I can’t control what people think of me as a person or as a writer, but some emails I’ve received since my last C-J editorial indicate misperceptions may abound. So, I want to start Redbone Afropuff’s year with a few clarifications:

1. I’m pro-choice.
2. I don’t believe in promise rings.
3. I meant what I said when I wrote, “You’re a child, and you shouldn’t be having sex. I say that not in judgment of your morality or your worth as a human being…” I think teens shouldn’t be having sex simply because their brains and emotions are not ready for the attachments and potential consequences of sex in the modern world. Humans are fertile at a very young age—as tweens and teens. And when Earth was essentially empty and we died young, that was an asset. We had to have kids early and a have a bunch of them. But now that we’re 7 billion strong, live a long time and have things to do like learn, work and travel wherever we want to, teen pregnancy is a hindrance, as are STDs that can keep girls and boys from living a full life. And the attachment hormones females release during sex can make a girl so attached to a knucklehead that she’ll defer her life’s plans for him, change who she is for him. I do turn my nose up at women whose sex tapes launched them into super-stardom, and I think “It just sorta happened” really does show poor judgment (that underdeveloped brain I was talking about). But I do not believe a girl’s or woman’s level of sexual purity is the scale by which we should measure her value to the human race.
4. Healthy sexuality is part of my brand of feminism. Yep, I’m one of those F-ist women. My opinions are varied and diverse, based on life experience, formal and informal research, observation, and the wisdom of hindsight. And while some think my last column meant I burned my feminist card, I want to be clear: I didn’t.

I’m defining my voice and brand in 2012 as I continue my vision of fighting sexism, racism and their resulting social injustices. I hope you’ll stay on the journey with me, and if you share in that vision, I hope you’ll invite me to go to battle with you.

Happy New Year!