Via Dearest Jonathan we have this post from The American Scene the CDC's sexual behavior data. The relevant bit:

{...}But it's a significant phenomenon nonetheless - and if you broke it out by age and class, I'm sure that bisexuality would be even more common (and increasingly so) among upper-middle-class young people. If the experience of human history shows anything, it's that a large percentage of any given population will experiment with opportunistic homosexuality if the taboos against it are lifted - and at least in our country's more exclusive circles, the lesbian-experimentation taboo is dead and the gay-experimentation taboo is weakening. Ancient Greece, here we come . . .{...}

To which Jonathan adds:

I don't have anything to add to serious discussions about human sexuality, although comments like this one make me wonder if the trend is liberation, or just another instance of women going out of their way to attract male attention by any means:

Ashley, 20, a student at Northern Arizona University, agrees. "It's become this totally hot thing," she says. "And the reason why is that it promises this sexual experimentation to guys. They think, 'She'll kiss another girl; she's gotta be pretty wild.'"

Ashley hasn't made out with that many girls: "I've only done it like a dozen times." It's been fun, she says, but mostly because of the titillation: "There's people watching it, and that makes me feel good. The first time I did it at a party, I thought, 'So this is what it takes to get the guys' attention.'"

You decide if this is benign or a case of women desperate for male affection. (You know you're old when you read Ashley's quote and instead of thinking, Hot!, you worry that she didn't have a capable, present father while she was growing up and hope that she'll spend some time working on her sense of self-confidence and self-worth.)

In any case, what interests me most is the proximate causes of what destroyed the "taboo" against LUGiness in the first place.{...}

{Ed. LUG=Lesbian until graduation. Amazingly enough during college I lived in an all-girls dorm and a sorority and I never saw anyone getting it on with their best friend or their roommate. It never happened. Really and truly. And if something like that WAS going on, believe you me, everyone would have known about it because a. girls are catty creatures and b. close quarters means gossip spreads like wildfire. So, I will admit I believe this whole LUG thing is an urban myth perpetrated by pr0n writers and men who really would like to think that living in a sorority house is all pillow fights and sapphic experimentation.}

Jonathan ultimately places the blame on Friends with Monica and Rachel making out in front of Chandler and Joey to get their apartment back. I think Jonathan's partially correct: Friends showed two women making out. What he misses, however, is that these two female characters were making out not because they were hot for one another but because they were trying to get what they wanted (their apartment) from men. That's when the taboo died: when it became cool to use said bisexuality to lure men into handing over what women wanted. Female bisexuality became a tool to manipulate men. Everyone knows that hetero men adore it when women get busy with one another. There's nothing new in that bit of information. What is interesting in all of this, however, is the lengths women feel they need to go to to get what they want. If making out with a woman will get them something, well, they'll do that.

The thing I find curious about the CDC's results is that, apparently, they did not take into account "The Threesome Factor" when asking women about their relations with other women. They did not ask how that coupling came about or if it took place with another partner present---in this example, a man who'd actually worked up the nerve and asked, "Would you consider being with another woman for me?" I'd be curious to know if this overall trend toward female bisexuality is the result of women actually wanting to love women or if it's just women trying to please their men.

I'd wager it's the latter.

Posted by: Kathy at 01:32 PM | Comments (10) | Add Comment
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1 I've had a few younger friends who were LUGs. Though in one case it was "lesbian till she met a guy and got married" .

Posted by: Ith at September 16, 2005 02:09 PM (LCvAk)

2 Enjoy the search engine traffic this post's title will bring your way. I have a feeling they may be a wee bit let down, no offense to your post.

Posted by: Doug at September 16, 2005 07:46 PM (7P5xE)

3 yeah, I chummed the google waters real good with this post

Posted by: Kathy at September 16, 2005 11:24 PM (yBAYg)

4 Wow. Way to puncture all my preconceptions, Kathy. Next you're going to tell me that the Easter Bunny isn't really laying eggs all over my yard the day after Good Friday. I'm going to use my faith & just assume that YOUR sorority was just an abberation in the "experimentation & pillow fight" department.

