Post Prom with the Police Dr. Karen Rayne writes about a high school girl in Texas, Marche Taylor, who was refused entry to her senior prom because her homemade dress was too revealing. Ms. Taylor tried to compromise with prom sponsors by offering to wrap her dress’ train around her torso but was still denied entry. She became very upset and was evenutally escorted away from the Sugarland Marriott in handcuffs. Dr. Rayne uses the fiasco to discuss our strange notion of adolescent sexuality in America:

But really, I think people pay attention to things like this because they get
to look at a teenage girl’s body. We are, as a culture, both obsessed and
repelled by teenage girls ‘bodies. We want them to be shown off and considered
sexy in the right ways (like your standard prom dress or a bikini on the beach)
but not in the wrong ways (like Marche or Miley). But teenage girls are never
really given a good, solid list of guidelines and what’s appropriate can change
far too quickly for the average teenage girl to be expected to keep up.

Hagee and Donohue Kiss and Make Up John McCain has been the recipient of some heat for Pastor John Hagee’s criticisms of the Catholic church since McCain accepted Hagee’s endorsement two months ago. Bill Donohue, leader of the Catholic League, has been leading the charge against Hagee and calling for McCain to denounce Hagee’s endorsement. Donohue also refused to speak with Hagee until he apologized for his anto-Catholic sentiments. Yesterday Hagee issued the apology and now the two are scheduled to meet next week for a (politically expedient) reconciliation. Does this apology mean Hagee is now also off the hook for asserting that Hurricane Katrina was God’s punishment for the decadence of New Orleaners?

Sex, Drugs and Alcohol The latest edition of the Midwest Teen Sex Show is available for download on the show’s RSS feed. As always, making time for viewing is highly reccomended.

Special Dems Democrats have now won three congressional special elections in Republican stronghold districts.

UK Abortion Limits The debate in the UK over amending the 1967 Abortion Rights Act to create a 20 week limitation on all abortion procedures is heating up.