Women to the World

     Hey, few if any readers of my blog! I promised my good friend, feminist Summer Gagner, could write today's post, so take it away Summer!

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     Let's say you're an american woman shopping for jeans. You walk into Old Navy's. You may not notice immediately, but the only types of jeans sold are rock-star skinny jeans. Skinny jeans, pants made to make women look, well skinny, curvy, and sexy. Our society has dictated that this is the only acceptable appearance of a woman. That feminism is women being strong and having power, when really feminism is a fight for equality. Equality isn't a viewing of women as "tough" or "powerful," but rather just as the individuals they are. Equality is society letting men and women being exactly who they are. And skinny jeans, frilly short skirts, and entire stores dedicated to womens' lingerie push the idea that all women are no more than sex objects. Honestly, when you go out nowadays, how can men be attracted to one woman? All these women are gorgeous and are wearing the same outfits that promote sex appeal, so how can one be considered "more sexy" than another? That's wear personalities and pheromones come into play, but we don't think about that when it comes to fashion. Instead of wearing what we truly love, we choose to wear what is the most socially acceptable and makes us look "pretty," even if we don't like it.
     Hair on women is considered gross. Shaving underarms and legs is so natural to us, when really hair is natural. Legs are legs, and humans happen to have hair on them. Because women were pushed into wearing shorter skirts and shorts due to society's idea of sex appeal, it was also decided that hairless legs were attractive. Only when women shave their legs, of course. If a man shaves his legs, it looks weird. That's because shaving your legs is weird! If all women in the media started painting purple dots on their arms, it would become a trend. The media and use of repeated assertion has weaved an eerie path into our brains and makes us do unbelievable things.
     I urge you, the next time you make a decision, to purchase an item, to try on a dress, to cut your hair, to go on a jog, ask yourself why you're doing it. Are you going on a jog because you love jogging, or because you think you may be gaining too much weight? Are you scared of gaining too much weight because your doctor told you you need to be healthier or because your mother has been nagging you about that box of chocolates you ate?

     "The purpose of our lives is to be happy." -Dalai Lama
   
     I believe this to be more than a saying; for me it's a philosophy, a way of life. Live life to be happy and with no regrets. If that box of chocolates made you happy and jogging doesn't, then screw your mother. I hope I've left you with something to think about. Thank you.

--Summer Gagner, 2014

The Abstinence Paradox

Hi there!

     Today I'm going to talk about something touchy, so don't be offended. The other day in school, my class was assigned an essay on why abstinence is the best, safest, most effective contraceptive method. Bull crap.
     The point of an actual contraceptive is to lower the risk of pregnancy while being sexually active. To be sexually abstinent, you wouldn't really be using a contraceptive. Abstinence is a state of being, not a tool.
     I'm not saying that everyone should just decide to have sex, but I am saying that abstinence is not necessarily the most "effective." You have to ask yourself, "What kind of result am I looking for?"

     One might say that abstinence can always be used and is therefore the best and most helpful, but really abstinence is as much there as when it isn't. Technically, anyone who isn't having sex this second is abstinent. Abstinence is transient, and while someone may be abstinent for longer than another person, once you have sex abstinence isn't there to prevent you from having a baby.
     Contraceptives such as condoms and "the pill" are real, tangible contraceptives that help you prevent pregnancy when you have sex. Abstinence leaves you once you have sex. Really, the idea of abstinence as a contraceptive is contradictory, because it's never used to prevent pregnancy during sex. "Abstinence is 100% effective." No, once you have sex it's 0% effective.
     And ultimately, the entire evolutionary goal for humans is to reproduce, so from an evolutionary standpoint, abstinence is terrible. Look at the Shakers, who never participated in sexual contact. Yeah, waiting for the immaculate conception didn't work out for them.
      Am I advocating for teenagers to have sex? No. But I'm also not in a position to tell others what to do with their lives, and I don't believe that my teachers are either.

Signing off,

Colm McNeil