Come join the Women's & Gender Studies program for lunch with Professor Virginia Braun, a psychologist from the University of Auckland who specializes in women's health, gendered bodies, and sexuality. In this informal brownbag exchange Braun will describe her latest project in which she investigates the prevalence of sexual coercion among gay and bisexual men -- an experience which, she argues, is more widespread than its silence suggests. She will then address the wider contexctual and sociological factors at work and will also highlight the larger questions this project raises. Virginia Braun will also give a lecture Tuesday afternoon at 3:30pm in the Nebraska Union. The title of the presentation is "Questioning 'The Designer Vagina': A Critical Analysis of Female Genital Cosmetic Discourse and Practice."

The Launch Your Pre-Harvest Marketing Plan workshop will examine the key elements of a solid marketing plan, and how crop insurance, target prices and decision dates work together to help secure a good average price for their crop. Producers will write their own marketing plan then implement it in a realistic market-simulation game.

Female genital cosmetic surgery (FGCS) procedures are increasing in popularity. Yet, as psychologist Virginia Braun (University of Auckland) explains, they are deeply problematic. In this talk, Braun provides a critical feminist analysis around FGCS, highlighting key areas of concern. Specifically, while the rhetoric of choice and sexual pleasure functions to legitimate and promote FGCS, FGCS simultaneously reaffirms normative heterosexuality, promotes a generic model of bodies and sex, and pathologizes female genital diversity. This is the second event of our Spring 2009 Colloquium Series devoted to: "Women, Gender, Science, and Medicine."

by Jeremy Wagnitz, Entomology Graduate Student