Posted by: Russ from Winterset at September 18, 2005 12:43 AM (6krEN)

5 I'd wager it's the latter. I'll wager that it's a little bit of both. Or so I've heard.

Posted by: Bill from INDC at September 19, 2005 08:21 PM (GLJdf)

6 And here is a little science to back up my assertion: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2003/06/030613075252.htm Women are more naturally bisexual than men. PS - I have it on good authority that the sorority hook-ups, pillow fights, etc are all true.

Posted by: Bill from INDC at September 19, 2005 08:25 PM (GLJdf)

7 I take your point, Bill, but just because someone likey the pictures, doesn't mean they're going to run right out and have sex with another chick, ya dig? Until someone measures the threesome factor, I will consider the information lacking.

Posted by: Kathy at September 20, 2005 12:16 AM (yBAYg)

8 I take your point, Bill, but just because someone likey the pictures, doesn't mean they're going to run right out and have sex with another chick, ya dig? Certainly. But it would also support the idea that women are more predisposed to the idea than men are to men, and in a reasonable number of cases not just doing it as a form of male manipulation. (though I don't disagree that manipulation/attention-seeking is prevalent - and to no small extent, eye-rollingly annoying) Until someone measures the threesome factor, I will consider the information lacking. I've heard a reasonable number of stories from college of women coupling with women when nary a man was in sight (no, not in Penthouse Forum). As it is, I will endeavor to conduct further primary research into this weighty matter, so that I might proffer a more informed, experiential and scientific opinion. This will of course require watching hours and hours of anthropolgical footage before venturing out into the field.

Posted by: Bill from INDC at September 20, 2005 08:44 AM (yZMsp)

9 PS - It's also pretty apparent that this entire post is just a wild, diversionary overcompensation for the lustfully secret sapphic crush that you have on Rosie O'Donnell.

Posted by: Bill from INDC at September 20, 2005 08:46 AM (yZMsp)

10 Well, Google messed up the relevancy of this page

Posted by: threesome at November 13, 2005 03:41 AM (AqDGi)

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A certain chubby cheeked actress that Sheila hates is filing for an annulment. From a certain country singer that Sheila likes. A lot.

In her court filing, the chubby cheeker listed "fraud" as the reason she would like an annullment.

I'm sure Sheila would say that the fraud was on the part of the chubby cheeker. In fact, I know she will and I will update when she does.

I love making someone's day.

Posted by: Kathy at 09:42 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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The season premiere of House is tonight.

I'm taping it because, of course, the one night I want to be home my sister needs me to babysit her kids. I'm being a nice person, so nobody should post any spoilers in the comments, either, until I've watched it. Got it? Good. Otherwise you'll find yourself on the wrong end of my banning finger.

And, no, I'm not fucking about on this one.

Posted by: Kathy at 12:43 PM | Comments (8) | Add Comment
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Now, I don't pay too much attention to Cricket because, well, I don't understand the sport. I've tried many times to understand why the scores are something like 258-4. I've tried to figure out why they break for tea, and why their matches are called "tests" and last for several days. I don't get what a wicket is. I have no idea why they wear all that freaking padding when they're batting, because for all the crap the English give us over how much padding American football players wear, you'd think they'd mind their tongues, eh? No fewer than four Brits and one really cute New Zealander have attempted to explain this game to me, but I still don't get how the game works.

Yet, for all I don't understand about Cricket, well, I do understand how this would be a great reward for winning the Ashes series against Australia.

{...}After partying all night, Flintoff admitted tongue-in-cheek "What is most exciting about winning the Ashes is it means I'll be awarded the freedom of Preston, my hometown.

"That means I can drive a flock of sheep through the town centre, drink for free in no less than 64 pubs and get a lift home with the police when I become inebriated. What more could you want?"{...}

The man's spot on. What more could you want?

Posted by: Kathy at 09:23 AM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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1 my dearest cake eater... these four Brits wouldn't really equate to three Brits and an Irishman who carries a dual-passport, would it?

