Playboy Insults Christianity
Monday, December 15th, 2008Playboy Insults Christianity
As long as they do a naked Mohammed with a 12 year old virgin cover next time, it’s fine with me.
Orgasms During Childbirth–UPDATED
Friday, December 12th, 2008I guess it’s going to be all sex all the time today at the blog. Oh hell, why not? The Blago scandal is boringly devoid of sex.
Back in the 70s when flower children everywhere were making sweaty, hot, hallucinogenic, pill-protected, STD-infested monkey love, a strange thing happened: babies. I know, it was a shocking side-effect to all the lovin’, man, and some of the parents kicked their wanton daughters out to suffer the indignities of being a single, pregnant, shunned lady. Enter Stephen and Ina May Gaskin who took in these women at a place called The Farm in Tennessee. I actually dig these two hippies. They revolutionized prenatal care and were forward thinking about unnecessary medical procedures like episiotomy, shaving, knocking the mom out during birth, etc.
The Gaskins also introduced the notion of an orgasmic birth.
I’ve read Ina May Gaskin’s books and seen the pictures. She was a revolutionary, forward-thinking woman who cared for many, many women. Her work transformed lives for the better. Now, there is a “new” childbirth movement centered on “orgasmic birth“:
First thing next month (Friday January 2) will be the primetime debut of a film that has been making the “under the radar” rounds of women and film festivals since May. ABC’s 20/20 will air the documentary “Orgasmic Birth”, by Debra Pascali-Bonaro, a childbirth educator and a doula, which asks the question: What would happen if women were taught to enjoy birth rather than endure it?
The message of the film is “that women can journey through labor and birth in all different ways. And there are a lot more options out there, to make this a positive and pleasurable experience,” Pascali-Bonaro tells ABC. “I hope women watching and men watching don’t feel that what we’re saying is every woman should have an orgasmic birth.”
But the title certainly catches attention, referring to what Pascali-Bonaro calls “the best kept secret” of child birth – that some women report having an orgasm as the baby exits the birth canal.
Right.
Having given birth rather easily, sans medication and more than once, the notion that women can experience sexual bliss during birth seems absurd. I’ve seen the videos and I’m not hating on any woman’s experience, but please. All sorts of changes need to happen in prenatal and birthing care, but the wild assertions and expectations of orgasms will defeat the true aims of the natural birth activists by making them look like wild-eyed nutters.
And another thing, I recognize that the birth canal has multifaceted uses, still, I can’t help but to think that this orgasm business is just one more way to sexualize, well, everything. The birthing isn’t about having a healthy baby or a woman surrendering to the primal forces of motherhood. Oh no! It’s selfish and all about a peak experience, man. It’s the narcissism-part of the hippie thing that bugs me.
Motherhood isn’t entirely about self-sacrifice, but giving birth is pretty darn self-sacrificial. Your body isn’t your own. And out of the experience comes an entirely new creature. And yes, some women have babies to be the center of attention and make it all about themselves. They are annoying. They don’t need encouragement. This orgasm business will just add fuel to the self-obsessed culture. It will also delude women into thinking that it’s a likely outcome. Silly-headed women who believe this will often end up with C-sections because they have such inane expectations of birth. It’s called labor for a reason. Birthing is hard work.
One of the most barbaric medical fields in America is obstetrics. For reasons of liability, ignorance and tradition, a process that has existed since the beginning of time is made into a “procedure”. Birthing is a process for woman and child and with different treatment, women would be empowered by motherhood rather than being the recipient of medicine. Babies aren’t a disease to be cured. Right now, that’s often how pregnancy and birthing are treated. That needs to change.
UPDATED:
Fausta adds this:
Certainly, childbirth is the most binding experience a couple can possibly experience. A considerate and supportive husband can and will do a lot of things to ease the wife’s discomfort during labor. In a sense, it is a spiritual experience, too. But take my word for it, having a fully formed, seven and a half pound, twenty-two inch human being squeeze out of a narrow opening doesn’t happen without pain. That’s just the way it is.
Revenge Of The Nerds?
Thursday, December 11th, 2008So nerds suffer in the short term:
Researchers in Australia surveyed 185 men and women, ages 16 to 25, at the University of Sydney on their sexual history and STD knowledge. Responses to questionnaires revealed that “art students were younger [and] more likely to be sexually active” than science students (who, presumably were too busy doing homework to get out and get busy).
And on average across groups, males were less likely to have had sex than females.
As for the reasons behind the disparity between art chicks and science geeks, lead author Bernadette Zakher, of the university’s Department of General Practice, reserved comment, saying that the survey did not delve deeply into demographics or sexual history, “There isn’t enough information for conjecture.”
Nature podcast editor Adam Rutherford has a few ideas. “I just hate it when stereotypes are right,” he posted on the UK’s Guardian website. “The research does not go into the potential causes of this lack of bedroom activity by my boffin brethren, nor does it detail the worthy sacrifice of cheap carnal thrills for rational agility and mental development, which I have convinced myself lies at the root of this problem. That, and the personal hygiene issues.”
I’m guessing, though, that they win in the long-term. They’ll have fewer STD’s, attract smart women (also likely nerds and virginal), make more money, and live longer (smarter people have longer lifespans).
Hang on, nerds, there’s hope!
H/T Ann Althouse
Cross-posted at RightWingNews
“Teenie Weenie Fail”
Thursday, December 11th, 2008“Teenie Weenie Fail”
Some guys have all the luck. And some guys just don’t get it.
You Might Need To Be Taking “Day Without Gay” Off If….
Wednesday, December 10th, 2008You Might Need To Be Taking “Day Without Gay” Off If….
…this doesn’t work for you.
Vermont Loves The Little Sex Offenders–UPDATED
Monday, December 1st, 2008Remember those freaks who killed their step-daughter and niece and who ran a sex ring in Vermont because of their fuzzy rehabilitation programs? Yeah, well, the state policy still sticks in my craw. And here’s why:
A sex offender whose lenient sentence for molesting a child led to a crackdown on punishment for sexual predators in Vermont will likely be released from prison next month, state corrections officials say.
Mark Hulett is due for release Jan. 2, but will remain under the state Corrections Department’s supervision for life and could return to prison if he commits another offense or violates conditions of his release.
Judge Edward Cashman was criticized by lawmakers and Gov. Jim Douglas when he sentenced Hulett, then 34, to 60 days for sexually assaulting the daughter of a family friend numerous times during a four-year period beginning when she was 6.
Protect the weak and defenseless. I don’t want this guy “rehabilitated”. I want him in prison for life. Does that seem excessive? Well, the girl he molested will have to live with this forever. He should, too.
UPDATED:
And in the other corner, we have normal kids having sex, tried and then labeled as sex offenders. This is ridiculous and makes me hate the legislators who come up with this garbage.
NO WISDOM AT ALL.
The New Blacklist
Monday, December 1st, 2008The New Blacklist
Be a proud member and Donate to Prop 8. Oh wait, it passed.
