Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Nighttime at the playground
Playing around with my new lens a bit. Playground at the park near my apartment. Unedited.
Mission Beach photo day
Just some of my favorites caught while shooting near and around Mission Beach. All unedited, by the way. Though I may go through them and do a little bit of color optimizing and such later.
Saturday, June 11, 2011
A case for dildos - and sex education
I was thinking... there really needs to be some sort of charity that supplies dildos to the needy. The price for a decent dildo is ridiculous. Poor girls are horny too, ya know. Except you can't really donate them.... used dildos are just gross. (Maybe refurbished dildos? Haha.)
They give away condoms to kids in an attempt to prevent teen pregnancy. Has anyone ever considered the notion that if young girls were more educated about their own bodies and sexuality that they would be more comfortable with their own bodies? This could possibly contribute to a number of changes. If young women (I decided not to continue using the word "girls" as it may be misconstrued; I'm referring to teenage girls) were exposed to a culture that was more comfortable with female sexuality there is a possibility that this could reduce many of the common problems that teenage girls experience.
Low self-esteem is one of the biggest problems, focused on by the media, and it has everything to do with the way a young woman views her own body. If she is not comfortable and happy, as is all too common, issues arise. A woman that is educated about her body is more comfortable with her body.
Teen pregnancy has only continued to increase over the years. There are innumerable causes that lead young women to engage in sex, and to make the wrong decisions regarding protection during sex. However, if a teenage girl is comfortable with her body she will not be so desperate to seek male attention and approval. If she is able to pleasure herself, without guilt or shame, then she will be less likely to feel the need to obtain pleasure elsewhere.
There is certainly no easy solution to an expansive problem. Yet, there is always an opportunity for change. Teenagers currently are only given the most rudimentary amounts of sex education. Even this education can lead students to feel ashamed and embarrassed. When I was in 5th grade, the girls and boys in my class were separated to sit through presentations regarding puberty. I don't remember much of the content, but I do remember the awkwardness. The main object, for the girls' class, was to prepare us to deal with our first period. I recall a great deal of confusion as we listened to the description of diagram of the female reproductive system. The message was important and the intentions were in the right place, yet the content went completely over the heads of 10 and 11 year old girls. No one understood what to do with this new information. Worst of all, I quickly discovered that I was the only girl present who had already begun her period. Not only had the presentation itself been too late to prepare me, but the other girls were still at the stage where they regarded the entire thing as gross and disgusting. I was made to feel like I had a secret, a gross and disgusting secret.
I experienced no further sex education until high school. It wasn't until 10th grade that I saw the STD presentation - which was infamous throughout the school. I was in the same school district at both these times, but it seems that they skipped a big part of sexuality here. I can only guess that it is the same elsewhere. No one ever attempted to educated the students on sex itself. There was never any discussion on what defined a healthy, consensual, sexual relationship. Instead, the STD presentation in 10th grade was basically a scare tactic. The idea was that students either already had, or soon would, become sexually active. Therefore they needed to be terrified by the idea of sex. What better way than showing them an hour's worth of slides containing pictures of STD-ridden genitalia?
It's not a bad thing to make sure that teenagers are aware of the very real risks associated with sex. But it is disheartening for there not to be an alternative. Our society still has sex and sexuality hidden under a shroud of shame. We cannot properly discuss it without being accosted with criticism and anger. Yet I'm convinced that those of us who are comfortable with our sexuality, in whatever form it may take, are much happier people.
(If only the people who wasted their time protesting gay marriage could just get laid....? But that's a rant for another day.)
They give away condoms to kids in an attempt to prevent teen pregnancy. Has anyone ever considered the notion that if young girls were more educated about their own bodies and sexuality that they would be more comfortable with their own bodies? This could possibly contribute to a number of changes. If young women (I decided not to continue using the word "girls" as it may be misconstrued; I'm referring to teenage girls) were exposed to a culture that was more comfortable with female sexuality there is a possibility that this could reduce many of the common problems that teenage girls experience.
Low self-esteem is one of the biggest problems, focused on by the media, and it has everything to do with the way a young woman views her own body. If she is not comfortable and happy, as is all too common, issues arise. A woman that is educated about her body is more comfortable with her body.
Teen pregnancy has only continued to increase over the years. There are innumerable causes that lead young women to engage in sex, and to make the wrong decisions regarding protection during sex. However, if a teenage girl is comfortable with her body she will not be so desperate to seek male attention and approval. If she is able to pleasure herself, without guilt or shame, then she will be less likely to feel the need to obtain pleasure elsewhere.
 |
| Even poor Fido is ashamed to be caught with sex toys. |
There is certainly no easy solution to an expansive problem. Yet, there is always an opportunity for change. Teenagers currently are only given the most rudimentary amounts of sex education. Even this education can lead students to feel ashamed and embarrassed. When I was in 5th grade, the girls and boys in my class were separated to sit through presentations regarding puberty. I don't remember much of the content, but I do remember the awkwardness. The main object, for the girls' class, was to prepare us to deal with our first period. I recall a great deal of confusion as we listened to the description of diagram of the female reproductive system. The message was important and the intentions were in the right place, yet the content went completely over the heads of 10 and 11 year old girls. No one understood what to do with this new information. Worst of all, I quickly discovered that I was the only girl present who had already begun her period. Not only had the presentation itself been too late to prepare me, but the other girls were still at the stage where they regarded the entire thing as gross and disgusting. I was made to feel like I had a secret, a gross and disgusting secret.
I experienced no further sex education until high school. It wasn't until 10th grade that I saw the STD presentation - which was infamous throughout the school. I was in the same school district at both these times, but it seems that they skipped a big part of sexuality here. I can only guess that it is the same elsewhere. No one ever attempted to educated the students on sex itself. There was never any discussion on what defined a healthy, consensual, sexual relationship. Instead, the STD presentation in 10th grade was basically a scare tactic. The idea was that students either already had, or soon would, become sexually active. Therefore they needed to be terrified by the idea of sex. What better way than showing them an hour's worth of slides containing pictures of STD-ridden genitalia?
It's not a bad thing to make sure that teenagers are aware of the very real risks associated with sex. But it is disheartening for there not to be an alternative. Our society still has sex and sexuality hidden under a shroud of shame. We cannot properly discuss it without being accosted with criticism and anger. Yet I'm convinced that those of us who are comfortable with our sexuality, in whatever form it may take, are much happier people.
(If only the people who wasted their time protesting gay marriage could just get laid....? But that's a rant for another day.)
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