The South: Charming or Disturbing?

I enjoy southern accents. Southern food. Southern family members, houses, vacation spots, and sometimes weather. Southern politics, not so much. It stresses me out. I appreciate southern pride, but more often than not, when I hear about something American that embarrasses me, it usually came from the south. And that includes our president.

Yesterday I read part of a report that was released by AIDS Alabama and the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States. First of all, I'd never heard of this council. I'm relieved that it exists. Second, they're calling on Alabama school systems to update and correct their sex ed. programs. They use inaccurate information and guilting/shaming tactics to encourage abstinence.

The part that stuck out most for me was that they claim if you disrespect yourself by having premarital sex, you'll lose all self respect, ruin your reputation, AND, deservingly, all of your friends. The materials also suggest that you drop friends and avoid people who have earned a promiscuous reputation, as they will only shame you and lead you astray. Here's a direct quotation from the report about the importance of the marriage ceremony.

"the curriculum tells students that the tradition of lifting the veil shows that 'the groom [is] the only man allowed to uncover the bride,' and demonstrates 'her respect for him by illustrating that she [has] not allowed any other man to lay claim to her.'"

AHHHHHHH! Obviously, that's just one state's materials, and they vary a lot throughout the country. I understand the controversy. Some school board somewhere is deciding how to talk to my child about sex. How dare they?

If you're interested in seeing the report, you can view it here: http://www.siecus.org/policy/SpecialReports/Alabama_Report.pdf

Coming from another direction, a friend of mine is visiting the Netherlands right now, learning about their culture, history, political set-up, education system, health system, etc. In the Netherlands, most people aren't very religious. The rate of premarital sex, and the age that teenagers start having sex is pretty much the same as here. But their sex education is thorough in school. Abstinence isn't a focus, and they learn about all of their birth control options. As a result, their rate of teenage pregnancy (age 15-19) is 8.7 per 1,000 inhabitants. The rate in the US is 79.8 per 1,000 inhabitants. Their abortion rate is 4.2 per 1,000 inhabitants. The US rate is 27.5. Our STD rate is five times higher as well.

Ok, enough dumping on the US (for now). This is a huge country with massive diversity, and inevitable issues that come from so many different people trying to live together. America is hard. I know that. And much of its population is religious, usually Christian. That's not going away. And it's not all good or all bad. Part of me is disappointed that we can't all rally around one idea to move forward - progress. At the same time, it's the competing ideas that make everything so interesting, right? That keep us in check?

I could go back and forth on this all day. Time to take a break.

Satan, thy name is Pollen

I didn't have allergies before I moved to DC. A couple of years ago, I thought I might have them, but it was a mild, short-lived episode. Today I walked out of the house, and a circus appeared in my nasal cavity. Since that time, I have yet to go more than three minutes without a sneeze attack, warranting at least three tissues. I bought a large, family sized box of tissues about two hours ago. It's half gone. My eyes are puffy, watery, and a little itchy. My nose is a disaster.

This is a whole new game to me, and I'm losing. I took a Claritin over an hour ago, but apparently it takes a while to kick in. You can guess how hard I'm working today.

A few thoughts from the past week or so:
1. Grandma's surgery went well. We're waiting on biopsy results to find out if she'll have to undergo radiation and/or chemotherapy.
2. I got to hear Uncle Pat preach at his Baptist church when I was visiting a couple of weeks ago. He's a good speaker! The Baptist church wasn't my cup of tea, but it was nice. Somehow, the guy sharing lead vocals and playing the acoustic guitar reminded me of every jackelobe in college who used his guitar to get laid. Plus he kept saying, "Father-God...." which gets under my skin.
3. Dad's mom cracks me up. She made breakfast for me the day I left (deelish), and we got to listen to Grandpa's politics/religion opinions for about an hour and a half. Surprisingly entertaining.
4. I had to go to lunch with a nice girl and an obnoxious geezer yesterday. He made us both commute to this ritzy club, where all the wait staff are minorities and most of the members are old, white men. There were no prices on the menu. I hated it. Luckily, he paid.
5. My personal loan is almost paid off - less than $70 left. Kick ass!
6. Can't decide what to do for Mother's Day, other than cards. Mom is getting a corsage surprise from Geno and me at mass. Do I send flowers to Grandma? None of the ladies in my life need any more things. What's a girl to do?
7. This is vile, but I'm recording it for posterity's sake. What did one tampon say to the other tampon? Nothing. They were both stuck up bitches. Hah!
8. My sister made it to second base. Show the love!

The sneezing continues.....