In light of the CDC's latest report on the HIV epidemic in D.C., a reader suggests that local gay men participate in Hope Takes Action, an effort to recruit men for clinical trials of a possible HIV vaccine. The study is looking for HIV-negative, circumcised men who have sex with men and who live close [...]

Last week, readers theorized as to why art students avoid drawing the penises of nude models. Both David Quammen and John Hammack attest to students avoiding their genitalia by inserting an obscuring shade or a set of imaginary shorts over their crotches. Is homophobia and sexual repression to blame, or is free penis sketching a [...]

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The Centers for Disease Control is currently weighing whether to recommend the circumcision of boys and men in the United States. If the CDC finds that a circumcision recommendation would reduce the risk of HIV among American men, I think that's swell. Providing people with information to help protect themselves from disease is a wonderful [...]

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This week, I screened two documentaries for the City Paper's Silverdocs film fest coverage. Unsurprisingly, I was assigned the two films in the festival about circumcision. Beyond the slang term "female circumcision," the tradition of female genital mutilation has little to do with that of male circumcision. But both practices are cause for serious [...]

* Slate is all over the sex & gender beat this week! First, Jack Shafer debunks the New York Times Sunday Styles "dudes love cats" trend piece:
How to write a bogus trend story: Start with something you wish were on the rise. State that rise as a fact. Allow that there are no facts, surveys, [...]