And whether women like to admit it or not, what they do with their bodies affects them more intimately than men. At least from my personal observations. I think people used to understand this and put heavy emphasis on protecting women, especially young women from both predatory behavior and from themselves. My mother used to harp on not putting myself in potentially compromising situations and not giving guys the wrong idea by my behavior, but I definitely had friends who suffered greatly by doing both these things. (I know that sounds like victim blaming, but it's not. Whereas society used to tell young women such things even if their parents did not, no one told them to exercise caution in certain circumstances, and they were taken advantage of.)
My friends and acquaintances who are most irrational and angry are generally those with histories of disordered relationships, abortions, and assault. I don't actually blame them. I think they know deep down they were not protected as they should have been and now, they are lashing out, particularly against any authority that resembles fatherhood.
Yes, we *have* been paying those costs long enough, dang it!!! 😡 😡 😡 But (to address what imo is the principal toxin that has oozed into the pores of the developed world) how to combat the "artificial birth control is the best thing that ever happened to the human race", "whatever you do, just don't take away my contraception" mindset we dumb-as-rocks Baby Boomers unleashed on ourselves and on succeeding generations? What can succeed in stuffing our most sacred of sacred cows back in the sinister toothpaste tube whence it came (I love that image 🐮)?? It is true that the agonizingly slow process of changing hearts and minds has shuddered into gear, but omg the time it may take to reverse the damage...
It strikes me with irony that both of our esteemed (and beloved) authors speak on the topic from a position of truth but also abstraction: neither are in a position to personally deal with the material and spiritual ramifications of women's virginity in the real world. One presumably engaged in premarital sex with a contacepting woman before marrying her (and she's now post-menopausal) and the other does not sexually engage with women, virginal or not. The facts don't negate the truth of their arguments, and yet we're speaking of material causes and effects, so thought I'd point it out. 😅
And whether women like to admit it or not, what they do with their bodies affects them more intimately than men. At least from my personal observations. I think people used to understand this and put heavy emphasis on protecting women, especially young women from both predatory behavior and from themselves. My mother used to harp on not putting myself in potentially compromising situations and not giving guys the wrong idea by my behavior, but I definitely had friends who suffered greatly by doing both these things. (I know that sounds like victim blaming, but it's not. Whereas society used to tell young women such things even if their parents did not, no one told them to exercise caution in certain circumstances, and they were taken advantage of.)
My friends and acquaintances who are most irrational and angry are generally those with histories of disordered relationships, abortions, and assault. I don't actually blame them. I think they know deep down they were not protected as they should have been and now, they are lashing out, particularly against any authority that resembles fatherhood.
Yes, we *have* been paying those costs long enough, dang it!!! 😡 😡 😡 But (to address what imo is the principal toxin that has oozed into the pores of the developed world) how to combat the "artificial birth control is the best thing that ever happened to the human race", "whatever you do, just don't take away my contraception" mindset we dumb-as-rocks Baby Boomers unleashed on ourselves and on succeeding generations? What can succeed in stuffing our most sacred of sacred cows back in the sinister toothpaste tube whence it came (I love that image 🐮)?? It is true that the agonizingly slow process of changing hearts and minds has shuddered into gear, but omg the time it may take to reverse the damage...
End of rant (for now).
It strikes me with irony that both of our esteemed (and beloved) authors speak on the topic from a position of truth but also abstraction: neither are in a position to personally deal with the material and spiritual ramifications of women's virginity in the real world. One presumably engaged in premarital sex with a contacepting woman before marrying her (and she's now post-menopausal) and the other does not sexually engage with women, virginal or not. The facts don't negate the truth of their arguments, and yet we're speaking of material causes and effects, so thought I'd point it out. 😅