February 20, 2009

• WCFQ 36e: Abstinence and self-awareness

  Do you think teaching abstinence is outdated?
  lovepeacecalm
  
  

  I don’t, but then I’m an asexual. I’m not inclined to have sex just for the sake of having it in the first place. The thing is, most people equate sex with pleasure, but it’s true purpose is procreation. People can argue that as a pleasurable activity sex is meant to be enjoyed and shared, but since the end result can be pregnancy, I think that it’s biological function is more significant than any pleasure that comes from it.
  
  One of the problems I see with how sex is presented in media and society is that it is glamorized. The fact that it can get you pregnant is downplayed or dramatized to “work out.” The fact that it can give you diseases, outside of health class, is ignored or mocked. Sex is idealized. The physical results of sex are more or less ignored.

  Then we have a whole group of people who object to any kind of sexual education in schools, but neglect to educate their children themselves. So the only education “children” receive is from television… which glamorizes and mocks sexual activity. Is it any wonder no one really thinks about abstinence outside of a few people who ascribe to it thanks to their religious affiliations. There is also the old double standard… sex is okay and macho for a man, but any self-respecting girl had better think twice. If a man has sex, he’s masculine. If a woman has sex, she’s a slut. A man is just as responsible as a woman for being self-indulgent and a man (boy) who pressures a woman (girl) to have sex “if she really loves him” is no kind of adult. If people are not willing to teach kids about sex in a respectable and healthy way (physically and psychologically), then there’s really no point to teaching them anything at all. Might as well just leave things as they are…. with children having babies. 

  Sex should be taught in schools, with the emphasis on abstinence but without neglecting safety issues. Because kids watch television and see people in sexual attitudes on a nearly daily basis, sex is a part of their lives no matter what their Bible thumping parents think. If they’re not educated by their parents or by school, kids will experiment on their own. I’m not suggesting that they be scared into abstinence by stressing the consequences of sex, but that they be taught responsible behavior as a part of sexual thought. Abstinence is obviously the safest conclusion, but prophylactics and barriers against disease are also important vectors in teaching children about sex. They should all be taught together.

  Abstinence is not outdated. It is mostly ignored. That doesn’t make it an invalid choice. It is a reasonable alternative to sexual activity. If children were actually made aware of the full scope of consequences associated with sexual activity instead of its entertainment value, abstinence might be the more popular choice. Personally, I think sex ed. should be taught in biology, not as a separate class. That way it could be revisited in future classes. I also think that if emotional attachment were emphasized over physical consummation on television, children might learn to build relationships instead of scratch an itch. When all’s said and done, children and adults need a better education concerning when and where sex is a valid choice. I’ve no objection to how people entertain themselves, but I have a very specific loathing for people who refuse to take responsibility for their actions and I lay that responsibility as much on the people who object to sex being taught in schools as I do on the “children” who indulge in sexual activity without considering the consequences.
  

  
  
  

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  February 20th
  

  
  

  This is the eighth day of Parentalia.
  
  

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  The Society for Psychical Research was founded in London in 1882.
  
  

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  On the 7th day of Parmutit, Min Goes Forth in festivity.
  

  
  
  

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  • 11:41 am
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