Lori Alexander the Sex Ed Teacher

[bananacat]

You are right of course. I have had diseases, just not of sexual nature - it didn't make them any "better" or "purer" than STDs. I have had emotional trauma, just not provoked by sex - again, didn't make it any "purer".

My point was that women DON'T suffer from sex without the commitment of marriage. And I haven't precisely because of what I had been taught. And actually it's perfectly possible to suffer from STDs, pregnancy, abortion and emotional drama WITHIN marriage. Especially if you were only taught that your duty is to spread your legs on demand.

I completely agree and I hope I didn't come across as disagreeing with you. I was only adding my own point. It certainly is possible to have sex without consequences. I know because I've done it plenty of times. I just also wanted to make the point that even when something undesirable does happen, it's no worse than other bad situations just because sex is involved. And good point on all those things happening within marriage too.

[bananacat]

Going by your response, I'm guessing you missed my point -- which was that Coach M taught us exactly the things that Lori claims feminists don't teach, including recommending not having sex willy-nilly. I have no idea what the other students did with this education, but it was part of my decision-making as a teen/young adult. It worked for me, but I'm the only one I can speak for.

AFAIK, this was not "abstinence only" education--this was a comprehensive sex ed, that included abstinence as one option. it was before the HIV/AIDS outbreak, so we didn't get a lot of condom instruction. [Hm. The HIV/AIDS epidemic & resulting panic might have also contributed to my decision making--it's rarely just one thing that makes us behave a certain way]

No, I understood your point perfectly well. My point is that your teacher lied, like many do. Abstinence is not 100% safe and teachers should stop spreading that myth because it's harmful, even when mitigated by actual education too. It's not quite as bad as abstinence-only, but giving students incorrect information is still wrong.

[Guest Anonymous]

Yes, and the flue has the potential to cause serious problems too, including death. Nobody uses that as a reason to shame people who get the flu though. Every disease has risks and I never meant to imply that clamydia is always harmless. But it's less risky than many other common diseases that people get every day so it doesn't make sense to consider it a worse disease just because it's related to sex. Also, the risk of fertility problems increases if women wait longer to get treatment, which is usually due to shame/stigma, lack of knowledge, or lack of money. The first two of those things can be reduced by getting rid of the stigma around STDs.

I do agree with you. It's just that chlamydia is one of my particular terrors: a largely symptomless disease with largely symptomless, but incredibly serious, complications? That is just terrifying to me. I agree that there shouldn't be shame attached to illness (just typing that out reminds me of how foolish it is, shame for being ill? Really?).

[Anise]

Is it just me or does it really seem like most fundies have terrible sex lives?

Sex as something women can suffer from? WTF

Seems that the abstinence/guilt method hasn't done the wonders to their sex lives that they claim.

[bananacat]

I do agree with you. It's just that chlamydia is one of my particular terrors: a largely symptomless disease with largely symptomless, but incredibly serious, complications? That is just terrifying to me. I agree that there shouldn't be shame attached to illness (just typing that out reminds me of how foolish it is, shame for being ill? Really?).

It is scary and by all means, do what you can to prevent diseases of all types. But I wonder if part of the "symptomless" is actual denial. I actually had chlamydia and I started feeling itchy a few days after that condom broke. The guy had had it for a very long time and claimed to not have symptoms, but after he took the anti-biotics he admitted that he suddenly felt much better than he had before. He was in a relationship when he got it and I think he just really didn't want to believe it could happen because he did everything right. I know it's just one personal story and I can't generalize to everyone, but I definitely had symptoms, and pretty soon after I caught it. I also get tested for it at my yearly pelvic exam so in case I do have something symptomless, it will show up then. It's the same reason why I get my blood pressure checked and give blood for a cholesterol test, etc.