Posts Tagged ‘Sari Locker’

We had so much fun!

My appearance yesterday, as seen from the control room …

The New York Times Freakonomics Blog today is running my article about the future of sex.

You can read my latest article in today’s New York Times Freakonomics Blog. It’s about the past, present and future of sex. They rounded up seven people “who have thought a good bit about sex and society” to discuss the topic in their Freakonomics Quorum. The others in the group are Taggert Brooks, Andrew Francis, Steve Landsburg, Rita, Pepper Schwartz, and Wendy Shalit. I also posted my piece alone in my Articles page on my website.  I’d be interested in hearing your thoughts on it, so feel free to contact me here with your comments.

Posted by: Dr. Sari Locker

Teen pregnancy is not more accepted today than ever before, but it certainly seems to be sanctioned by our political candidates.

It was announced today that Vice Presidential candidate Gov. Sarah Palin’s 17-year-old daughter, Bristol, is five months pregnant. According to The New York Times, Sarah Palin said, “Bristol and the young man she will marry are going to realize very quickly the difficulties of raising a child, which is why they will have the love and support of our entire family.”

Presidential Candidate Senator Barack Obama seemingly condoned this teen pregnancy, saying: “My mother had me when she was 18.”

Obama also said, “How family deals with issues and teenage children – that shouldn’t be the topic of our politics.”  His remark does not alter the reality that teen pregnancy is now most certainly a topic of our politics.  When a hurricane occurs along side a political campaign, it becomes a topic of our politics.  Similarly, when the “abstinence-only” VP candidate’s teenage daughter’s unwed pregnancy is announced during a political campaign… this is a political issue. I hope it opens up the conversation about the causes, consequences, and possible methods of preventing teen pregnancy, as well as the issue of sex education.

Comprehensive sexuality education should be funded and/or mandated, and the government must stop funding abstinence only sex education. Also, political parents should be able to say that Americans should talk to their teens about how to prevent pregnancy. Research has found that when parents talk to their teens about sexual choices, values, and birth control, then teens are more likely to delay sex and less likely to have an unintended pregnancy. Either Bristol Palin didn’t know how to use birth control, or she didn’t care to use it. This is related to how she was parented, and what she may or may not have been taught by her mother about sex, love, and life. I find it disturbing that thus far there have been no statements from the political campaigns about sex education, parenting, or about the fact that teen pregnancy is preventable. 

Jamie Lynn Spears, the Gloucester Girls, fictional Juno, and now Bristol Palin.  Will spotlighting another high profile (“celebrity”) teen pregnancy, help or hinder the conversation about teen pregnancy, sex education and parental education? More of my thoughts on this are here and here. Teen pregnancy has been a very public issue in 2008. It’s sad that another teen in the public eye had to become pregnant in order for this to become a political issue. It’s worse that politicians are still silent about the most important issues of teen pregnancy.

Bristol Palin and Trig Palin: Photo from The New York Times

Posted by Dr. Sari Locker

Today, I updated the “Questions of the Week” in my SEX ADVICE COLUMN .  Please check it out!

I updated the “Questions of the Week” in my sex advice column today (as I do every Monday, Wednesday, Friday). This week, there are new questions about nipples, sexually transmitted infections, the G-spot for men, and more. To find hundreds of other sex and relationship questions and my answers, be sure to “search” the archives of my sex advice column. Also, from that page you can “submit” your own questions for me to answer. Enjoy!

 (This photo was taken for my book “Sari Says.” Blouse: Pucci. Pants: H&M. Feather Pencil and Toe Rings: Claires. Authentic Egg Chair from the 1960s: Awesome!)

Posted by Dr. Sari Locker

For years, I’ve gotten e-mails (and in the ‘90s, letters!) asking me about my shoes. Sometimes the e-mails are written by guys with foot fetishes; mostly they are from women, as in the cute e-mail I got today:

Message:  Dear Sari, I am writing a paper about alcohol abuse during spring break, and I watched you in an online video talking to Katie Couric about this. I think you made a good point about how parents underestimate the behavior that their college-age-children may have when they are drunk, because they haven’t ever seen them drunk. By the way, I am really writing to ask you: Who made those shoes? I think they might look good with something I am going to wear to a wedding next weekend. I would like to get them if you can tell me who they are by. I know you must be busy, but please write back to let me know about the shoes. I have to get my paper done, but all I can think about is those shoes. Thank you, from one shoe lover to another.
My reply: Betsey Johnson. Good luck with your paper. 

For anyone who wants to see the video, here’s the link. You can see the tell-tale Betsey Johnson hot pink soles. At the very end of the segment, Katie Couric says to me, “Very nice shoes.” http://www.truveo.com/More-girls-going-wild-during-spring-break/id/2652156457

Incidentally, I interviewed Betsey Johnson and her daughter Lulu years ago when I worked for WCBS News – a profile piece focusing on their relationship. We shot it at their offices and showroom which is an amazingly gorgeous explosion of color and textures, with lots of pink and feathers. I love her sexy, whimsical, and (sometimes) over-the-top stuff, and having the opportunity to see it in the context of where it is created made me love Betsey and Lulu even more. 

Posted by Dr. Sari Locker