dollars go to study the sex life of a parasite, Congress wants to know why.” Directly below, slapped on like a bumper sticker and in commanding font: “Saves Country Billions!” It’s not what you’d expect to see from a prestigious group of research institutions better known for its formality (if not occasional stuffiness), but if attracting eyeballs is the goal, they just might be on to something. After all, who understands the art of getting attention better than tabloid publishers?
  • ...6 more annotations...
  • The AAU aims to curb misunderstanding of screwworms and other research through the broader effort of which the "Enquirer" is a part: The Societal Benefits of Research Illustrated, an online compilation of visual fact sheets that aims to make science -- and the scholarly research behind it -- accessible and understandable to members of Congress as well as the general public.
  • Last year, as Republican lawmakers prepared for and then carried out a political takeover of one house of Congress and dozens of state legislatures, they began the traditional process -- not unique to either party -- of publicizing odd research, often of the social sciences, to try to sway federal agencies’ funding.
  • In the Enquirer’s inaugural issue, published online late last month, the AAU highlights three federally funded research projects that legislators have singled out as a waste of money, explaining why they are significant and how they have contributed to society. The screwworm research, as it happens, led to the flesh-eating parasite’s eradication in the United States. Screwworms had killed millions of cattle annually; their elimination saved the country $20 billion and resulted in a 5 percent reduction in supermarket beef prices, the AAU says.
  • “While the titles of many scientific grants awarded by federal science agencies may sound funny, grants made by the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation and other key agencies are generally awarded only after a rigorous and competitive peer review process,” the Enquirer reads. “If critics are able to marginalize science that seems unorthodox, or to defund research that may sound silly, how much creativity and innovation might we lose?” Among the funny topics featured in this issue: watching people make faces, and levitating frogs
  • “Some of these researchers just get dragged through the mud [by critics], even though they’re doing really high-quality research,” Smith said. “I think there’s lots of examples and that’s just what we’re trying to point out with these pieces.”For instance, Smith said that on Wednesday he received a list of 25 examples of “ridiculous government spending,” which highlighted research where scientists tested how alcohol affected the motor skills of mice. It’s “amazing” that Congress would pick on “alcoholic mice,” he said, because of course that sort of important research cannot be done on humans – so scientists use mice as model organisms.
  • “The real focus here is on this seemingly increasing [and longstanding] notion of picking on individual grants because they can be made to sound funny,” Smith said. The purpose of the Enquirer -- as well as the broader effort -- isn't necessarily to protect federal funding, Smith said; it’s to educate people about science and and make sure that scientific breakthroughs aren't derailed by people who misunderstand the research.
  • Weiye Loh on 17 Mar 11
     
    Some members of Congress thought so: they singled out the project about 30 years ago as the nation's top symbol of wasteful spending -- and later apologized when, upon further review, they realized the research was actually incredibly useful. Now, at a time when Congressional scrutiny of science spending (supposedly silly and otherwise) is rising, the other side of the debate is reviving the symbol of the screwworm to bring attention to its cause, through a method that seems too un-scientific to be true: a tabloid.
Weiye Loh

Bodyshock - Age 8 and Wanting a Sex Change - 0 views

www.channel4.com/...episode-1

shared by Weiye Loh on 20 Oct 09 - Cached
  • In America, children under 16 can be prescribed hormone 'blockers' to prevent the onset of puberty, with a view to then follow with hormone treatment to become their new gender. This film follows the American experience.
  • Using incorrect gender terms in such program as Bodyshock feels to me like almost mocking the whole idea of it. It seems disrespectful to those who decided to tell their stories, and to all others who have been born in bodies which do not reflect their actual gender
  • Bodyshock SHOULD be using the correct terms for thes children - Josie and Kyla should be refurred to as she and her, not he and his. Chris should be reffured to as he. Getting the gender terms wrong on a program about sex changes only reinforces the publics perceptions that it is okay to refure to transsexual people by the gender they were born as, and it's not.
  • Weiye Loh on 20 Oct 09
     
    I think this is in a way related to biopower and how biotechnology has influenced our ethical stance on previously impossible/ unconceivable situations. I wonder what we may think about children under going sex change at such a young age. How can the children be so sure is definitely one of the first questions that demands answer.
Weiye Loh

