Saturday, March 3, 2012

Using Birth Control = SLUT????

Rush Limbaugh has once again stirred up controversy with his comments about Sandra Fluke, a Georgetown law student, who - in her Congressional testimony - argued that birth control should be covered by health insurance at religious institutions.  From NY Daily News:

Conservative radio host declared Georgetown Law School's Sandra Fluke "a slut" for arguing that birth control should be covered by health insurance at religious institutions.
The shock jock mocked Sandra Fluke for arguing that her fellow students shell out $1,000 a year in out of pocket expenses. Georgetown University, a Catholic institution, does not cover  birth control as part of its health insurance plan.
Limbaugh dismissed Fluke’s assertion that women may be prescribed the pill for medical reasons and accused her of merely promoting promiscuity.

“What does that make her? It makes her a slut, right? It makes her a prostitute,” he said. “She wants to be paid to have sex. She's having so much sex she can't afford the contraception.”
Limbaugh went on to insult Fluke’s family for raising a daughter with loose attitudes.

“Can you imagine if you're her parents how proud of Sandra Fluke you would be?” he said. “Your daughter goes up to a congressional hearing conducted by the Botox-filled Nancy Pelosi and testifies she's having so much sex she can't afford her own birth control pills and she agrees that Obama should provide them, or the Pope.”

In order to accentuate his point, he played the 1970s soul song “Troglodyte (Cave Man)” by the Jimmy Castor Bunch. He shouted “get pregnant!” over the lyrics about clubbing and grabbing women.

Even the top-ranked Georgetown Law School, a Catholic institution, did not escape Limbaugh’s sexist wrath.

“Well, I guess now we know why Bill Clinton went to Georgetown and why Hillary went to Wellesley,” he said. “Well, all the sex going on at Georgetown.”
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Fluke had been barred from speaking because the GOP leader Darrell Issa said the hearing was about religious liberty, not birth control.

The law student had eventually been allowed to testify before a panel of Democrats.
Just a few days earlier, President Obama offered an “accommodation” to religious insitutions, saying that their insurers could pay for their female employee’s birth control rather than the institutions themselves.

"Religious liberty will be protected and a law that requires free preventative care will not discriminate against women," Obama said on Feb. 1, according to The Associated Press.


I 'll get to my opinion on the issue later.


First off, does using birth control automatically insinuate that one is a slut.....ABSOLUTELY NOT!  This is one of those times where the word "slut" is thrown around whenever there's a possibility that a woman is sexually active.  Yes there are indeed other medical uses for birth control besides as a contraceptive, such as treating Polycystic Ovary Syndrome, amenorrhea, endometriosis, menstrual cramps, and even acne just to name a few.  Personally I have issues with the usage of the word slut.  Sexually active females are seen as a negative, but sexually active men are considered acceptable (there's alot of reasoning that supports this idea, but to me those reasons are no excuse).  Even females who are possibly sexually active, simply getting pregnant outside of marriage (no indication of how many males she slept with), or females who dress a certain way can be called sluts.  Even VIRGINS if they piss off the wrong chick!

Let me say though that personally, I don't agree with promiscuity or that it's OK.  I just don't agree with the notion that it's a negative for one group to engage in it, but a positive for another group.

Now to the main issue.

Birth control shouldn't be paid with taxpayers money, unless it's a medical reason like the ones I stated above.  People choose to have sex; it's a personal choice.  If you can't afford condoms or birth control, much less a baby, then you probably shouldn't be having sex in the first place.  And anyway, condoms are provided for free at Planned Parenthood (of course there still may be a problem if you don't live close to one).  As for the Viagra comparison, it is used to treat the medical condition, erectile dysfunction. 

On the issue of religious institutions or employers simply carrying birth control, I'm on the fence.  On one hand I understand sticking to your convictions and beliefs.  On the other hand, places like hospitals and universities are there to serve and help the public.  That is their duty.  Ashely Golden from The Bottom Line puts it this way:   
The argument has been made that students going to religious universities should know and abide by the policies of that institution. However, education is not like church. People choose to go to church to practice a faith. Many students who go to a religious institution do not in fact practice that religion and go there for other educational reasons, like the school was the best they were admitted to or it has the best program in their field. I don’t think it’s fair that non-religiously-affiliated students should have to abide by a certain religious code, especially when many religious universities promote that they are not exclusive to students that practice their religion, encourage differently oriented students to attend, and promote diversity and discourse on their campus.

Oh and let me say that Santorum is completely BONKERS in wanting to ban funding for birth control (that's his plan as president)!  Even though I'm a Christian who believes that abstinence is best, I acknowledge that not only does birth control treat medical conditions, but it's a better alternative than abortions and unplanned pregnancies.  Not everyone believes what I do.    

More reading about the Rush/Fluke/birth control matter: 1, 2

6 comments:

  1. Could you clarify this further? "As for the Viagra comparison, it is used to treat the medical condition, erectile dysfunction." I'm not sure that I follow this. Unless I'm missing something, erectile dysfunction is more of a "lifestyle medical condition", meaning that it's not life-threatening or causes physical discomfort, like say acne or Polycystic Ovary Syndrome, etc. However, I'm nto well-versed. Is there actually parallel health concerns that Viagra (and, by extension, elimination of ED) addresses that make it a "true" (in the traditional sense) medical condition?

    Thanks!

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    1. Yay, my first comment :-D!

      Anyway lol....

      Erectile dysfunction isn't something you can control. A medical condition doesn't have to be life-threatening for it to be considered as such. And as someone who had acne, it never caused me physical discomfort. Now again, I do think that birth control should be covered in cases like P.O.S. and in the other conditions I mentioned.

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  2. The odd thing is, according to a standard dictionary, a "slut" is a dirty slovenly woman...

    So, in theory, being a slut should have nothing to do with a woman's sexual habits.

    I believe the correct term is "whore".

    And, according to a standard dictionary, a "whore" is a woman who is lacking in sexual discrimination.

    Hence, the way a woman dresses has nothing to do with that either.

    Of course, going through 3 different guys a week, or even 3 different guys a night - that is another story...

    I believe the male counterpart would be a "womanizer"...

    And of course, the male counterpart of a "slut" is a "slob" I think...

    The meaning of these words have sure gotten screwed up haven't they?

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    1. Sorry for the late response. I started on it earlier, but then I lost the comment. Add procrastination to the mix and well....

      Anyway, yeah lol, it seems like the meanings have gotten screwed up.

      Now with the word "slut", there's this idea that a promiscuous woman is "dirty". Unless she has an astronomical amount of partners and/or STDs, I don't really see how she's considered "dirty". Especially if a man with an equal amount of sexual partners isn't considered as such. And don't even start with the whole differing standards thing :P

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    2. Actually, I made a mistake - kind of.

      The male equivalent of "whore" is "whore-monger" or "womanizer".

      Something else I have noticed - even the phrase "lacking sexual discrimination"...

      I have met women who think it is ok to go through 5 guys a week, as long as the lights are out and its missionary position - that is, "lacking sexual discrimination" is taken to mean various positions and whatnot.

      I am not making this up...

      It is a mad mad mad world.

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    3. Lol seriously! It's like how there are people who used to and STILL believe that oral sex shouldn't be counted as sex.

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