Every time I start to think we as a society may actually be making progress in terms of being less fucked-up about sex (even in the face of the ardent push for fucked-upedness by the Religious Reich), well, something smacks me back down to earth. “Silly idealistic girl,” it says, “with your dreams of a world where talking about sex doesn’t incite widespread wrath and rancor!”
Apparently educating one’s peers about the risks associated with sexual activity is cause for alarm in Noblesville, Indiana:
Senior Kristine May’s unpublished story has become grist for the school rumor mill and prompted more than a dozen parents to call the principal to say it would be inappropriate.But May and her editors argue that the story contains vital information about the medical and emotional consequences of oral sex.
“I wouldn’t have written it, I wouldn’t have fought for this long if it wasn’t important for students to read,” May said Tuesday at the school.
I’m sorry, did I miss a memo somewhere? Isn’t “information about the medical and emotional consequences of sex” part of the supposed basis of abstinence-only education? Or is it okay to talk about said consequences only in a nebulous, theoretical fashion, but not to mention specific behaviors (e.g., oral sex) and the risk factors associated with them? Because… reminding people that herpes can be transmitted through oral sex might make them want to suck cock?
I really do not understand this logic AT ALL. Someone please explain it to me (she asked, rhetorically).
This just serves as further damning justification of the accusation that the Christocrats are always so quick to haughtily refute - that they’re just anti-sex. Now, maybe I could see some conservative types getting their panties in a wad about a high school newspaper article that says everyone should just go out and blow each other. Hell, I would get my panties in a wad about such an article, if it didn’t contain information about safer sex practices and inherent risks. But an article that, by all indications, appears to be a deterrent to oral sex? Huh? What exactly is the problem here?
Actually, I bet I do know what the problem is. The article probably doesn’t contain enough judgement about those dirty sluts who dare to have oral sex before marriage. It must not have enough explicit verbiage telling students that it is NOT okay to have oral sex, that it is just plain WRONG. It probably says something like, “If you have oral sex, use a condom or dental dam to reduce your risk,” instead of, “Don’t have oral sex!!!”
Somewhat tangentially, I agree with figleaf that we should drop all the bullshit taboos surrounding STIs and change the “S” from standing for “sexually” to stand for “socially.” Then maybe we could stop wasting time with judgement and categorization, and focus on actual prevention.
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4 Responses to "New health strategy: fight [insert disease here] by pretending it doesn’t exist"
That totally makes me think of the coach in Mean Girls who said,
These people are exactly as you said, afraid of sex and sexuality. Hence why they are so against the gays, abortion, feminism, you name it. I feel like we are slipping very quickly back into the 50’s, and soon, women will be required to be at home like good little wives.
Here’s hoping we stop this shit before it goes any more in that direction.
I’d say ‘refute in a piss-poor manner reminiscent of their refutation of evolutuion.
But, I guess there’s some haughtiness in lying in a vain attempt to force people into the same sexual straightjacket you are stuffing yourself into…
Thanks for this,
You’d be surprised where that particularly stunted conversation about the links between stds and sexualness pops up. On a lot of the wimmin’s sites I’ve been checking, they cloak their discomfort with sex under a banner of feminism, rape, porn, really old, worn out, refuted conversations that should be buried and left for dead.
I’m inviting you to come read a post I wrote a couple of days ago. It’s called Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack of Sexual Conservatism (http://darkdaughta.blogspot.com/2006/02/
unpacking-invisible-knapsack-of-
sexual.html)
If you’re interested, I’d like to propose a link exchange.
Hi darkdaughta,
Great post! I’m out of town now with only sporadic internet access, but I’ll be sure to link to your site once I get back home. Thanks for stopping by.