BBC News - Belle de Jour's history of anonymity - 1 views

www.bbc.co.uk/...magazine-20796615

Anonymity Internet Literature Writing

shared by Weiye Loh on 05 Jan 13 - No Cached
  • Weiye Loh on 05 Jan 13
     
    "Anon was, as Virginia Woolf noted in one of her final unpublished essays, "the voice that broke the silence of the forest". Elsewhere she suggested that "Anonymous was a woman". For anonymity has definitely been widely used by women throughout the ages, whether they're writing about relationships, sex or anything else. Without Anonymous, there are so many classics we would not have had - Gawain and the Green Knight, virtually all of the Bible and other religious texts. Anon is allowed a greater creative freedom than a named writer is, greater political influence than a common man can ever attain, and far more longevity than we would guess. Obviously, I'm a great fan of Anon's work, but then, as a formerly anonymous author, I would say that, wouldn't I?"
  • Jude John on 17 Jan 13
     
    Perhaps in intentionally adopting anonymity she seeks to represent herself as everywoman; it is not the individual and what (s)he does which matters, but the "type" which has been/is being (per)formed (Can I just say also that as a result of this she implies all females seek such outlets for expression? i.e. whoring themselves (literally or otherwise). All idea of submission seems to be inherent in their nature, however much they protest and rail against it - HYPOCRISY). By removing the source (i.e. the author's name), the focus is on the words and actions (which should it not be?). Regarding anonymity and creative freedom, the lack of burden of responsibility frees writers from having to conform to any roles which may be ascribed to them by virtue of their "place".
Weiye Loh

Unique Perspective on Pornography - 13 views

"These women will have forever have to live with the social stigma of being a "porn star" and whatever negativity that is associated with that concept. " The patriarchal ideology is the underlying...

pornography debate abcnews face-off

started by Jianwei Tan on 01 Sep 09 2 follow-ups, last by Weiye Loh on 03 Sep 09
Weiye Loh

Apple causes 'religious' reaction in brains of fans, say neuroscientists - 0 views

www.digitaltrends.com/...ns-of-fans-say-neuroscientists

Brand Apple Religion

shared by Weiye Loh on 19 May 11 - No Cached
  • Weiye Loh on 19 May 11
     
    Secrets of the Superbrands also looks at the likes of Facebook, which has enjoyed phenomenal success in just a few years. "Like Apple, mobile phones and social networks offer an opportunity for us to express our basic human need to communicate. And it's by tapping into our basic needs, like gossip, religion or sex that these brands are taking over our world at such lightning speed," Riley says. He concludes: "That's not to say that clever marketing and brilliant technical innovation aren't also crucial, but it seems that if you're not providing a service which is of potential interest to every one of the 6.9 billion human beings on the planet, the chances are you're never going to become a technology superbrand."
Weiye Loh

Age 8 & Wanting A Sex Change - Sky TV - 0 views

tv.sky.com/age-8-and-wanting-a-sex-change

shared by Weiye Loh on 20 Oct 09 - Cached
  • Despite a gradual change for the better, pre-puberty transgender cases are still a noticeably tabloid-exploitative, morally and ethically ambiguous matter.
  • The only problem is that many young children grow out of the identity confusion when they hit puberty. Oh, and the initial hormone blocker treatment is irreversible.
  • But then that's essentially the crux of the argument: does immaturity necessarily equal a lack of self-awareness? And when exactly is a right time for the all-important gender reassignment?
Weiye Loh

Fascinating Facts About Internet Sex - 0 views

jezebel.com/#!5794158/fascinating-facts-about-internet-sex

Pornography Stereotype Gender Stereotype

shared by Weiye Loh on 29 Apr 11 - No Cached
  • Rather than using these facts to make sweeping statements about the difference between men and women, it's more useful to recognize that a lot of the generalizations people make about desire, especially male desire, just aren't true. At least in private, not all straight men are looking for thin, young ciswomen — or even for ciswomen at all. And what Internet porn can teach us is that while there may be some differences in sexual preferences between genders, there's enormous variation within them.
Weiye Loh

