I think you are making it out to be something more monolithic than it really is. But I agree that the status quo tends to be bad rhetoric. Which is why I find it amusing to detourn!
Some countries I could maybe buy having a strong enough national identity that they have real traditions which could be conserved. The US is not one of them. The US is a schizoid mess which doesn’t know what it is or wants to be. Except for the natives, all of these traditions are some poorly-understood stuff appropriated from elsewhere. This is why it is trivial rhetorical jiu jitsu to deal with so-called conservatives who don’t know anything about what their supposed traditions are. And there never tend to be other cogent points for supporting their crackpot schemes, either. It seems rather farcical.
This is why I enjoy arguing for conserving real traditions, it makes for yet another way to demonstrate just how full of shit these people are. They are hard pressed to counter my arguments without undermining their own.
That’d never satisfy them. Being scared for a few seconds totally isn’t of the biblical scale and doesn’t have future-plan-destroying capabilities as an unplanned pregnancy, nor is it as costly as a lifetime of taking HAART.
They like to make sure their children are maimed by any sex they don’t approve of.
ETA: Lindsey Bluth’s chicken dance is my favorite.
I have gotten teased about it, but I think of sex education as being about the same as educating people about dental hygiene. It affects everyone, whether they want it to or not, and is just basic ways to be healthy and feel better. Would you be horribly embarrassed if a stranger saw you brushing your teeth? Would you stop and stare and call the police if you saw someone brushing their teeth? Would you have nightmares if one of your kid’s friends helped them to brush their teeth? Not unlike sex, sure, dental hygiene is usually somewhat private. But the difference is that when it is seen, people don’t lose their minds about it. It is important, but not such a big deal that it is worth getting worked up about. Hiding information and help about it is harmful and stupid.
The historical origins, and current function, of the USian obsession with violence should be clear enough. We went straight from being a settler state expanding through violence to a global hegemon with military power backing up all other forms of dominance.
It was pointed out to me once that portraying both sex and violence would be problematic, as eventually that would lead to portraying them simultaneously – i.e., sexual violence, which would be going too far. That seemed quite plausible at the time, especially combined with the prior argument.
However, in my current job, I’m watching a lot of streaming video, movies and television series, much of which I wouldn’t otherwise choose to watch, and it looks to me like the rules have changed. I’m surprised how often I see sexual intercourse portrayed directly, and I’m unsettled how often I see sexual assault portrayed.
I have several friends who subscribe to that mindset and it just boggles me. Somehow it is completely acceptable to see gratuitously-violent movies and play horrific video games but love scenes are out. Why is either violence or sex in media acceptable viewing for children? But if you’re gonna opt for allowing your kids to routinely view one of them, why is blowing a guy’s spleen out with a bazooka the more rational choice?
I know Minnesota is another country, should be part of Canukistan, but we had comprehensive sex ed in 9th grade and 11th grade. We also had comprehensive human reproduction education in 10th grade biology. Our school was one of 5 schools in the state developing comprehensive HIV education at the time. This was the late 1980’s when Bush the Greater was president.
At the university where I work, they had Laci Green come in and do a live presentation and Q&A.
I’m sure it was a student group’s initiative, but its pretty telling that University students are having sex educators come to campus to talk to them.
Rather than going 1000 miles out of my way to get good cheese before entering the west end of Ontario, I think I’d rather just cross at South Detroit sans fromage.
