There's been a big flap recently about birth control--again. I mean we've pretty much been having this argument off and on since the early 60s when "the pill" came out, if not before. It seems the people in favor of eliminating birth control are always middle-aged to old men. (Most often middle-aged to old white men.) And most of those like Rick Santorum are "conservative" Republicans.
There are a couple of fun ironies in this. First, Catholics and Muslims may hate each other but they are united in their hatred of women. I'm sure if the Catholic Church had its way women in America and Europe would be subjected to the same rules as in Saudi Arabia. (I mean look at those nuns; pretty much like those burqua things the women in Muslim countries wear except the face is visible.) But hey, who knows more about women's bodies than a bunch of elderly virgins/pedophiles?
Second is that "conservatives" hate birth control but at the same time they don't want poor people having six kids and going on welfare. And they hate abortion too and they wouldn't want to fund public orphanages either because that would be "SOCIALISM!!!" So what are poor couples supposed to do? Just not fuck, I guess in the world according to Republicans.
Really that's the only answer they can give: just don't have sex. I remember on a message board one person (a biologist no less!) said in all seriousness that instead of abortion people should just stop having sex. My response is: when have people EVER stopped having sex? I mean seriously, no matter how old you think the Earth is, what golden age was there when people weren't having sex? None! Even during the Black Plague or the Great Depression when things were terrible, people still had sex.
The point being that humans are human. Whether you think we were made by God or Allah or evolution, it should be obvious we all have the basic need to procreate, even those of us who should know better. It's our nature so we can be fruitful and multiply as God said we should be doing. And what Santorum, the Pope, and other old white men haven't realized yet is that you can't turn it off like a switch. Therefore birth control is good because it keeps people from having babies they can't afford or spreading STDs. Really, where's the downside?
Oh, right, if people have "the pill" or condoms they'll go right out and have sex. That just seems silly. It's like saying because I buy a gun I'm going to shoot someone. (Notice Republicans don't make that argument. Because guns are just for hunting or "home defense." Well isn't birth control defense for an even closer home?) They'd probably point to the "moral decline" of our society because there's more sex in advertising and movies and such. Well really the "Baby Boom" happened before any of that, so wholesome advertising didn't really seem to stop people from reproducing en masse did it? Again, people are always having sex. We might as well encourage them to be safe about it.
Really if the Catholics and Republicans want to come up with a real solution, instead of urging people to be paragons of virtue and not have sex, encourage them to masturbate. Because not only is no one getting pregnant or being infected with HIV when you're jerking it, it'll also curb your urge for sex, right? So instead of raping some chick (or fucking a little boy) just beat your meat! That goes for you too, ladies; get that vibrator out from the drawer and go to it!
The road to a better world is paved with jizz.
(See, I told you I had to get some of this stuff out of my system before the blog transition.)
Well, there you have it. You know, I often feel the desire to respond with depth and well thought out points, but it just seems like so much work.
ReplyDeleteSo, maybe we should have a candidate that offers some alternatives. We can dust off the Eugenics manuals and begin copulation cards and forced sterilizations.
Much like the Comic Book guy would say, 'for some, it will mean much less sex, for others, much, much more.'
Wait, I probably shouldn't have typed that.
I'm rather a fan of your political posts. Mostly because I read them and think "Ayup."
ReplyDeleteAs a fully functioning female-bodied person in our society this hits me very close to home. I'm not having kids, ever. (And if I do raise kids, it will be through adoption. My genetic line stops here.) So I've always been super paranoid about birth control. Just the thought of being pregnant is enough to make me have a huge meltdown until, oh hey, abortion get!...and I'm more likely to shack up with another woman than a man!
In the end it's pretty much about controlling women and their bodies. The whole "don't have sex!" is almost always directed at women, virgin-whore dichotomy, etc etc. I can't even imagine even if they started suggesting men jack-off that they would say the same to women. That would mean we have sexual desire. And that's jut not right! (Lie back and think of England!)
Reproductive rights (and its ties to feminism) are a huge part of my life. Thanks for bringing this up.
I think maybe you need to maintain a place to rant.
ReplyDeleteThe extreme social conservatism of the Republicans running right now drives me nuts. Birth control should not be a political issue right now. Everyone has the right to birth control. It's not the 50's or the middle ages. I don't understand why there's any question about it.
The irony to me is that Congress, the biggest bunch of fuckers both figuratively and literally ever assembled, should be delving into birth control at all. Or the economy, either. I mean, most have never worked a day in their lives. As I see it they're just a bunch of welfare recipients wearing suits and ties. They need to stick with what they do best, which is....um....
ReplyDeleteS
I think you're missing the point. As someone who grew up in the Bible belt and Southern Baptist, I can tell you, "they -don't- want you to have sex."
ReplyDeleteSeriously.
Sex is for the elite and privileged and other people just shouldn't do it. It's the 4th sin, after drinking, dancing, and smoking. And dancing leads to sex, which is why it's a sin.
All of this is why babies come from the cabbage patch and why the conservative hatred og Cabbage Patch dolls is so ridiculous.
Great rant. I agree with everything that you've said here. If I can think of anything even remotely to add to the discussion that hasn't already been said, I'll revisit and post it. But chances are, that's not going to happen.
ReplyDeleteI wish I could find fault with what you're saying but I can't. You might be grumpy but you're spot on here.
ReplyDeleteThis is possibly the best blog post I've read all day. Thanks for the permission :)
ReplyDeleteand if politicians would like us to stop having sex, I think they should role model the concept. Hmm, maybe PayPal is run by Catholics and conservatives.
........dhole
That PayPal thing is something I need to rant about in another post. The short version is that credit card companies that have been used to pay for pornography for decades are going to take a "moral stand" now? Really? REALLY? LOL.
DeletePayPal thing? Whaaat?
ReplyDeleteIs PayPal trying to have sax?
PayPal recently demanded Smashwords censor any erotica authors whose books contain a variety of "offensive" content like rape or bestiality and so forth. Which is just more hypocrisy because I can probably go buy sex dolls from Ebay with my PayPal account and they won't bat an eyelash.
Deleteum... sex...
ReplyDeleteMaybe they're trying to have sax, too?
Oh, yeah... I did read about that, but I guess I'd forgotten that it was PayPal doing it.
ReplyDelete