I'm in Love with This New H&M Campaign

Cheap-chic retailer H&M has collaborated with Designers Against AIDS to launch the second annual Fashion Against AIDS collection, with twenty five percent of the sales prices going to HIV/AIDS awareness projects.

Cyndi Lauper (pictured), Yoko Ono, Dita Von Teese, N.E.R.D., Moby, and Katy Perry are among the stars who're collaborating on the effort; personally, I'm most in love with their safe sex message.

Check out more images from the collection here.

When did you first learn about sex?

I consider myself lucky. When I was three my mom had just become pregnant with my little sister. Of course what toddler isn't going to want to know what's growing in mommy's tummy and exactly how it got there? So I asked – and she answered, whipping out her vintage copy of "Our Bodies Ourselves" and all. Over the years, we kept having versions of this conversation, whether it was me asking what a term I'd heard on TV meant (the "blow job" conversation was a classic) or asking about different forms of birth control. That doesn't mean I always felt comfortable telling my mom everything, but it did mean that I a) knew the facts and b) knew where to go to get answers if I needed them from somewhere other than mom.

So when I saw this video of Planned Parenthood's Haydee Morales and her daughter talking about sex it made my heart warm. Haydee is the Vice President of Education at Planned Parenthood of New York City, and Haydee's daughter is 11. Their conversation is touching, and proof that yes, a parent can have a good, open conversation about sex with their kids. And sometimes it's that conversation that makes a world of difference.



So what about you all? Could you talk to your parents about sex? Are they the ones who told you the facts, or did you find out from friends/peers/older siblings? And how much of what you thought you "knew" ended up being myths?

Top Ten Contraceptive Myths

Good morning everyone!

No matter how well-informed our parents were, or how many times we had that "birds and the bees" conversation with our parents, each and every one of us grew up thinking something crazy about sex and the way babies were made. I remember my best friend Baron insisting that babies came out your belly button when we were in the third grade, and I unfortunately believed until I was 20 that women could only take the "morning after pill" once in their lives, and if they took it again it would kill them (not true my dears, as it's simply a high dose of birth control hormones it has no more harmful side effects than birth control).

So that's why I was so pleased to see this piece in the UK's Mirror about the top ten contraceptive myths:

1 You can't get pregnant if the man hasn't ejaculated
2 You can only get pregnant mid-cycle
3 You can't get pregnant if you're breastfeeding
4 The morning-after pill has to be used the next day
5 Hormonal contraceptives can reduce fertility
6 You need a break from the Pill or patch
7 The Pill makes you fat
8 The implant moves around the body
9 Only mums can use an IUS or IUD
10 Two condoms are safer than one

But I'm curious about all of you. What misinformation did you grow up believeing? And when did you learn that it wasn't true?

Mobile Health!

Ever wondered how Planned Parenthood reaches so many people? Well this month, it's been by taking to the streets!

Above is a picture of our mobile medical unit, which all throughout the month of April has been administering walk-in STD testing all throughout the city. You may have seen the inside already but if you haven't, they're basically a big clinic inside of an oversize RV. Check them out the next time you see them on the street!

So how many of you have been tested so far? Do you know how at risk you are for STDs? If you haven't been tested, go do it already!

[D]Effective Advertising?

Jezebel alerts us to an interesting German ad campaign - portray sperm as Hitler (or Osama Bin Laden or Mao Zedong).

Kind of creepy, right? What do you think? Would this ad make you want to use a condom?

Prom Sex Tips!

Some of you might know this already, but I am in love with the Midwest Teen Sex Show. I grew up in New York City, so never really had either the Midwest experience or the whole Prom thing. But their videos are consistently both hilarious and really informative. Anything that teaches you accurate information about sex while making you crack up is always good in my book, and this Prom Instructional is no exception.

What do you guys think? Did you go to your prom? Did you like it? Was there pressure to have sex?

Jesus battles the Pope over condoms

I'm loving this video! Thanks to Free Williamsburg for the link.

Sexting: Update

After this last post, a reader directed me to this great article by Violet Blue over at SF Gate which asks: when teens make their own porn, who's being exploited?

What do you think? Can taking nude photos of yourself be healthy or harmful? When I was fifteen there was barely an internet, and I know I'm glad to know that the dumb mistakes I made back then won't be broadcast for all the world to see, but that's no longer the case. Have you ever had something you regret broadcast over the internet?

Teenage Sexuality: How do you teach without the shame?

Do you remember a while back, a few high school girls in Pennsylvania got in trouble for sending semi-nude photos of themselves to friends via cell phone?

The atrocity wasn't that they got in trouble - a school restricting that kind of behavior among students I could maybe understand. It was that the police decided to charge all those involved with trafficking in child pornography.

Now, in a twist, a U.S. District Judge has now issued a restraining order against the original prosecutor, saying his actions went to far.

It's so rare you see a federal judge doing something that actually seems to really protect young girls without shaming them for exploring sexuality, that I consider this District Judge a hero. But it got me thinking, how should the girls parents and authorities responded in the first place? It's natural for teenagers to want to experiment, and the local police forces' strong reaction was definitely creepy. But sending nude or semi-nude pictures of yourself can be really risky. You never know whose hands they'll end up in, and once they've made it online there's no taking them down - readily googleable for any future employer to find.

So what do you think? How should the teens' parents and teachers dealt with this issue?

Breaking: MTV VJ Gets Tested for STDs on Camera!

As some of you may have already heard, this month is Get Yourself Tested Month (or GYT09). Which means that Planned Parenthood has partnered with the Kaiser Family Foundation and MTV to remind all of you how important it is to get tested for STDs on a regular basis!

It's been pretty exciting so far, especially because we get to do cool things like have an MTV VJ come in and get tested for STDs on camera.

Watch the video! Doesn't he make it look easy? I even got to meet Carlos, and he was very sweet. And yes, he really did go through the whole exam and get tested for everything.

What about you? When was the last time you were tested for STDs? Do you think you'd be brave enough to do it on camera?

When was the last time you were tested for STDs?

Whether you lost your health insurance or are just plain lazy, you may have been putting off getting STD tested lately. But do you know how much of a risk you're facing?




Now you can! As a part of Get Yourself Tested month, Planned Parenthood has made it simple to do a quick assessment of what STDs you might be at risk for via an online quiz. Of course you should all be getting tested on a regular basis anyway - it's just common sense.

What about you guys? When was the last time you were tested? Do you get nervous before you go?

Gossip Girl's Dan Humphrey a Supporter of Planned Parenthood?

Said Gossip Girl's Dan Humphrey in this Monday's episode:

? "All I did was carry the chili and stop a few teenagers from having unprotected sex."

At least he has his priorities straight.

Becasue Skinless Sheep Are Gross

Thanks, Midwest Teen Sex Show.

It's nice to know that Christopher Walken is on our side.