1. I watch the Biggest Loser TV program and am in awe of what they accomplish.

2. I am rooting for my niece who has recently lost 30 pounds and looking to lose more.

3. I exercise to maintain my current body weight.

4. I have never been bullied or ridiculed based on my weight; in fact, I receive a good deal of positive feedback for being thin.

5. I realize that I have A LOT of issues around size discrimination and it is about time I fess up to them.

We have all grown up hearing the slogan, “Sticks and stones may break my bones but names will never hurt me!” If only that statement were true. Size discrimination is one of the last vestiges of acceptable prejudice and the discrimination goes far beyond the demeaning jokes and stares. In fact, size discrimination is so pervasive that it contributes to negative emotional, social, economic, and physical health issues.

First, it is critical to get an understanding of terminology. What terms are most acceptable today? Are they fat, overweight, large, heavy? With regard to weight, the term “fat” has historically been seen as a derogatory term. However, the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance has embraced the term “fat” in an effort to reclaim the power of the word. This is similar to the term “queer”, long used as a slur towards gays and lesbians, but is now used by gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender activists. Fat activists want the word “fat” to be used as an adjective, just like thin, small or tall and not as a put down. Hence, I will use “fat” continuously throughout this article unless it is a cited source.

The term “overweight” receives mixed reviews. People who take offense to the term say it assumes an average standard of weight. But what is “average”? Let’s take a look at the “average” women in America:

The average woman is 5′4 and weighs 140 pounds The average model is 5′11 and weighs 117 pounds Most fashion models are thinner than 98% of American women Surveys show 45% of women are on a diet on any given day Surveys show 60% of American women are a size 12 or larger

Size Discrimination: The Last Acceptable Prejudice, Sherill Cantrell-Brown MA. LPC

In the media, people who are fat or short are often shown for comic relief and are rarely portrayed as emotionally competent and happy. As a result, we have negative images of the experiences of people who are fat and/or short. When discussing issues of size, we most commonly gravitate towards issues of weight, yet height discrimination is equally damaging.

The LPA with support of other organizations has recently tried to have legislation passed to have the FCC ban the word midget from the media’s use. This is similar to the bans on the “N-word” and other slurs.

“HD (Height Discrimination) is as present in our language as is its effect on the everyday life of a short person. One “looks up to” a significant individual, while an “underling” is “looked down upon”. One can “belittle” an adversary, to “make him feel small.” One might “overlook” a less worthy person, and see the person that “stands tall” being “a head and shoulders above” a “small minded” person.”

Understanding and Living with Height Discrimination by Glenn Beard March 2004

With regard to height and weight issues, there is a gender difference that should be noted.

Milk is a recent movie starring Sean Penn as the legendary activist Harvey Milk, he was the first politician who was openly gay.

He was elected to public office in California, as a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. He had a very short career in politics. On November 27, 1978, Harvey Milk and Mayor George Moscone were assassinated by Dan White, another city supervisor who had recently resigned and wanted his job back. Harvey served as supervisor only for 11 month. Nevertheless he became an icon in San Francisco and “a martyr for gay rights”. In 2002 he was called “the most famous and most significantly open LGBT official ever elected in the United States”.

Of course this is not the first movie focusing on gay rights and homosexual people, but apart from the highly acclaimed Brokenback Mountain, Milk focuses more on gay rights activism than on feelings. Canada has also a long history of activists fighting for gay rights.

In Canada this year the gay people will have the 40th anniversary of decriminalization of homosexuality. It was the famous Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1968-69 or the Bill C-150 that changed the status of homosexuals in Canadian society and basically allowed them to live normally. This decision was opposed by Catholic Church and various religious organizations, but in 1969 beliefs and prejudices stood back and rights stood forward. Canada today is one of the countries with very democratic position concerning gays and lesbians. Same sex marriages are allowed and the age of consent is specified with certain law.

