That’s Not What We Do | CarnalNation

In a remarkably well thought out and thorough response to the conversation around whether there are similarities between this story of kidnapping and sexual abuse and the actions of the BDSM community, Thomas MacAulay Millar speaks out clearly to remind every one that, no – it is not. BDSM is not unethical behavior, and unethical behavior is not BDSM. Millar sets out a 4 point code of Ethical BDSM, reminding us that: it is unethical (and unconstitutional) to ever have an irrevocable master/slave relationship; it's unethical to leverage existing vulnerability or power imbalance into a BDSM relationship; it is unethical to do things beyond your ability as a Top; it is unethical to do things to people that they don't have enough information to make an informed decision about. He continues by calling the BDSM community to action to be more responsible for speaking up about abuse, within and outside of the community.

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CarnalNation suffered from link rot, so brief source now links to Feministe; content is unchanged.

Medical Student Won’t Perform Pelvic Exams on Anesthetized Patients | The Unnecesarean

What's most terrifying about this story is not the fact that medical students are regularly given the opportunity to preform pelvic exams on female patients who are anesthetized and unconscious waiting for another procedure, although that's frightening enough. No, what's most terrifying about this story is that it this invasive, nonconsensual practice has already been reported on; but in January 2010 AND – and here is where it gets really scary – in 2003, on the defunct medical blog ShamExam.com. This is not late breaking, this is re-breaking, from at least seven years ago, and clearly the practice is still going on. Dr. Michael Gerger says in the original '03 article " If you’re anesthetized and you’re in the OB/GYN department you probably have had students practice pelvic exams on you regardless of what you’re in the hospital for – even if the procedure you need doesn’t require a pelvic exam!" How is that not malpractice?

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