Teachers occupy an interesting gender space in the mainstream media. As institutional caretakers of the young, teachers—male and female—are often cast into a mothering role. And like mothers’, the sexuality of teachers is thoroughly socially policed.

Media gawkers are both fascinated and horrified by the sexuality of teachers. Like mothers, teachers are expected to remain publicly nonsexual—and when they’re not, their sexuality is fetishized. (See: pornography’s teacher-student fantasy; MILFs).

Often, the horror part is for good reason—in the case of student sex abuse allegations, for example. However, the the fascination part often extends far beyond sex crimes. A current search for “teacher” in Google News turns up as many sex-related teacher pieces as it does educational inquiries (also popular: dead or dying teachers). Are all of these cases really that bad? Or does the occupation of “teacher” guarantee another level of juiciness in the story?

Read More “The Media Goes Hot For Bad Teacher” »

The woman, who arrived at the bar alone, is “fascinated by human sexuality,” she tells me. Sure, she’s got theories. “Some of my ideas are pretty radical,” she insists, before flagging the bartender for another Pink Slip.

Two sex tips from a drunk person, after the jump.

Read More “Sex Tips From Drunk People” »

A colleague of mine at the paper is taking a Spanish language course. “It’s a great class!” he says. Lesson number two, provided by Learning Spanish Like Crazy, was especially stimulating:

Above, learn the meaning of phrases like!:

“Es necesario usar condon para evitar enfermedades contagiosas”

“La virginidad ya no es mas un valor”

and my personal favorite:

“Decidio que un aborto solucionaria sus problemas.”

BONUS: One phrase is translated, “Freud invented the concept of Pennis envy.”

Ted Haggard, the evangelical minister of Colorado Springs’ New Life Church who was outed in 2006 as the client of a male prostitute, doesn’t believe in labels. “I think of myself as a heterosexual but with issues,” Haggard said in an interview. “Those labels just don’t work, and from the research, they don’t work for most people. The boxes don’t work for me,” he said.

Is Haggard taking a progressive stance here in asserting that dividing the spectrum of sexuality into two opposing camps (heterosexual; homosexual) serves only to condemn those members we deem to be “deviant,” and repress all others into sexual conformity? Or does he just not want to admit that he might be gay?

Local blogger Band of Thebes thinks something’s missing in The National Gallery of Art’s new exhibition, “Pompeii and the Roman Villa“: Gay men. “The first ever Roman exhibit at the National Gallery in Washington is indeed a convincing trip back in time: to the McCarthy era,” writes Thebes, who takes issue with the lack of context in the show, which fails to acknowledge Roman sexuality.

The wan written commentary seems designed to reinforce what viewers already believe rather than educate them about what they don’t know. Many, many artifacts have no commentary at all. Although the show’s subtitle specifically promises the culture of the ancient world, nowhere do the curators acknowledge the prevalence of same-sex relationships. The exhibit is packed with male subjects who exclusively or enthusiastically loved men, yet this aspect of their lives is whitewashed: Plato, Alexander the Great, Epicurus, Julius Caesar, Caligula, Nero, and Achilles.

My favorite line in the post: “Is the enormous painting above Vesuvius erupting or my mind exploding?”

Photo of “Vesuvius from Portici” by Joseph Wright of Derby courtesy of brewbooks