TEDxDAR 2011: Let's Talk Orgasms

A nice break for the liveblogging/livetweeting crowd, we are now firmly in the taboo subtheme of TEDxDAR 2011. Warning: the linked video below contains graphic sexual talk and imagery, please do not click on it if you can't handle the subject matter. Okay. We're talking sex, or rather thinking sex as we watch Mary Roach's presentation at TED Global titled: 'Ten Things You Didn't Know About Orgasm'.

You know, there is something very interesting about the fact that so much research on human sexuality took place in the middle of the last century in the United States. Conservative times, seriously unconventional research. Kinsey, Masters and Johnson took away the taboo element I suppose by making it 'science'. So if you want to study, talk about something really interesting but seriously taboo, do it under the cover of a PhD ;)

On a serious note, I haven't come across much research into African sexuality or much research on sex on Africa in general*. This is not good. The Fifth Annual Conference on Sexual Health and Rights is compromized by its NGO-ish obsession with the political side of the sexuality discussion, but at least it is trying. If I could catch a hold of a sexologist working on the continent, I would have these questions for them: how do the different forms of female circumcision affect a woman's sexuality? And: what was the genesis of the practice in the first place? The WHO mentions hygiene and tradition, but (no offense folks, I know you are health professionals...) I suspect that even they are lost in the woods on this one.

*That's not strictly true. If you Google the term 'African Sexuality' you'll see an interesting phenomenon. Try avoiding FGM, HIV/AIDS, jungle fever etc. I could get into why I think this is the case, but I think you know...

Tanzanian Woman of Note: Julie Makani Simba

Dr. Julie Makani recently won a 60,000 Pound Sterling prize from the Royal Society. Just to give you a woefully inadequate summary: she is a superbrain researching how to help increase the survival rate of children born with Sickle Cell Disease. You may call her Dr. Awesome. And then if the spirit moves you, which it will, you can show her love by supporting the Sickle Cell Foundation of Tanzania.

Ooooh. I. Love. It. When a Tanzanian woman gets recognized for her brilliance. Instant feminist energy recharge. Context: a number of weeks ago, The East African had as its insert a special on the women leaders of East Africa. Which immediately raised the question of proportional representation. Truth is that many of us living outside Nairobi damned a very good piece of work with faint praise because, well... there weren't as many Tanzanian women as we had hoped to see. It may be that our regional rag doesn't know better. And its not like Tanzanians make it any easier for them.

This can mainly be explained by the Tanzanian modesty thing... actually, I just realized that discussing the Tanzanian modesty thing takes a lot of work so I'll save that for another blogpost.

Dr. Makani has been doing her righteous work for a long time now and has finally been outed. I am a big believer in respecting people's privacy, but there's a feminist agenda that's lagging in this country. A bit of promo work so that people get to understand just how bad-ass daughters of the Tanzanian soils can be is overdue. Our boxy little socialist suits and affable smiles are hiding a plethora of skills and achievements from the world.

So one of these days, while Julie is trying to get some work done, I'm going to take my chances and breathe down the back of her labcoat while asking intrusive questions for the blog. And she's going to have to suffer through it :)