Case of the Nutty Blond

The good news is that Friday I did not eat lunch alone; the bad news is I didn't eat lunch at all. The good news is that the issues forum that I had to get together is now over; the bad news is that I had to do it in the first place. Really, I have nothing against the Issues Forums that the Honors Program puts on here at Western, but I just wish that it lasted 3 hours so we could get everything covered.

When I was a first-year student in the Honors Program (heretofore known as the HP), I had to go to these and give Karen Love, the professor that runs the HP, a write-up of what I learned and what I thought of it. Now that I am a second year, I don't have to go to any, but I do have to be part of a committee of sorts that puts them on, and even though I don't have to give a write up about it, I do need to talk through some of the issues that were presented, and what better place than my blog, I ask?!

Our forum was pretty easy since Karen pretty much told me what she wanted to be discussed: the newly legalized, soon-to-be-available-at-your-local-pharmacy-without-a-perscription emergency contraception pill called Plan B. Our panel consisted of one of the women's studies faculty, Jan Torres, and a lady from Family Planning (heretofore known as FP). It was interesting to learn what Plan B actually is: it is not an abortion pill like RU-486, but rather an emergency contraception pill that the female takes if she has had "unprotected sex" and/or fears that the "protection" that was used might not have worked. Plan B works just like taking 4-5 birth control pills, which increases the mucus in the cervix, and causes the potentially fertilized egg (zygote) not to stick to the wall and become a fetus. This however, made women very nauseous, and Plan B is a little more stream lined to keep the girl from getting sick. Jan made the point that she was an advocate of anything that helped women take control of their lives and their bodies and helped improve their health. It is true that it is harder on a young women to get pregnant than it is for her to be on medications like The Pill or take Plan B. But I don’t think that we’re looking at the whole story.

Plan B in no way protects the woman from STDs, but neither do condoms for that matter. And neither one protects you from a broken heart or low self-esteem. It is true that Plan B or birth-control pills probably won't hurt the zygote, but there is a potential risk for it to be aborted. There is also more to it than just keeping women healthy. There is also the key role that FP plays in the femi-nazi movement. Karen got on a little soap box and said that she was all for this because it kept women from being "punished" for having sex by getting pregnant; she also proposed that we should implement stricter punishments for guys (since girls are punished by being views as objects, whores, and getting pregnant), we should look further into castration and shotgun weddings to make guys think twice about bedding a girl. Girls, however, are given new freedom with Plan B.

The lady from FP was very interesting, and neither she nor Jan was as crazy as Karen. The lady from FP was very sincere about wanting to help the mothers who had kids too soon. It was humbling, because it became hard to attack her or her argument. This lady, like many I’m sure that work there, have the best intentions, but the problem with FP is that it is a band-aid for a virus, it really doesn't do much to help. Rather than encourage secrecy from parents, actually offer family counseling? Why don’t we ask ourselves “why are these teenagers having sex?” Rather than push for sex education in first grade, why don’t they seek to defend the child’s childhood?

My heart goes out to those girls and women that think that sex is normal, expected, or without consequences if you use protection, but my heart truly breaks for the boys who are told by society that lusting after women is the only thing that is expected of them. Even the FP lady acknowledged that education towards men was very limited. According to the women's lib movement, women don't need men anymore. Men are ninnies that only think about three things: beer, food, and sex, not always in that order. I think that we've taken women's equality too far when we put men down like this. Our suffragette fore-mothers sought for equality and their own voice; I wonder what they would think of this.

I must remember that as a Christian I am called to break down the arguments people have against us, not the people who argue against us. We were also called to love one another. My heart goes out to the girls who are in the scary situation of wondering if they’re pregnant, but my heart truly breaks for the boys who are not being told that they can be so much more than idiots. I thank God everyday for each of my male friends, and I believe that each of them has it in them to go beyond what this world expects of them. As for me and my sisters, I don’t see how letting myself go to anyone but my true love (also called husband) is taking control of my body.

Please take the time to lift these children, fathers, and mothers up in prayer.