So, I took part in the protest on Friday. It didn't affect me as badly as I had anticipated it would. Sure, I got weird looks from the guys in my chem class (and my botany lecturer), but it's not like I'm not used to those. Last year, I got all kinds of weird looks when I wore the t-shirt. However, I think it may have affected me more than I had anticipated. Over the last few days, I've heard a number of truly disturbing stories. Stories of women who were raped and received no justice because it was a he-said-she-said situation, stories of women who saw protesters and finally gathered the courage to tell someone that it had happened to them. All of them have made me think long and hard about this as an issue, which has been highlighted by a couple of news stories released since Friday.
Story 1: Restoring virginity
Long have I been scathing of people who hold up virginity as the determining factor in a person's worth. Having had sex does not make you 'more of a man' or 'a dirty woman' (okay, sometimes it does make you 'a dirty woman', but know that I mean that phrase in an entirely complimentary way). It doesn't determine the worth or worthiness of a person. In addition, I think there are some things you want to find out before you're committed to someone for life (like whether or not they like to play scat games or something. Fair enough if that's your thing, but it's not for me), so I think that sex before marriage is a good idea. Personal opinion. Still, the thought of paying thousands to have sex made more painful in order to avoid excommunication/humiliation/the death penalty strikes me as being unfair.
Story 2: The 'Holy Semen' Scam
Possibly the best argument for the teaching of logic and rational thinking to school children. An Israeli man has tricked a large number of women into sleeping with him by claiming that his pearl-jam was holy/had healing powers. I will, for the moment, lay aside the many, many cracks I want to make about superpowered man-gravy and dash onwards to the point. He charged women for sex, doing things with them that would make a Dutch sex worker blush, and based it all on a lie. (For those of you who don't know, lying about why you're having sex is [under South African law] called 'rape of intent', and is a punishable crime.)
Now, how the hell do things like this happen? How badly has the education system failed that people who get up to things like this are able to? 'Reparing' virginity? Really? It's the twenty-first century! How are we still hung up on the ideal woman who is loyal only to the man she serves? I thought that went out of fashion years ago when women got the vote and became more than just a glorified cook/maid/sex slave with no agency. And, honestly, how uninformed are Israeli women to buy into a scam where they get f**ked (literally)?
I think the bottom line is this: we REALLY need to start being open about sex! Although, I will *hi5* the Israeli government for upholding the law on this one, maybe they need to start teaching useful things in health class so that girls/women can spot a fraud like that? Oh, and one more thing: virginities only get lost once. The presence/absence of a piece of skin is irrelevant, the memory of the horror/ecstasy (depending on whether yours was like mine or Sebastian Vettel's) of one's first time is what is important - should we not, perhaps, be telling people that, rather than preaching about their worthiness as individuals because of their virginisation status?
Story 1: Restoring virginity
Long have I been scathing of people who hold up virginity as the determining factor in a person's worth. Having had sex does not make you 'more of a man' or 'a dirty woman' (okay, sometimes it does make you 'a dirty woman', but know that I mean that phrase in an entirely complimentary way). It doesn't determine the worth or worthiness of a person. In addition, I think there are some things you want to find out before you're committed to someone for life (like whether or not they like to play scat games or something. Fair enough if that's your thing, but it's not for me), so I think that sex before marriage is a good idea. Personal opinion. Still, the thought of paying thousands to have sex made more painful in order to avoid excommunication/humiliation/the death penalty strikes me as being unfair.
Story 2: The 'Holy Semen' Scam
Possibly the best argument for the teaching of logic and rational thinking to school children. An Israeli man has tricked a large number of women into sleeping with him by claiming that his pearl-jam was holy/had healing powers. I will, for the moment, lay aside the many, many cracks I want to make about superpowered man-gravy and dash onwards to the point. He charged women for sex, doing things with them that would make a Dutch sex worker blush, and based it all on a lie. (For those of you who don't know, lying about why you're having sex is [under South African law] called 'rape of intent', and is a punishable crime.)
Now, how the hell do things like this happen? How badly has the education system failed that people who get up to things like this are able to? 'Reparing' virginity? Really? It's the twenty-first century! How are we still hung up on the ideal woman who is loyal only to the man she serves? I thought that went out of fashion years ago when women got the vote and became more than just a glorified cook/maid/sex slave with no agency. And, honestly, how uninformed are Israeli women to buy into a scam where they get f**ked (literally)?
I think the bottom line is this: we REALLY need to start being open about sex! Although, I will *hi5* the Israeli government for upholding the law on this one, maybe they need to start teaching useful things in health class so that girls/women can spot a fraud like that? Oh, and one more thing: virginities only get lost once. The presence/absence of a piece of skin is irrelevant, the memory of the horror/ecstasy (depending on whether yours was like mine or Sebastian Vettel's) of one's first time is what is important - should we not, perhaps, be telling people that, rather than preaching about their worthiness as individuals because of their virginisation status?
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