Bleach, Mountain Dew and Marijuana are Not Contraceptives
Since 1996, over $1.677 billion has been dumped into abstinence-only sex education and fueled by the religious right refusing to admit that sex exists. Yes, I said it! Sex exists!
Since abstinence-only sex education has been adopted by many states, we now get to see the outcome of what abstinence-only does to those receiving this type of education.
Teens in Florida believe that drinking a cap full of bleach will prevent HIV and that Mountain Dew and marijuana will prevent girls from getting pregnant. We now have a better understanding of what teenagers are walking away with when receiving abstinence-only education–Nothing!
Teenagers will not abstain from having sex, it is simply not going to happen and by these shocking tales of ignorance when it comes to sex education, we are not helping teenagers by telling them that sex is bad and that they shouldn’t do it. By this story, we are seeing that teenagers want to know how to prevent pregnancy and how to have sex without contracting sexually transmitted diseases and rightfully so, we should be giving them this information; there is absolutely no excuse not to.
McCain Doesn’t Know if He Supports Contraception
I bring up John McCain on here quite a bit; the reason for that is because the more I read about him, the more I’m convinced that he just cannot be the Republican candidate for president. The more this man speaks, the more he makes even extreme right wingers look like peace-loving hippies. He makes Ann Coulter look liberal!
I am convinced that John McCain has absolutely no thoughts of his own and is simply taking the ideals of other people and of the current president and thinks to himself “Well it worked for them and so I think I feel that way, too!” His thought process depicts more of how a 13 year old teenage girl thinks and acts when trying to fit in with the cool crowd at school. Example A: McCain isn’t sure if he supports condoms.
We know that McCain supports abstinence-only sex education, as does the current president although it has been statistically proven to be ineffective. However, his case gets even worse when he was recently asked if he believes that US taxpayer’s money should go to fund contraception to prevent AIDS in Africa. This was his response:
“Well I think it’s a combination. The guy I really respect on this is Dr. Coburn. He believes — and I was just reading the thing he wrote — that you should do what you can to encourage abstinence where there is going to be sexual activity. Where that doesn’t succeed, then he thinks that we should employ contraceptives as well. But I agree with him that the first priority is on abstinence. I look to people like Dr. Coburn. I’m not very wise on it.”
Coburn, whom John McCain speaks of is the Republican Senator of Oklahoma; he has also been said to support death sentences for abortion providers so it is no surprise that McCain would be such a fan of his.
In the first part of McCain’s response he says that we need to encourage abstinence where there is going to be sexual activity. This is an insanely broad statement because it brings up the question of consenting adults. If two, consenting adults were to engage in sexual activity, does he believe they shouldn’t and that they should abstain? In all cases of sexual activity whatsoever, McCain believes that we must not give into temptation!
The last section of his response is a bit odd…How can you not be educated when it comes to contraception? While he may be cleverly trying to back up his broad abstinence remark and make us believe that he waited until marriage until engaging in sexual activity, which I believe to be highly unlikely; or that he is still a virgin, which again, is even more unlikely, how can you sincerely not have an opinion on funding contraception in Africa?
When asked about grants for sex education in the US and if they should include information on contraceptives, or if it should strictly be Bush’s policy, which is abstinence education and nothing more, McCain answered that “he thinks he supports the president’s policy.”
He thinks he supports the president’s policy. How can a grown, 71 year old man not know if he supports contraception? In the first question, he stated that when abstinence is not possible, we should then employ contraceptives. In this response, he takes that statement back by saying that we shouldn’t even educate people about contraception. Does he know what contraception is? Is he aware of what condoms are? If we took him to a store and asked him to point out a box of condoms, would he know where to go or what they look like?
When asked if he would agree that condoms stop the spread of sexually transmitted diseases, McCain refuses to answer, yet asks for Coburn’s paper regarding the subject so he knows what stance he has on it:
(Twelve-second pause) “Get me Coburn’s thing, ask Weaver to get me Coburn’s paper that he just gave me in the last couple of days. I’ve never gotten into these issues before.”
I still cannot wrap my mind around the fact that he claims that he has never gotten into issues of contraception and sex education before and in the process, admits that he has no real opinion on it and relies on the thoughts of other extreme Republicans for his thoughts on issues. I guess when it comes to these issues he was betting on just being able to say “pro-life” about a thousand times and he would be in the clear. Is he aware that abortion has to do with sex, which then has to do with the option of contraception? I can see him counseling women out of abortion now–”Well you should have just abstained from having sex in the first place. What do you mean ‘the condom broke,’ they can do that?”
Sorry John, we want answers this time and how about a presidential candidate with their own damn thoughts, would that be too hard?
The Late Edition of Feminism at its Finest
As some may have noticed, Feminism at its Finest was missing last week due to me moving and having my computer packed away for a few days. However, this week we’re back and with some awesome posts!
Christine presents High School, Hair Color and Choices saying:
“Allow our girls to be themselves, especially in the face of bigotry and small-mindedness.”