The first major conflict was the Egan v. Canada in 1995. The cased revolved around James Egan and John Norris Nesbit, who were a gay couple and lived in a conjugal relationship since 1948. Upon reaching 65 Nesbit applied to the Department of National Health and Welfare for a spousal allowance. He was refused on the basis that spouse, defined in section 2 of Old Age Security Act, did not include a member of the same sex. Today it is a landmark Supreme Court case which established that sexual orientation constitutes a prohibited basis of discrimination under Section 15 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Only in 1999 the case labeled M. v. H. became a second landmark decision for the gay rights activists. The Supreme Court of Canada stated that same-sex couples should be treated equal under the Constitution of Canada. One of the in the case described this decision as: “This important decision found that it was constitutionally imperative under the Canadian Charter for laws to provide equal treatment of same-sex common-law couples and opposite-sex common-law couples. . . . [The Supreme Court] called upon the lawmakers of Canada to rectify all Canadian laws, rather than force gays and lesbians to resort to the Courts”

In 2005, Canada has offered civil marriage rights nationwide to same-sex couples.

It is great that modern society is becoming more and more democratic in questions concerning gay and lesbian rights, same-sex couples and homosexual people, and Canada is standing at the front line of this conflict.

]]> http://www.theherbalpills.com/mens-health/gay-health/dont-ask-dont-tell.html/feed 0 http://www.theherbalpills.com/mens-health/gay-health/do-pheromones-play-role-in-your-sexual-life.html http://www.theherbalpills.com/mens-health/gay-health/do-pheromones-play-role-in-your-sexual-life.html#comments Mon, 30 Nov 2009 12:19:50 +0000 http://www.theherbalpills.com/mens-health/gay-health/do-pheromones-play-role-in-your-sexual-life.html If you’ve never heard of pheromones it is time to learn about the part they play in your sex life. The concept of a human pheromone, or sexual scent of attraction, has been debated and researched for years.

Using a brain imaging technique, Swedish researchers have shown that homosexual and heterosexual men respond differently to two odors that may be involved in sexual arousal, and that the gay men respond in the same way as women. The new research may open the way to studying human pheromones, as well as the biological basis of sexual preference.

A pheromone is any chemical or mixture of chemicals produced by a living organism that transmits a message to other members of the same species. The term “pheromone” is usually used for sexual attractants. There are some other pheromones – they act as signals for alarm and defense, territory and trail-marking, and social regulation and recognition. Pheromones are now being used in insect control, for example as bait to attract males to field traps or, in very high concentrations, to disorient insects and prevent mating.

After long dismissing the search for a human pheromone as folly, scientists have begun to take a second look at how human body odor influences sexual attraction. The magic scent is not only a romantic elixir but the aromatic effluence of our immune system. The only trouble is we don’t give it half a chance.

Although it’s now clear that pheromones exist, the way our body processes them has yet to be well determined. Animals have a vomeronasal organ (VNO), which perceives the substance and then leads them to mate. Some anatomists don’t think humans have a VNO; others think they’ve found pits inside our nostrils that might be VNOs, but may not work.

Pheromones in humans are believed to be produced by the apocrine glands. These glands become functional after reaching puberty, which could explain why most people develop an attraction for others at that time. Pheromones could also be the reason why a person can sense “chemistry”, or feel an instant attraction or dislike when first meeting someone.

The Swiss researchers found that women taking oral contraceptives (which block conception by tricking the body into thinking it’s pregnant) reported reversed preferences, liking more the smells that reminded them of home and kin. Since the Pill reverses natural preferences, a woman may feel attracted to men she wouldn’t normally notice if she were not on birth control–men who have similar MHC profiles.

Dr. Cutler’s original studies in the ’70s showed that women who have regular sex with men have more regular menstrual cycles than women who have sporadic sex. Regular sex delayed the decline of estrogen and made women more fertile. This led the research team to look for what the man was providing in the equation. By 1986 they realized it was pheromones.

When you’re looking for the man or woman of your dreams, unsuspecting pheromones in your body scent are most likely playing a large and very clever role in mate attraction. According to an article in “Psychology Today,” how our body odors are perceived as pleasant and sexy to another person is a highly selective process. We usually smell best to a person whose genetically based immunity to disease differs most from our own. This could benefit you in the long run, making for stronger, healthier children.

