50th Anniversary of the Pill

Global TV and Me – Click here to watch video

It would be a service to mankind if the pill were available in slot machines and cigarettes were placed on prescription. ~Malcolm Potts, MD

Adam & Eve – Who Really Came First?

In the story of Adam and Eve the Bible professes that Adam was created first…
“And the Lord formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.” (Genesis 2:7)
“And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. Then the rib which the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman, and He brought her to the man.” (Genesis 2:21)

When we look at animals across the planet and throughout time, we find that the male/Adam came first, female/Eve second story, just doesn’t really fit the bill. There are many known cases of female only species existing and thriving throughout civilization, however no male only species have EVER been discovered.

The common whiptail lizard (Cnemidophorus uniparens), found in arid environments in the south-western United States, is just one example of a female only species. These lizards reproduce parthenogenetically therefore no sperm or male lizard is needed. Oddly enough however, the female lizards do engage in sexual behaviour, but since neither animal has testis or a penis, there is no actual sexual penetration or transfer of sperm.

Another group of animals, referred to as bdelloid rotifers, are tubelike creatures that can be found in almost any freshwater environment today. This female only species are known to have existed for at least 40 million years, and they are not just one species but an entire class of invertebrates with at least 352 different species! That number alone accounts for an enormous amount of successful female only species on our planet.

So the next time you’re gazing at our beautiful environment consider the fact that she’s called Mother Nature for more than one reason. And when you’re at this weeks dinner party, and your husband or boyfriend thoughtfully asks you if you’d like one of his ‘ribs’, just shake your head and say, ‘No thanks honey – I’m finished – how about I give you one of mine’.

Sex in History – Alice In Wonderland

The new Alice in Wonderland movie has been creating quite the buzz since its opening. The new 3D movement has made this epic story a must see. However, the few times I’ve commented on Lewis Carroll’s past to movie/book enthusiasts, I was met with great resistance. So who was Lewis Carroll and why is his history seeping in sexual mystery?

Lewis Carroll (known by birth as Charles Dodgson) was the author of two immortal children’s books, Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. But Carroll, a renowned Oxford University mathematician, writer and photographer was – to put it mildly – interested in little girls.

The Alice books were written for Alice Liddell, the young daughter of an Oxford dean. Alice was however only one of Carroll’s many young friends, as the writer had a succession of close friendships with at least 40 girls – friendships that generally (though not always) faded when the girls reached their teen years. He wrote thousands of letters to these girls, often illustrating them with his own notable artwork or photography. This photography was a great passion for Carroll, as he photographed innumerable young girls, many of them naked. And no, Carroll never married.

To diagnose the great writer as a heterosexual pedophile is fraught with risk and is complicated by conflicting motives: the desire to read psychopathology into the lives of important historical figures versus the desire to preserve the sanctity of one of the world’s most beloved children’s authors. Many biographical writers downplay the pedophile possibility by describing Carroll as a Peter Pan-like figure who was socially inept and simply remained asexual throughout his life. Others however point to his diaries (which still exist) and the deep guilt he expressed but never made clear, mixed with the fact that some key pages of these diaries have been excised.

Even if we accept the likelihood that Carroll was a pedophile, it is still impossible to know whether he limited his activities to simple voyeurism (as his photography suggests) or went that unspeakable step further, to actual sexual contact with children. Unless the mystery diary pages resurface, Carroll’s sexuality is likely to remain an enigma. But perhaps some things are better left as such. After all, eating magic mushrooms, chasing white rabbits and running from the Queen of hearts, poses enough symbolic questions on their own.