I was watching an episode of "What Would You Do" on ABC this past Friday evening and one of the scenarios caught my eye.
In it, they had teenagers walk up to people in a drug store to see if they would buy condoms for a teenaged boy who's mother's friend was at the pharmacy counter or Plan B for a girl who was in the same situation.
It seems that people would buy Plan B for the girl but wouldn't get condoms for the boy. You want to know what my stance is? What would I do in that situation? I'll tell you.
I would get you those things in a second. Here's why.
Social responsibility! Yes, social responsibility. For all you holier than thou religious types & those who say "I want my children to come to ME when they want to have sex," consider this.
My sister & I grew up in a household where premarital sex was not just discouraged but downright frowned upon. My mother had this old doll that belonged to my grandmother & said that it would be given to the first one of us who had a child. However, she said it would not count if the child was born out of wedlock.
Now, in an atmosphere like that how comfortable would you be coming to your parents on matters of sex? Remember my father was far too busy with his own alcohol addiction to be much of a parent to us at the time.
When my sister got pregnant at 20 (unmarried but engaged to her first husband), my mother was the last person she told about it. She was terrified of our mother's reaction; hell, the way she went on about children out of wedlock, you'd figure she'd disown you if you did that as her kid, right?
I actually was the last person to know since my mother told me one evening while my then boyfriend (the one who was 14 years older than me) & I were out eating dinner. She asked me why my sister didn't tell her sooner & why she'd been the last to know.
I said #1) I was the last to know since she was the one telling me this & #2) she wasn't exactly the most supportive parent on this kind of thing considering the doll & everything.
So, moralists how do you know that the kid asking you these questions doesn't come from a similar household? How do you know if their parents are rational, sane human beings who wouldn't just toss the kid out in the street, beat him/her up or completely disown the child? You don't!! Some would & some have. Look at how parents treat their kids who come out as gay! I'm sure some of those people could tell stories that would piss you off or prove you're an inhuman piece of garbage.
Unless you've become a psychic and can magically determine all these things about people just by looking at them, you don't know shit. Because you don't know shit about anyone's upbringing or their parents, who are you to play God?
Furthermore, you have a social responsibility to us taxpayers to prevent more unwanted pregnancies, dumpster babies and more unwanted kids who are going to need a ton of therapy, all financed on OUR dime. Even the staunchest pro-lifer has to agree that unwanted pregnancies should be prevented at all costs or the person should be shot since (s)he isn't using his/her brain. If you don't prevent them, then you're helping contribute to more abortions.
Teen sex is the same as abortions: you're never going to completely eliminate it & if someone wants to do it badly enough, they will do it. I'd rather just make sure some teen is encouraged to be responsible and not go have unprotected sex, leading to diseases, pregnancy and who knows what else.
I think there was more sympathy for the Plan B situation because maybe women wondered if this girl could have been raped. Another thing you can't predict & you have no right to judge on: how do you know the person seeking it wasn't the victim of a rape? Do you honestly think a rape victim is going to tell that fact to a total stranger? If you do, you have obviously never been raped. I personally have not but was once in an attempted rape situation that I did manage to get out of. I also have some sense of empathy since I know people who have lived their fair share of bad experiences.
Oh, and newsflash: condoms should NOT be locked behind a pharmacy counter or stored there in a store. They are NOT restricted by age nor a prescription product. Making access impossible at any time of day will not stop sex & it just says to me as a consumer that you do not support safe sex. For those giving disapproving looks to those buying condoms, a question: how many diseases have you spread around to others? I'm sure you caused one of those HIV epidemics with that attitude.
Finally, don't take your lack of a sex life or ability to find anyone to fuck you out on young people (or me, for that matter). If you do this, shame on you! It's time you got laid so perhaps that stick would fall out from your ass. God didn't put you on this Earth to be a patronizing, whiny asshole who pisses everybody off.
This is also where you can tell some people have become stuffy, boring adults whose sense of fun and youthful exuberance has withered and died some horrible death. I vow never to become one of those people. If I do, family & friends have been instructed to shoot me, commit me, do whatever it takes to get me to snap out of it.
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Social Responsibility: Buy the Damn Condoms!
Labels:
condoms,
Plan B,
pregnancy,
rape,
safe sex,
social responsibility,
teens,
What Would You Do TV show
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