Full Frontal Feminism: A Young Woman's Guide to Why Feminism Matters Read Online Free PDF Page A

partner they regret. But that doesn’t mean we can’t at least try to choose wisely. I never liked the word “promiscuity,” because it’s defined as having sex
indiscriminately. So have sex with whoever you like, and as many people as you like, but I think we can all afford to be a bit discriminating.
    ❂ Don’t have sex with someone who won’t use protection.
    ❂ Don’t have sex with someone who is anti-choice—they have no respect for your body or your ability to make decisions for yourself.
    ❂ Don’t have sex with someone who doesn’t respect your physical and emotional boundaries.
    ❂ Don’t have sex with Republicans. (Okay, that one is just mine.)
TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR CHOICES
    ❂ There’ll be plenty on this later, but it’s worth mentioning. As you probably know already, when it comes to the rights we have over our bodies, shit is going downhill. There are plenty of young women who don’t have access to contraception and abortion. This is unacceptable. Fight the good fight in your schools, community, wherever, to make sure that you have as many choices as possible when it comes to your reproductive rights.
TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR OTHER WOMEN
    ❂ We’re all in this together, ladies—so help your fellow woman out. Whether it’s taking a friend to get birth control, helping someone come out, or even just not calling other girls nasty names—it makes a huge difference.
    See—now no one can give you shit! On to the fun stuff.

From The Joy of Sex to Joyless Sex
    Can someone tell me when sex became such a goddamn downer? You would think from the way people talk about it these days that intercourse is a potential epidemic—teen girls running around like junkies trying to get a quick dick-fix.
    No doubt, there are serious consequences to sex. But if you’re well informed and being responsible, what’s the problem? We need to get beyond the politics, the religious guilt trips, and the moral tsk-tsking and start to remember that sex is a good thing. A great thing. Perhaps the best thing ever.
    Someone handed me a sticker at a women’s rights march once. It said: I FUCK TO COME NOT TO CONCEIVE. I can’t find that sticker and I want it back! Because what’s been lost in this whirlwind of abstinence-only, married-only, straight-only nonsense is pleasure. I don’t know about you, but when I have sex it’s because it feels good, not because I’m gearing up to knit some booties.
    But there are plenty of people out there—powerful ones—who want you to forget that. Take this nut job, for example: Former Senate candidate Alan Keyes once called homosexuality “selfish hedonism,” because gay sex isn’t for popping out kids; it’s just about feeling good. (The horror!) The fact that someone could outright say that it’s a bad thing to have sex because it’s fun is beyond ridiculous. Because that’s the one thing we all have in common. Whether we’re married, single, gay, young, whatever—we all want to have orgasms. Unless you’re Alan Keyes, I guess.

    That’s where feminism comes in. Seriously. Feminism says that you have a right to enjoy yourself. An obligation, even. Young women need to get past the bullshit, scoff at the shame tactics, and get back to the hard work of getting off.
    Note: Yes, I realize that I’m focusing on the physical aspect of sex, rather than the emotional. That’s because it’s generally the physical part where women are getting fucked-up messages about sex.

Reclaiming Your Number
    It’s easy to say that sex is a good thing. Living it is the hard part. Women have been taught for so long that having sex—or even just hooking up—means that you’re a slut, so it’s kind of a hard thing to get over. But if sex is a good thing, then why should we be ashamed that we’re having it?
    It’s time to come out of the “fucking” closet!
    Most women are all too familiar with the sexual double standard that says women are big hoochies for having sex but guys