The alluring chemical scent that young women give off to attract men seems to provide the same effect for post-menopausal women. When the scientists added the scent, a pheromone, to perfume used by older women, their romantic lives seemed to improve, the researchers wrote in New Scientist magazine. The study was also published in the Journal of Sex Behavior. Study leader Joan Friebely and her colleagues applied the test to 44 post-menopausal women. Those who used the treated perfume found their partners to be more affectionate than those who used the normal perfume.

More information you will find at http://www.astrahealth.com/euphoria/index.html

In an attempt to avoid becoming part of a divorce statistic, it is possible that young couples avoid marriage in order to avoid divorce. Unfortunately, the legal consequences of a breakup for unmarried couples can actually be far worse than the legal consequences of divorce.

The most effective way to gain the legal benefits of marriage is by getting married, but same-sex couples are denied the legal right to marry in Illinois, and many heterosexual couples are resistant to marriage. Thus, there are steps that Illinois attorneys can take to ensure that cohabiting couples receive most of the legal benefits of marriage.

The legal disadvantages of cohabitation

When a married couple divorces, each person is generally entitled to 50% of all assets attained during marriage. Co-habiting couples, on the other hand, do not have the luxury of a legal formula to determine what happens to all of their assets when they break up. For example, when a married couple buys a car, only one person’s name is on the title, but courts recognize that each person has equal ownership of it, whereas courts would give 100% ownership of a co-habiting couple’s car to the title holder. There is no assumption that a co-habiting couple’s assets are jointly owned, and neither person is entitled to anything that they did not specifically pay for or gain title to.

The 1970 lawsuit of Hewitt v. Hewitt, 77 Ill 2d 49, 394 NE2d 1204 (1979), is the most recent Illinois Supreme Court case involving the division of assets between non-married cohabitants. The Hewitt’s lived together outside of marriage, but Ms. Hewitt changed her name and the couple presented themselves as husband and wife. The couple agreed that Mr. Hewitt would be the primary wage earner while Ms. Hewitt fulfilled all other tasks involved in maintaining the household. When the couple broke up, the Illinois Supreme Court decided that because Mr. Hewitt supported the household financially, Ms. Hewitt had no right to any of the couples’ assets.

If the facts in the Hewitt case were different, and instead of breaking up, Mr. Hewitt died, technically, the result would have been the same. Ms. Hewitt could have been served with an eviction notice from Mr. Hewitt’s relatives and been forced to leave her home.

Cohabitation is considered socially undesirable in Illinois, and thus far, courts have not gone out of their way to extend the benefits of marriage to cohabitants. Because the result of breakups and death among cohabiting couples can be unfair, it is important for unmarried couples to hire attorneys and secure the legal benefits of marriage.

Contracts for cohabitants

The lesson from Hewitt v. Hewitt is that cohabiting parties should form written contracts regarding living arrangements. One simple written document drafted by an attorney could have changed the result of the entire case for Ms. Hewitt.

Although written contracts and wills cannot provide all of the legal benefits of marriage, such as social security benefits based on a spouse’s earnings or loss of consortium based on a spouse’s damages in a lawsuit, an effective attorney can ensure that cohabitants receive most of the legal benefits of marriage.

Contracts can indicate that all assets attained during cohabitation are joint assets, to be divided equally in the event of a break up. Furthermore, written contracts between unmarried couples can establish each person’s services to the household, such as who makes money and who is responsible for household management.

Estate planning is another step that cohabitants should consider to give members of a couple rights to one another’s property and health care in the event of death or serious medical illness. Ordinarily, when one member of a cohabiting couple becomes ill or dies, the other has no right to make serious medical decisions or inherit the other’s estate. Typically, the deceased partner’s estate is left in the hands of his or her family, which can be particularly troublesome when the decedent’s relatives hate the other partner.