Posted by: Stigmata at September 13, 2005 10:49 AM (ddzYA)

2 my dearest stigmata, Ummm, actually, no, it doesn't include an Irishman who carries a dual passport because he never actually explained the game. Ahem. Bygones.

Posted by: Kathy at September 13, 2005 11:04 AM (yBAYg)

3 How was that explanation NOT considered an explanation??? heh! Hope you enjoy your dose of Hugh Laurie tonight!

Posted by: Stigmata at September 13, 2005 05:33 PM (ddzYA)

4 What more could anyone want? A box of biscuits, a box of mixed biscuits and a biscuit mixer.

Posted by: triticale at September 14, 2005 08:34 PM (3JB/W)

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Fausta has yet more good news.

Posted by: Kathy at 07:44 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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The Cake Eater Sister, Christi, her husband, and their three kids are in town for the better part of the week.

Posting shall be light until further notice.

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Huck, huck the fawks!

While he was spot on with the line on Notre Dame, it's nonetheless apparent that the Nihilist does not have a future in bookmaking.

Posted by: Kathy at 07:06 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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A New Orleans resident's photo account of Katrina---before, during and after.

It's long but it's well worth your time.

(Mom, you're definitely going to want to see this)

{Hat Tip: Ith}

Posted by: Kathy at 04:27 PM | Comments (6) | Add Comment
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1 That was amazing. I don't even know what to say. (abrupt transition) Thanks to you and your husband; manual hyperlinks are now working. It's not a piece of "cake" (Johnny Carson I'm not), but it will fill the void until I get a new computer. Thanks!!!

Posted by: Uncle Ben at September 09, 2005 05:37 PM (t5k4t)

2 Excellent link, Kathy. Thanks.

Posted by: RP at September 09, 2005 08:15 PM (fWrQ6)

3 Great Kathy!

Posted by: Mom at September 09, 2005 09:15 PM (YRG90)

4 Thanks for sharing that, Kathy!

Posted by: zonker at September 11, 2005 01:23 AM (/y7q3)

5 Sadly, The link to the shared album is no longer active.

Posted by: The Wizard at September 12, 2005 08:34 AM (N7YGA)

6 that was a really good album. thanks for getting us in contact with it!

Posted by: amelie at September 12, 2005 04:03 PM (J0CVQ)

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"Chip's" adventures in Bikram Yoga conclude.

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Robbo is saved from much teeth scraping and poking.

{Insert commitment of this to memory, lest the husband try it on for size when we have kids}

Posted by: Kathy at 10:34 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Fausta's got it for you.

Posted by: Kathy at 08:28 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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One of the crack young staff of The Hatemonger's Quarterly---let's just call him "Chip"---discovers the joys of Bikram yoga.

Posted by: Kathy at 12:08 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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The husband gets rave reviews. (scroll down to the 9/5 entry)

Or maybe it was just the Cuervo talking.

Heh.

(I'm just screwing with you, Katie.)

And, yes, the husband does indeed look like Russell Crowe. Or rather Russell Crowe looks like the husband. Because I'm loyal that way. Same body type, same hair color, same eye color, same facial shape. They could be brothers. And, no I'm not joking.

Posted by: Kathy at 04:26 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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That's wonderful.

Posted by: Kathy at 01:05 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Shaq needs to look up this kid and---ahem---learn from him.

(You'll need to download/install Google's video player to watch, but it's painless, so you really don't have an excuse.)

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While there's been some great news about fundraising via the web, there's also been some bad news about phishers, scammers, etc., trying to take advantage of people's suffering via the world wide web. So, it's really nice to have one more good story to add to the lot. The domain Katrina.com has been owned by a web designer named Katrina for years. She's been offered thousands of dollars by not-so-wholesome people over the past couple of days for the domain. She has refused ALL of these offers and instead has set up boards so people can locate the missing, relief information, etc. on her site to help the victims of Katrina. Katrina.com has become a roundup of valuable information because one woman is good.