Posted at Me, My Kid and Life: An American Single Mom Living in France.
Tina Su presents Train Your Eyes to See Color, Again, a post on how to remain positive in life through the hard times. This is posted at Think Simple. Be Decisive..
Sage presents Teen Sexual Pleasure saying:
“Exploring the idea that so many women are unaware of their own means towards sexual pleasure until later in life.”
Posted at Persephone’s Box.
Not too many posts, but there haven’t been an abundance of posts since we started this carnival, so that’s okay! Although, due to the way this carnival has been barely hanging on and the amount of carnivals that have been backdated, missed and late I am going to feature Feminism at its Finest once a month. The carnival will be posted here on the last day of every month starting February 29.
If you can, please promote the carnival and submit your posts for the next edition!
Purity and Integrity…Balls
I’ve spoken quite a bit on purity balls before, but lets face it, this topics in all of its Nazi-religious and abstinence-only brainwashing glory never gets old. Not to mention, of course, the underlying views of these affairs and how they tend to scream “incest” in not only big, but also bold and red type.
Abstinence-only sex education programs have been swamping the nation not only recently, but has been consistently supported by the federal government since the 1981 Reagan Administration. The federal government has been condoning this ludicrous education program and pouring more than $1.677 billion, since 1996.
Refusing to accept that abstinence-only education does not work, the religious majority have been holding formal events depicting what a traditional wedding would more-so look like for young girls and their fathers. The Father-Daughter Purity Ball, Sponsored by the Colorado Springs’ Generations of Light Ministries, are basically young girls pledging to their fathers that they will remain pure and virginal until the day (or most likely, night) they marry.
Making a commitment to yourself to remain a virgin until your wedding day is one thing that I could completely understand. A woman making an informed and personal decision for herself is completely fine, especially if that woman is of the mature age to know what she is talking about and making that decision for herself and no one else. However, these balls are not only being targeted towards teenage girls and their creepy fathers, but also to girls that look so young that they were more than likely told “Honey, look at the big, fancy dress you get to wear and there is going to be a lot of cake there!” Hell, if I were 5 years old, I’d be all about going too! And at that young of an age, the aforementioned creepy fathers only seem even creepier. I mean, it isn’t every day you look at your daughter, who is still dreaming about growing up so she can eat 3 bowls of ice cream for dinner and can’t even tie her shoes yet and immediately think and her virginity. Not only that, but to the point where you’re buying a matching cummerbund and taking her to a dance where you then imitate something that also looks like it came right out of a standard, traditional wedding. Right?
The pledge read by the father at a purity ball reads:
I, [daughter's name]’s father, choose before God to cover my daughter as her authority and protection in the area of purity. I will be pure in my own life as a man, husband and father. I will be a man of integrity and accountability as I lead, guide and pray over my daughter and as the high priest in my home. This covering will be used by God to influence generations to come.
High priest!? It kind of makes you think that while writing this script they were joking saying “I can’t wait to see how many websites jump on this!” But sadly, they are completely serious. Maybe I can try that on the boyfriend while in bed–”Oh high priest…” It certainly appeals to many male egos.
What these events are basically saying is “If you really love your father, you will dress up, do an interpretive dance, read words off of a script that is provided for you, so you don’t even have to go through the task of coming up with your own words that describe how you, as a person, feel, and make a commitment you are not yet old enough to understand.” Most of the girls from the pictures on the website look like hardcore Sesame Street fans and I think that most of them even needed a little help with the big words in their script. And one of the biggest things that I have against these affairs, not including that I think Megan’s Law should keep a close eye on any father bringing his daughter to one of these, is that they are teaching young girls that they should be giving themselves as a wedding present to their husbands on their wedding day. And who ever said dowries were out of style? It is saying that we need to backtrack over a few decades to where a woman is only valuable to a man if she is a virgin, making her value as a human being only determined by her sexuality–Or if pedo-dad and God have anything to do with it, lack thereof.
The first time I spoke about purity balls I received a few emails and comments turning the tables on the father-daughter event and asking what would one think of when they heard mother-son. Well now we can question no further!
I introduce to you…The Integrity Ball!
Notice that purity was replaced with integrity–Because a man with integrity chooses a virgin to marry! I love how they go hand in hand. The integrity ball also goes on to tell young men more about women and about how they need to be “pure”, by making them think of their mothers. Ew?
Who else thinks these things came about when parents started feeling uncomfortable talking to their children about sex? Now we can just escort our children to balls, make young girls have pseudo-weddings with their fathers on their arm and make young men think about their mothers in a sexual manner.
Bad fetish porn, anyone?
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My name is Holly, I'm a freelance writer and web designer as well as an obsessive blogger. This site focuses on (mainly) US politics, women's rights and health and society. I also find myself constantly debunking feminist stereotypes that have been ingrained in the minds of the world's population through the last 30 years. Read more...Tags
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