Comments on: Sexual abstinence, carried to its (il)logical extreme

By: Overlawyered

Overlawyered — Thu, 27 Apr 2006 20:32:56 +0000

“Abstinence education”: bait and switch?

The Bush Administration recently issued regulations that tighten the definition of what must be preached in federally funded “abstinence education” school programs. At Volokh Conspiracy, Dale Carpenter relays some thoughts I had about the process…

By: Dilan Esper

Dilan Esper — Mon, 24 Apr 2006 20:33:23 +0000

I think the GOP (1) wants to please the base, which really does believe that all non-hetrosexual, non-marital, or non-procreative sex is flatly prohibited, and (2) figures most suburban parents are so tied up in knots about their teenagers hearing about sex so much that they will favor an approach that lies to the kids and takes a categorical “no sex nohow nowhere” approach.
That said, whether or not this works as an issue for Democrats, I still think they should raise it. The fact is that Republicans have been able to hide all sorts of extreme religious and patriarchal views behind what they claim to be a simple principled opposition to things like abortion and a desire that parents be able to choose what they tell their children about sex.
People need to understand that there’s bite behind the rhetoric about Republican “theocrats”. And that means playing up that these people think that gay people and 45 year old widows should never have sex, that nobody should ever use contraception, that nobody should masturbate or buy a sex toy to spruce up their marriage, etc.
At the very least, getting this stuff out in the open might force the Repubs to deny it and take a hit from their base.

By: Quiddity

Quiddity — Mon, 24 Apr 2006 16:34:07 +0000

Remember, this is a country that didn’t have real women modeling bras in commercials until about a decade ago.
There’s a lot of prudishness out there. It’s declining, I suppose, but still enough remains for the Republicans to take advantage of.

By: Barbara

Barbara — Mon, 24 Apr 2006 13:08:45 +0000

I definitely don’t understand the obsession with abstinence, but it does occur to me that “abstinence only” education must be especially disorienting for children of single parents. In those communities where the majority of children are born into never married families, what does the teacher say in response to a question of whether he thinks that most of his students should not have been born? Is this a form of cultural hegemony with racial overtones dressed up in the acceptable clothing of middle class morality? Because I just don’t understand this obsession on its own terms.

By: joseph duemer

joseph duemer — Mon, 24 Apr 2006 11:57:04 +0000

When you’re fifteen, everything is sexually stimulating. Next, the anti-sex fanatics will want to drug children sensless from puberty to the age of consent.

By: PainterWoman

PainterWoman — Mon, 24 Apr 2006 06:13:13 +0000

Let’s see… that should also eliminate looking at most advertisements, watching movies, wearing perfumes or cosmetic “product.” After reading a long horrible article about the Phelps hate cult, I’d say that leather, belts, whipping and, um, preaching would also be off limits…
Tell the truth to children.
Maybe Condoms to Go can start hosting birthday-parties for teenagers…