That's nice to hear.

{Hat Tip: Tech Dirt}

Posted by: Kathy at 04:04 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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When I was a kid, I had this bad habit of putting other people's rings on my fingers. If you left a ring lying around, well, one way or another it would find its way onto my finger, just because I didn't have any rings of my own and I was fascinated with the stupid things. So, I'd slip this ring that didn't belong to me on my finger, stare at it for a while admiringly and then...well, that's where the trouble would begin.

My stomach would drop through the floor as I would struggle to get the ring back off my finger. I would get panicked. The anxiety would rise and I would start to get sweaty and my stomach would come back up from where it dropped to settle somewhere in my throat. This is when I would have to calm myself. I had managed to get other rings off my fingers. I just had to calm down and to do this, I would remind myself that where there is a will, there is a way. Meaning, if I could get the ring on, and if I wanted it off, I could do so: I just had to figure out how. This of course usually meant a frantic licking of my finger to loosen the ring, but it generally worked out.

This thought has been running around in my brain since I read this post by RP earlier. RP is concerned and I can understand why he is. I am as well. But, for one brief moment, while we worry about what we can't do, let's look at a few things the human race has achieved to remind ourselves of our capabilities. Let's take a look at all the things the human race has achieved to remind ourselves of the truth of "where there is a will, there is a way."

We built this

And this

and this

and this

and this

and this

A genius believed this form was just lying in wait in a slab of marble and that it was up to him to reveal it.

A man spent years painting an image with little tiny daubs of paint, only to show us how images are truly formed in the first place.

We eradicated this disease and we're working on eradicating this one. We found a way to treat infections in mold spores.

We have walked here

And because we're curious creatures and going to our own satellite wasn't enough, we regularly send probes here

If we can do all of these things we can rebuild New Orleans. Because there is a will to do so. And there is a will, no matter what the freaks over at Kos and Denny Hastert have to say. Hence we will find a way.

Posted by: Kathy at 03:55 PM | Comments (8) | Add Comment
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Go and read this.

Posted by: Kathy at 02:13 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Ummmm, if you're a mugger, I'd recommend staying away from this chick.

Just Damn.

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{this post will stay at the top of the page all day Thursday, September 1, 2005}

So, there's a bit of a blogburst going on today to help raise awareness and CASH MONEY for charities that are assisting in the relief efforts needed because of Hurricane Katrina.

You can either go to Instapundit or to NZ Bear to see all who's participating and who is recommending what charities. I'm choosing the American Red Cross because, let's face it, they're the big dog when it comes to natural disaster relief. I want the money to go to people who know what they're doing and who are going to get the biggest bang out of the bucks donated.

Clicket on that image and it will take you directly to the American Red Cross' donation page. Do what you can, kids.

It also bears mentioning that the American Red Cross is always hurting for blood donations. If you are perhaps a wee bit strapped for cash and would like to help out in some way, but lack the cash, it's time for you to go to your local chapter of the Red Cross and donate a pint. You'll be helping an organization that's helping those in need---it's just as good as giving cash. And, really, it's doesn't hurt that much. I promise. Plus you get a donut and juice when you're done! What more could you ask for?

I know some people will balk at the idea of sending money to the Red Cross given the International Committee of the Red Cross/Red Crescent's anti-American bias. But as Fausta reminds us: "A quick reminder that the American Red Cross has nothing to do with the policies of the International Committee of the Red Cross and has in fact withheld funds from the ICRC to protest its blatantly biased agenda." Don't let the ICRC stop you from donating to the American Red Cross.

In case you'd like a little somethin' somethin' in return, Phin and Sadie---the fabulous owners of Apothegm Designs---are auctioning off a custom blog design to the highest bidder, with all proceeds going to the American Red Cross. Go on over and start going crazy!

Technorati Tags: Hurricane Katrina, flood aid

(And if you're a blogger and the Red Cross is your charity of choice, feel free to swipe the image and use it on your own site.)

Posted by: Kathy at 11:58 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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