CATEGORIES: Abstinence Only Celebrity Current Affairs HIV/AIDS Sexuality Education Teen Pregnancy
December 21, 2007
Seriously, What’s Up With Unsafe Sex?
Not that pregnancy is a bad thing. When planned, it can be wonderful...nausea and months of dry heaving aside, of course. But why is this week in particular filled with not so positive stories of conception? Britney’s sister, Jamie Lynn Spears, is pregnant. (If you saw me on Good Morning America yesterday you know that I have some serious concerns about this.) My personal issue is not that a 16 year old was having sex. It’s because clearly we have a societal problem when someone who has financial access to information and services does NOT use protection. (Though because her home state of Louisiana is an abstinence-only state, the information part may have been more challenging.) Nonetheless, what happened to condoms? They sell Trojans everywhere! They are not that hard to find. And if for some reason they are locked behind a cabinet (which I admit is counterintuitive on many levels), a sexually responsible person would still walk right up to the counter and ask the cashier to unlock it. Second, what’s going on with using tabloid journalism to exploit a personal crisis for financial/PR gain? There is a narcissistic and juvenile element to all of this that I just cannot understand.
That being said, this has been a great week for comprehensive sexuality education and those of us who practice and support it. (Check out the recent findings from the CDC.)
But it is evident that we do have problems talking with our children about sexuality. Yesterday on Fox Business, I talked about how we have an obligation to speak honestly about sex and to challenge the messaging (albeit conflicting and confusing) that we get from our media. (Watch it here.) How can we live in a world where condom advertising is censored by some networks but extreme violence and exploitative sex is glorified? Where are our priorities? Is it any wonder why our youth are so confused about sex and protection?
As for role modelling, may I just propose something: Let us redefine what we mean by “role model”. I suggest that role models are not cute, wealthy, press worthy celebs, but people in our lives that are inspirational, give back to the community, and contribute to society in meaningful ways. These may be people from history; these may be family members. But just because someone is on tv doesn’t mean that we should emulate their lives.
What do you think? Comments: (1)
CATEGORIES: Abstinence Only Bloggers Book Tour Politics Religion Sexuality Education
December 06, 2007
Did You Hear the One About the Candidate…
who said that abortions were "like a holocaust"?
who encouraged the early release of a convicted rapist who then went on the rape and murder again?
Guess who it is? Mike Huckabee. The same man who is also against same-sex marriage (big surprise there) and comprehensive sexuality education. (Somehow I don’t think that this is the candidate for me - cue the shock and awe.)
Here’s the thing. I believe that everyone is entitled to have their religious values. However, religion and theology cannot dictate our politics. It is dangerous and unfair to the rest of the country who may not embrace the same faith.
Meanwhile, back on the book tour, Alex Elliot over at Formula Fed and Flexible Parenting has a review of Third Base... and an interview with me. Check it out!
What do you think? Comments: (0)
CATEGORIES: HIV/AIDS Science Sexuality Education
November 30, 2007
World AIDS Day
Tomorrow is World AIDS Day. Yes, another year has gone by and we still have such a long way to go. I don’t know what it was about the community that I was raised in, but in the early 1990s, when HIV was being recognized as an indiscriminate virus (one that didn’t care about your sexual orientation, race, or religion), parents became consumed by the thought of their children being affected (and infected) with HIV. Even if your parents never talked to you about sex, they did tell you one thing: "Use a condom". That was it. Condoms, condoms, condoms. To be perfectly honest, I have never considered not using one. It was just so ingrained in me. It still is.
So why is it fifteen years later and the epidemic hasn’t lessened its grasp on the world? Why is it that 6,000 children lose a parent to AIDS or an AIDS-related illness every day? Why are there 33.2 million people who are living with HIV globally? There were 2.5 million new infections of people 15 and older in 2007 and 2.1 million children and adults have died this year from AIDS. (21,000 from North America!)WHY WHY WHY?
HIV is preventable. We know what it takes. Use a condom. Be tested. Don’t share needles or blood related products. And most importantly, don’t be complacent. HIV is still as important an issue as it was twenty years ago.
For more information (and for additional HIV/AIDS resources), please check out POZ.com.
What do you think? Comments: (0)
CATEGORIES: Abstinence Only Book Tour Books Current Affairs Sexuality Education Television
November 27, 2007
News for November
Sorry I have been out of touch, so to speak. Between work and the holidays, I have been running a bit behind. Not that there hasn’t been a wealth of items to talk about:
1. Prude: How the Sex Obsessed Culture Damages Girls - the frightening book by Carol Platt Liebau which was brought to my attention by Rachel Kramer Bussel
2. Another scathing review of abstinence only programs in this country; This time, brought to you by The National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy.
3. New hypocrisy related gossip: What does Trent Lott’s retirement have to do with Hustler magazine?
And for fun, some new Third Base Ain’t What it Used to Be press:
Check out VickyandJen for their podcast with me - chock full of parenting tips!
and The Chicago Tribune’s feature 5 Things I Learned From....
For some fun videos, check out the Relationship 101 segments from The Morning Show with Mike and Juliet : Relationship Survival Durings the Holidays and Secrets Your Shouldn’t Keep (though if you ask my co-contributor, he thought that the title should me "Why Men Should Keep Secrets").