Unhappy meal: Data retention bill could lure sex predators into McDonalds, libraries - 0 views

arstechnica.com/...s-into-mcdonalds-libraries.ars

Anonymity Internet Crime Data Privacy

shared by Weiye Loh on 13 Jul 11 - No Cached
  • mandatory data retention legislation. The bill that they have proposed requires that Internet Service Providers, such as Comcast and Time Warner, save records of the IP addresses they assign to their customers for a period of 18 months.
  • Data retention is a controversial topic and loudly opposed by the privacy community. To counter such criticism, the bill's authors have cunningly (and shamelessly) named it the Protecting Children from Internet Pornographers Act of 2011. This of course means that anyone who opposes data retention must go on record as opposing measures to catch sexual predators.
  • The bill includes a curious exception to the retention requirements: it doesn't apply to wireless data providers, such as AT&T and Verizon, or operators of public WiFi networks, such as Starbucks and McDonalds. When questioned about this, a Republican committee staffer told CNET in May that the wireless loophole was added because wireless networks are designed in such a way that IP addresses are assigned to multiple users or accounts and they are "not technologically capable of retaining the type of data that law enforcement needs because that's not how their system works."
  • ...1 more annotation...
  • This explanation is completely bogus. Wireless providers, like wireline broadband providers, are quite capable of retaining logs of the IP addresses they temporarily issue to their customers. Many wireless providers, such as Sprint and Verizon, already retain IP logs for at least a year. The true explanation for the loophole is, I believe, that the wireless carriers have powerful and remarkably effective lobbyists.
  • Weiye Loh on 13 Jul 11
     
    In this opinion piece, a cybersecurity researcher argues that loopholes in a new data retention bill push those wanting to use the 'Net anonymously into cafes, libraries, and fast food restaurants. The following op-ed does not necessarily represent the opinions of Ars Technica.
Weiye Loh

The Good Short Life With A.L.S. - NYTimes.com - 0 views

www.nytimes.com/...10als.html

Death Euthanasia Bioethics

shared by Weiye Loh on 13 Jul 11 - No Cached
  • Lingering would be a colossal waste of love and money.
  • I’d rather die. I respect the wishes of people who want to live as long as they can. But I would like the same respect for those of us who decide — rationally — not to. I’ve done my homework. I have a plan. If I get pneumonia, I’ll let it snuff me out. If not, there are those other ways. I just have to act while my hands still work: the gun, narcotics, sharp blades, a plastic bag, a fast car, over-the-counter drugs, oleander tea (the polite Southern way), carbon monoxide, even helium. That would give me a really funny voice at the end. I have found the way. Not a gun. A way that’s quiet and calm. Knowing that comforts me. I don’t worry about fatty foods anymore. I don’t worry about having enough money to grow old. I’m not going to grow old. I’m having a wonderful time.
  • Weiye Loh on 13 Jul 11
     
    We obsess in this country about how to eat and dress and drink, about finding a job and a mate. About having sex and children. About how to live. But we don't talk about how to die. We act as if facing death weren't one of life's greatest, most absorbing thrills and challenges. Believe me, it is. This is not dull. But we have to be able to see doctors and machines, medical and insurance systems, family and friends and religions as informative - not governing - in order to be free.
Weiye Loh

Rights of Conscience vs. Civil Rights - Pew Research Center - 0 views

pewresearch.org/...ion-protections-in-health-care

Health Care rights

shared by Weiye Loh on 06 Jul 10 - Cached
  • Should doctors, pharmacists and other health care workers have the right to refuse to provide services that conflict with their religious beliefs?
  • n March 2009, Julea Ward, a student at Eastern Michigan University (EMU), was dismissed from her graduate-level counseling program when she refused to counsel a gay man about a same-sex relationship.
  • The supervisor claimed that Ms. Ward's refusal violated the ethical obligations of a counselor not to discriminate against clients based on sexual orientation or to impose one's personal beliefs on clients. Based on this judgment, the school expelled Ms. Ward from the counseling program.
  • ...2 more annotations...
  • Ms. Ward filed suit in federal district court in the Eastern District of Michigan, alleging that the school violated her constitutional rights to free exercise of religion and freedom of speech.
  • she argued that counselors do not have a professional obligation to counsel all clients about all issues. Instead, she said, they are permitted to refer clients to other counselors if a client's needs conflict with the counselor's moral convictions.
  • Weiye Loh on 06 Jul 10
     
    Rights of Conscience vs. Civil Rights Are Health Care Workers Obligated to Treat Gays and Lesbians? June 3, 2010
Satveer

Net Blamed for Teen Sex - 7 views

started by Satveer on 08 Sep 09 no follow-up yet
1 - 20 of 35 Next ›
Showing 20▼ items per page