In the News this week:
Super Bowl Pepsi Commercial
Take a look at this commercial‘s take on the difference between male and female mindsets in a relationship (aired this Sunday). Fellow bloggers more at their leisure, feel free to write a more in-depth analysis of this if you like.
This incidentally reminded me of this priceless Super Bowl commercial from last year – somewhat different situation, but the man here seems to be thinking the same thing. Luckily her son’s onto him.
Monday Morning Links
Frank Sinatra: “Love and Marriage”
Over the past weekend, I decided to listen to some Frank Sinatra while I was studying, and while it was naturally a thoroughly enjoyable experience, I couldn’t help but be somewhat surprised by the lyrics of “Love and Marriage” (which I hadn’t heard in a while) when it came on: “Love and marriage, love and marriage / it’s an institute you can’t disparage.” One forgets that hugely popular singers used to sing like this. I put the lyrics below, which are worth a look, and here’s the original song, which is certainly worth a listen.
Love and marriage, love and marriage
Go together like a horse and carriage
This I tell you, brother
You can’t have one without the otherLove and marriage, love and marriage
It’s an institute you can’t disparage
Ask the local gentry
And they will say it’s elementaryTry, try, try to separate them
It’s an illusion
Try, try, try, and you will only come
To this conclusionLove and marriage, love and marriage
Go together like the horse and carriage
Dad was told by mother
You can’t have one, you can’t have none, you can’t have one without the other!No Sir!
Monday Morning Links
Wednesday Afternoon Links
The Problem of Teen Pregnancy
By
T.A. ’13
A friend of mine showed me this
story concerning teen pregnancies at a Memphis High School.
Deborah Harrison, head of Girls, Inc., does indict the girls
as individuals for not playing their part in preventing pregnancies:
“Right now, these
girls don’t know how to say ‘no,’ they’re having sex when they don’t want to,
they just don’t know how to say ‘no,'” Harrison said.
She also
points to the idea of pregnancy pacts (see Time article),
claiming that they are at least in part to blame. According to local station
WMC-TV, “Sutton said she
believes some girls are making agreements with each other to get
pregnant.”
However, Harrison also blames what she describes as a
‘sexually oriented’ society for the 20 percent pregnancy rate at Frayser High
School. And while personal responsibility is crucial in the decision to remain
abstinent until marriage, Harrison is absolutely right. In a culture where sex
is made casual, more and more teens will prematurely commit themselves to sex
and potentially, pregnancy.
So often, critics of abstinence education point to
statistics that suggest (perhaps unfairly) that “it doesn’t work.” Whether or
not such statistics are convincing is in itself debatable, but these critics
are correct in that abstinence education does not tackle the root of the
problem. In other words, schools may continue to preach to students that having
sex before marriage is wrong, but until society accepts such to be true,
schools like Frayser High may continue to find their most sincere efforts
confounded.
Monday Morning Links
Kiddy Condoms
According to NY Daily News, Switzerland has a new product on the market: condoms for children. The hotshot, as it is dubbed, is designed for 12-14 year olds, who are apparently less likely to engage in protected sex than older teens.
The hotshot was designed in response to a study, overseen by Nancy Bodmar. She was shocked at the risky behavior displayed by young boys:
“They have more of a tendency not to protect themselves,” she said,
adding that because of their young age, they also do not know much about
sexuality. “They do not understand the consequences of what they are doing,”
Bodmer said. “The results of this study suggest that early prevention
makes sense.” [from the article]
Such condoms do not strike me as the most effective strategy: I can’t imagine that the difference in difficulty of use will cause fewer 13-year-olds to have unprotected sex, and it certainly isn’t the best marketing strategy. (Adolescents generally dislike products that make them feel like children, particularly with regard to sex.)
More importantly, such a product sends exactly the wrong message: it’s fine for children to have sex. Some people, of course, might think that it’s more important for 14-year-olds to protect themselves, but what of 10-year-olds? and 7-year-olds?
In discussions about sex-education I often bring up the point that most people do take a normative attitude towards what is taught at what age: if kindergartners were having sex and getting pregnant (enabled by too much non-organic milk) we would not say “teach them to use condoms! If they’re going to make that choice, we want them to at least be safe.” Instead, we’d find the situation so unacceptable that we’d say “teach them not to have sex!” I–and hopefully most people–also feel that way about 12-14 year olds. And 17-year-olds. (Were we really more emotionally mature at 17 than at 12?)
“Safe is Sexy”
In the last few days, I’ve been
seeing lots of signs (I’ve attached two of the ones that are posted) across
campus advertising a USG event that happened yesterday entitled “Safe is Sexy.”
Aside from the strangeness of the
USG advertising this event to the entire campus and the mixed messages that
intertwine dating and sex (not to mention cookies and condoms), I’m surprised
that I haven’t heard much mention of the posters/event. It seems as though the
advertisements hypersexualize and almost trivialize important health information.
If the University thinks that STI prevention is really something to be taken
seriously, it seems strange to promote testing with pictures of semi-clad men
and women, free cookies, and offers of more condoms. Condoms, contrary to
popular conception, may reduce risks of contracting STIs (when used correctly),
but aren’t entirely effective at preventing STIs.