Unmarried couples risk ugly battles in the event of death or breakups, with no assistance from Illinois courts unless their relationships are governed by contracts. By drafting contracts and wills, Illinois divorce attorneys and estate-planning attorneys can provide cohabiting couples with most of the legal benefits of marriage.

It also suggests that scientists may eventually be able to use the technique to create a supply of eggs for cloning.

The work can also help in understanding why some men and women do not create their own sperm or eggs and whether toxic chemicals in the environment play a role or not.

“It may allow us to investigate the very earliest processes of how a human’s reproductive organs develop,” said Harry Moore, a professor of reproductive and developmental medicine at Sheffield University in England.

Many scientists believe that chemical pollutants, such as pesticides, might interfere with human development at the stage where eggs and sperm are forming and that this disruption may cause birth abnormalities, infertility and possibly cancer.

“By developing suitable tests with embryonic stem cells as they differentiate into germ cells we can investigate the action of these chemicals in the laboratory,” Moore said.

Stem cells are the master cells of the body, appearing when embryos are just a few days old and developing into every type of cell and tissue in the body, including sperm and eggs. Scientists can study the stem cells by extracting them from the embryo. If the researchers create the embryo by cloning a cell from a patient, any resulting cells would be a genetic match to the patient.

The cloning technique, called cell nuclear replacement, involves emptying out the genetic material in an egg and replacing it with the genetic material of another cell, say a skin cell taken from an adult. Instead of being fertilized by sperm, the new reconstituted egg is then bathed in chemical nutrients and electrocuted to help it to divide. It then evolves into an embryo, from which stem cells can be extracted.

For infertile couples, this approach would eliminate the need for donor sperm or eggs.

But any treatment using eggs and sperm grown from stem cells, let alone from stem cells extracted from a cloned embryo, may be many years away, Moore said.

“We would need to prove that sperm or eggs produced in this way were safe before we could contemplate using them to treat patients,” he said.

Other experts said that such techniques could also raise some ethical issues.

“Because the technique can be used to generate eggs from an adult man’s cells, gay couples could have children genetically related to both,” said Anna Smajdor, a medical ethicist at Imperial College in London.

“Single men could even produce a child using their own sperm and an engineered egg, opening the way to a new form of cloning. Women’s fertility would no longer need to be curtailed at the menopause,” she said. “These possibilities raise new questions about how we define parenthood and about how we decide who has access to these new technologies.”

The use of progesterone cream helps to replace the progesterone in your body. By introducing progesterone into the body you help to restore the natural balance between progesterone and estrogen. The fluctuations of these two hormones are responsible for the majority of all symptoms of menopause and perimenopause. The combination of herbal remedies and the application of a naturally occurring progesterone cream can help restore your body’s natural balance.

Progesterone cream is a moisturizing cream that is based on the Mexican Yam root. How to use progesterone cream most effectively is to apply it to your face and hands. It can also be applied to your chest, abdomen, inner thigh and even your arms. This cream will not only help keep your skin free of dry patches but also raise the amount of naturally occurring progesterone in your body. This restoration of progesterone in your body is what helps relieve the symptoms of menopause.

There are several makers of this type of cream and you should look for the amount of progesterone in the cream and what its source is. A good cream will be aloe vera based for the moisturizing effect but it should also not clog your pores. Creams like this should also be fragrance free and should be hypoallergenic. You do not want to risk an allergic reaction to the treatment. You also don’t want to go around smelling like you have been using a progesterone cream treatment. We all know what Ben-Gay smells like.

The reason for the use of a cream to deliver progesterone is that is can be absorbed into the skin in just a few minutes. This process also allows the progesterone to bypass the liver and go straight to the specific receptors that need the progesterone in the first place.

Progesterone cream is one of the easiest steps to take in combatting menopausal symptoms. How to use progesterone cream most effectively is to simply apply it once a day in the recommended amount. You still need to be careful with anything you use to treat your menopause symptoms to make sure that you are getting what you pay for. Keeping a symptom diary will show you over time if the treatment is effective. Always be sure to let your doctor know what you are doing so you can avoid any complications from drug interactions with other meds.