The GOP Doesn't Understand Sex

[babylonsister]

http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-05-07/the-gop-is-clueless-about-sex/

The GOP Doesn't Understand Sex

by Meghan McCain

Bristol Palin's new abstinence campaign shines a light on the Republican Party's unhealthy attitude about sex and desire.

snip//

Here’s what I’ve never understood about the party: its resistance to discussing better access to birth control. As a Republican, I am pro-life. But using birth control and having an abortion are not the same at all. Actually, the best way to prevent abortions is to educate people about birth control and make it widely and easily accessible. True, abstinence is the only way to fully prevent pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. Still, the problem with abstinence-only education is that it does not make teenagers and young adults more knowledgeable about all the issues they face if or when they have sex—physically and emotionally.

The key, honestly, is communication between parents and children. At the end of the day, the worst thing parents can do is raise children who are not prepared for the situations they may encounter, especially when they’re not planned. (For anyone who remembers their teen years, you know what I mean.) Unfortunately, Republicans typically don’t like to discuss or deal with things they think are wrong or immoral. And that’s a huge mistake. If we can’t discuss birth control in addition to abstinence, and in a nonjudgmental way, kids will continue to make bad choices for lack of having access to informed, safe options. Not everyone shares the same beliefs, and more importantly, people don’t always react the same way to their circumstances. Which is why it is so important to encourage honest, open communication about the realities of sex within the party at large, and more specifically, between parents and their children.

I have a 17-year-old sister who is not much older than I was when that reporter asked my father the hypothetical abortion question. I am the role model I want her to have: If or when she chooses to have sex is entirely up to her, but I want to be sure she knows being curious about sex is natural, and what is important is to be educated about safety. Perhaps the worst sexual double standard in politics right now is that too many subconsciously believe Republican women are void of sexual desire altogether, never mind its consequences. A friend of mine, whose father is also a conservative politician, used to joke it would be easier for her be a lesbian because then there would be no risk of getting pregnant and having a resulting scandal.

I have always found this joke incredibly sad—for both of us. Because the GOP continues to struggle with open communication about serious issues most people deal with rationally, and on a regular basis. Unless we learn how to integrate that kind of discussion, our party will continue its descent into irrelevance. We live in a big world, one where you can contract a lifelong STD, have an unplanned pregnancy, or get date-raped, just to name a few of the dangerous results of having sex. We should prepare our kids for it, realistically. Then they might be more apt to make the right choices when they live in it themselves. Bottom line: Honesty isn’t a liberal or conservative issue. It’s a human one. The sooner we realize that, the better off we’ll be.

[MADem]

1. This young woman, like it or not, is the future of the GOP. She's got

the interest, the energy, the pedigree, the money....and the time.

They're moving leftward, and she's no small part of that effort-- they want to grab up the moderates, independents, and undecideds in the great big mushy middle who don't want to be told to eat their peas and pay more taxes, but who don't want to be sexless energy pigs, either.

I'd keep my eye out for her.

[ejpoeta]

5. she could be. the party has to stop fighting amongst itself and letting rush limbaugh

be the arbiter. as long as they try to keep banking right and kicking out anyone who says anything they don't want to hear, they aren't going to be getting very far.

[MADem]

8. Rush is on the downhill slide. People don't see it, but he is.

He's fat, he's unhealthy, he's drug-addled, he could be gone tomorrow. And be forgotten the day after. Like Morton WHO? Morton Downey Junior, who once upon a time was a name on EVERYONE's lips.

When he goes, who fills the vacuum? That hate-speech shit has run its course. Rush is a brand name and an entertainer, he's known, he's carved out his niche, and people are comfortable with him in that niche even if they despise him. A new hater, though, won't be welcomed so easily. People are, generically, tired of that crap. They make an exception for this particular blowhard, because he is a known quantity.

I suspect that the new GOP voices will be more like Miss McCain, Michael Steele, and even Bobby "Brady" Jindal, if he can learn to express an idea without sounding like he's trying to talk to someone with serious brain damage.

[ejpoeta]

12. well, all this talk about the republican party being over is a bit ridiculous.

right now, sure they are fighting to find an identity. and folks like rush and his listeners seem to think more right is better instead of seeing that most of americans want more center thinking. it's like the radio folks who railed against tv in favor of radio... they will end up going away and the people who are willing to be more open and inclusive will end up bringing the party back. the republicans really screwed themselves hooking up with these christian right folks... i am not talking about all religious folks, but the ones that are friggin crazy righties... the ones that think they should control everything and everyone. the only way the party is going to get out of this mess is to extricate themselves from the righties grasp and get rush in check. just the appearance that this guy is controlling the party is not going to help them with independents.

[Psychic Consortium]

7. Yes and if the GOP can talk like this AND work for the good of the American people

they might survive.

[MADem]

9. They will survive.

The Democrats were in this same boat not too terribly long ago. I remember it well.

To everything there is a season. I just hope our season is long and fruitful.

[tanyev]

2. Stop talking sense, Meghan.

The GOP doesn't want to hear it.

[patrice]

3. Financially & Psychologically secure women have fewer abortions.

Abortion is a symptom, not a cause.

It is a symptom of the Social and Economic Injustice, for which Women in particular bear a great deal if not MOST of the burden.

[HughBeaumont]

4. That's a news flash, ain't it?

They don't really understand much of anything else either.

Except how to shoot their own feet, vote against their interests, carry the water for the wealthy (because, of course, they'll all BE wealthy one day!) and hate. They're pretty much experts at those things.

[madrchsod]

6. lizz winstead had a few funny observations on ed show last night

one of the reasons teens have sex is that it`s fun and free.....

[MineralMan]

11. Uh, that'd be two reasons, but nevermind.

Another reason is that human beings evolved to become sexually active in the teen years. It's sort of a powerful urge, since reproduction is a prime mover in nature.

Abstinence in the face of a biological imperative is a goal not attainable by a lot of humans.

[Christa]

10. What exactly DO they understand?

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

Joe The Plumber and Sarah Palin

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[Chemical Bill]

13. The writer doesn't understand repukes.

There's nothing about diapers and hookers in that piece.

Bill