Reported by MTV Act.

Photo: Take Action Tour.

How about a strip of condoms with your strip of photo booth glamour shots? Well, that’s just one of many ways to take control of your sex life at this year’s Take Action tour, winding down in Kentucky, Michigan and New York this week.

Over the last month, the Take Action tour has swept across the country, sprinkling a little rock and a dash of sex-ed on the party-hardy concert set. Featuring up-and-coming acts like Bayside and Silverstein, the tour aims to give “bands and their fans the opportunity to connect their talent and passion with causes that [are] important to them.” In past years, proceeds from ticket sales have gone to shedding light on depression, suicide prevention, etc. But this year, the tour’s main focus is sex education; 10 percent of all ticket sales will go to Sex, Etc.

What’s really rad about the Take Action tour is that its fun factor isn’t confined to what happens onstage. On-site is the LifeStyles Condoms “Make Out Booth,” which dispenses a strip of condoms along with the sweaty, rocker-style photos of you and your friends! Take a photo and you’d be in good company; celebs like Lindsay Lohan, Kim Kardashian and Lauren Conrad have all been served a strip. Stop by the swag section, where the threads are cool and socially conscious. All shirts, hoodies and bracelets are emblazoned with the words “Take Action,” a reminder to not just educate yourself on sex (and other issues) but to spread the word to your friends. And finally, with GYT on board, you can text your zip code to GYTNOW (498669) to find a local testing center near you.

So if you get a chance to stop by Take Action, you should. I promise you’ll not only learn about some fantastic up-and-coming acts, but you won’t sweat when the time comes to  talk to your partner about getting tested.

Reported by MTV Act.

Photo: (The Argosy)

“Sluts” everywhere are coming together to reclaim a word that unfairly defines women based on their sexual behaviors. The “Slutwalk,” originally confined to Toronto, is on its way to a town near you in the hopes of spreading the good word that women do not deserve to be violated verbally, sexually or otherwise.

After a Toronto police officer allegedly told a group of York University students that “women should avoid dressing like sluts in order to not be victimized,” five women collectivized to reclaim the powerful four-letter word, “slut.”  Initially, the Toronto SlutWalk was meant to “demand better” from the police force, demanding an apology not for the use of the word, per se, but for the notion that women’s dress, however “slutty,” could warrant victimization.

Co-founder Heather Jarvis even asked for a formal retraining of officers so that “they understand what it means to be a victim.” But after hundreds showed up to the April walk, the founders realized that they’d hit a nerve and started a conversation that was larger than the Toronto Police force.

In just a month, the SlutWalk has not only gained media attention for shedding a light on rape culture,  but it has successfully spread the word to the masses:  Women should not be victimized on account of their self-expression. Women, as feminist writer Jaclyn Friedman suggests, should “have the freedom to act as our authentic self in public without being subject to sexual violence.”

Boston recently staged its own Slutwalk, and satellite groups will bring the march to many other cities over the next few months. See the entire schedule and join the conversation on their Facebook page.