Modification of the last infographic. Congressladies + men = still a ways to go.
Source: Office of the Clerk
This is the most beautiful infographic I’ve ever seen. Paging I Love Charts!
This is fantastic.
Elizabeth Smart and Abstinence Only Education
If anyone is still holding on to the idea that abstinence only education isn’t all that bad, check out this quote from kidnapping and rape victim Elizabeth Smart:
Smart said she “felt so dirty and so filthy” after she was raped by her captor, and she understands why someone wouldn’t run “because of that alone.”
Smart spoke at a Johns Hopkins human trafficking forum, saying she was raised in a religious household and recalled a school teacher who spoke once about abstinence and compared sex to chewing gum. “I thought, ‘Oh, my gosh, I’m that chewed up piece of gum, nobody re-chews a piece of gum, you throw it away.’ And that’s how easy it is to feel like you know longer have worth, you know longer have value,” Smart said. “Why would it even be worth screaming out? Why would it even make a difference if you are rescued? Your life still has no value.”
“But the one thing that nature lovers don’t ever seem to ask themselves is this: Why does an innate state of affairs take so much work to maintain? After all, shouldn’t it come… naturally? As primatologist Barbara Smuts wrote (quoted in Natalie Angier’s fantastic Woman: An Intimate Geography): “If female sexuality is muted compared to that of men, then why must men the world over go to extreme lengths to control and contain it?” If only heterosexuality is natural, why would interest groups need to fight to enshrine it in law? If women’s natural place is the home, why do so many of us willingly—and happily—leave it?”
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Seriously, if we believe a 14 year old is too immature to know how to take a pill, do we really think she’s adult enough to handle an unwanted pregnancy?
The truth is that the age restriction is completely arbitrary, tied only to our puritanical comfort levels. And listen, I get it; I think it’s fair to say that most people are uncomfortable with the idea of a 14 year old having sex. But here’s the thing - access to Plan B isn’t about keeping a 14 year old from having sex - by the time she gets to the pharmacy, that ship has sailed - it’s about keeping a 14 year old who has already had sex from getting pregnant. And despite what urban legend (or past embarrassing FDA memos) may tell you, making emergency contraception more available is not more likely to make young teens have sex - it will just make them less likely to end up pregnant.
We can’t let our discomfort with teen sex trump young people’s right to sexual and reproductive health and we can’t continue to let politics trump science. If we care about young women’s health and bodily autonomy and integrity, we’ll drop all age restrictions from emergency contraception. Anything less isn’t just illogical - it’s immoral.
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Came across this gem while researching a column. SEXUAL CHAOS, y’all.
