This story reminded
me of the "double bind" concept we talked about last week, how women
are screwed in every aspect. In my last blog I talked about how women are
considered unclean when they menstruate, but would also be viewed as unclean if
for some reason they could not menstruate. This week, "The Cult of Virginity"
article made me feel the same way.
This time, women are either whores or prudes. You can either
be judged for sleeping with someone or judged for not sleeping with someone,
your choice. No one blinks an eye when a guy loses his virginity, but when a
girl loses hers, she's a slut.
In some ways I feel
like virginity/ loss of virginity is overemphasized and in other ways I feel
like it's underemphasized. Sometimes I
think "to each his own". As
the owner of my body, I feel as though I have the right to do with it as I
please. If you choose to abstain from/ give in to sex, it's ultimately your
decision, and no one can stop you. On the other hand, when you hear about 13
year olds sleeping around then getting pregnant, then there is a problem. In
cases like this, sex hasn't been handled properly. Unfortunately, there is no
proper way to handle sex. It is such a delicate topic that many people refrain
from talking about it altogether. That's where the problem lies; people need to
educate themselves about sex, stop labeling things, and let people live their
lives.
I totally agree that one of the biggest problems with sex is that people aren't talking about it. Sex becomes this secret topic and because of this it becomes something that is shameful. There are ways to promote safe sex and safe sex practices (having a lower number of partners) without slut-shaming women. Like you said Kirsten, what women do with our bodies is our own business and it's no one else's job to tell us if we're right or wrong.
ReplyDeleteVery good post! Sex is a tricky subject and there is no clear way to approach it, I agree that it is a deeply personal thing and it is the choice of the consenting person.
ReplyDeleteI think the reason people get so upset when they hear about younger kids have sex is that they usually don't understand all of the risks and responsibilities that come along with it.