rant: this is the reason we need Sex Ed in schools
Having re-discovered that I have a livejournal account on which I can rant, here's another:
Todd Akin is clearly an idiot and will hopefully withdraw from politics. However, all the articles I've seen on him (admittedly just from stumbling around online recently rather than specifically searching) have been about him personally being an offensive sexist idiot. To the extent that anyone is looking at a larger picture, the articles are holding Akin up as a representative of the Republican party in general as a party made up of offensive, sexist idiots who hate women, etc. Which, well, yes, okay.
But have there been any articles pointing out this is just one of the more offensive of the multiple demonstrations that there are politicians who are married, have kids, and are making laws regarding reproductive rights who don't understand the mechanics of reproduction? Akin thinks women can't get pregnant from rape. But Romney doesn't know the difference between conception and implantation.
This is a demonstration for why we need Sex Education in schools. The classes don't teach kids how to have sex (at least mine didn't -- it would have been a signficantly more interesting class, if it had), and it doesn't teach them to have sex (and some of those videos can be more of a turn off than anything). It teaches kids what sex does.
Rachel Maddow provides a bit of general public education on the issue, but it's still not directly addressing the fact that these grown men with kids and political careers didn't already know!
Sex ed is not even political. Kids can still grow up to be politicians who are idiots and hate women, but at least they'll know a bit more about what they're saying and maybe have an idea about what does and what does not support their arguments.
I really think that there has to be some group lobbeying for Sex Ed who can use examples from recent political campaigns as a demonstration of people who should have had a better education than they did.
Todd Akin is clearly an idiot and will hopefully withdraw from politics. However, all the articles I've seen on him (admittedly just from stumbling around online recently rather than specifically searching) have been about him personally being an offensive sexist idiot. To the extent that anyone is looking at a larger picture, the articles are holding Akin up as a representative of the Republican party in general as a party made up of offensive, sexist idiots who hate women, etc. Which, well, yes, okay.
But have there been any articles pointing out this is just one of the more offensive of the multiple demonstrations that there are politicians who are married, have kids, and are making laws regarding reproductive rights who don't understand the mechanics of reproduction? Akin thinks women can't get pregnant from rape. But Romney doesn't know the difference between conception and implantation.
This is a demonstration for why we need Sex Education in schools. The classes don't teach kids how to have sex (at least mine didn't -- it would have been a signficantly more interesting class, if it had), and it doesn't teach them to have sex (and some of those videos can be more of a turn off than anything). It teaches kids what sex does.
Rachel Maddow provides a bit of general public education on the issue, but it's still not directly addressing the fact that these grown men with kids and political careers didn't already know!
Sex ed is not even political. Kids can still grow up to be politicians who are idiots and hate women, but at least they'll know a bit more about what they're saying and maybe have an idea about what does and what does not support their arguments.
I really think that there has to be some group lobbeying for Sex Ed who can use examples from recent political campaigns as a demonstration of people who should have had a better education than they did.