Sex Ed: My History

I started learning about human sexuality in grade four and not its not what you think we didn't learn about sex right away. Instead we learned about puberty and the changes ours and the opposite sexes body was going through. The boys were separated from the girls to avoid any teasing or awkwardness. There was always an anonymous comment box so we didn't have to be embarrassed about asking question because everyone had to submit at least one question. Not only did the teacher talk about the changes our bodies were going through but we also watched a video that explained everything. The class was great and I learned a lot in a safe and open environment. The only down side about this class was that the video was from the 80's and it was hard for us to take it serious because they were dressed so goofy! We continued to learn about this same thing until grade 6. It was in grade 6 that I had one awful experience with the sex ed teacher. The teacher was a nurse and she was explaining my class of boys and girls about tampons. Someone had raised their hand and asked where a tampon goes. Instead of showing us a diagram or simply explaining the answer the teacher pointed to herself. It was disgusting and I will never forget it. She should have answered the question a different way. Then in grade 7 and 8 we mostly learned about male and female anatomy and STI's. We finally got into sex and relationships in grade nine. I feel that my sex education was set up very well though no program is completely perfect. If I could change anything I would do something differently then that teacher did in grade 6 and I would talk more about sex and the consequences and the psychological aspects starting in grade seven.

Feminism

After watching a video in class called, The F-Word:Who Wants To Be A Feminist? I have thought a lot about what feminism is and whether I want to be a feminist. What I have decided is that there is no one definition of feminism; it is an idea or view that is different for every single person. The video made this very clear, in that all the feminist's that were interviewed had something completely different to say about the subject. Some of them were very strongly in believe that woman are not being treated fairly in society and some believed that woman are finally getting the rights they deserve. No definition of feminism is wrong and that is why i fell confident in explaining what I feel feminism is. I feel that feminism is a woman's individual feelings on how woman in society are being treated as a whole. Feminism is a movement of the past that was used to get woman equal rights. I believe that woman are being treated pretty darn good these days and that there are more important issues than Canadian woman's rights. I do not identify myself as a feminist, I believe that everyone no matter what sex deserve to be treated as equals. I believe that everyone has to work for what they want in life.

That is my position on feminism.

Abortion: Yes or No?

In our society abortion is a hot topic as it seems that many people have very strong views on the subject. There are people who are for abortion, against abortion and others who simply don't care. I find myself not fully committed to any of these views.My personal views are: 

1.) I don't believe abortion is murder. I have a hard time explaining what abortion is but I feel as though when the baby is still inside it's mother the mother has all the power in deciding whether or not she wishes to carry the baby to term.

2.) Abortion is a private matter between the mother and father. I don't feel like anyone need to get involved in the personal lives of family's that choose to terminate or carry on their pregnancy. Some families simply do not have the resources or finances to bring a child into the world. Sometime abortion is better them having a child and vise versa.

I am completely on the fence when it comes to abortion. I feel like abortion is a choice a mother and father make based on their situation. Everyone has a different take on this issue and I feel that is perfectly normal. I don't believe it is fair for people to push their views on others or judge people that go against their views on abortion. Effective birth control should always be used by people who are not planning on bringing a child into our world.

Homophobia in Woman

Typically it is thought that men are more homophobic then woman. I believe this is not entirely true but instead I feel that the rate of homophobic woman and men is about the same. It is believed that men are more homophobic then woman because they are more verbal with their negative slurs. Men can often be found talking about how much they hate being around gay people or they directly bully a fellow classmate that is openly gay. Where as woman are more quiet about there homophobic feelings. Woman tend to keep their thoughts and comments to their selves. With my experiences I have never heard of a woman who openly verbally or physically abused a Homosexual person. Though I have met girls who have said things in private like, "I have to share a change room with a lesbian. I'm terrified to change in from of her" or "One of my roommates is a lesbian, what if she tries hitting on me". I feel that this is how woman express their homophobic feelings; they do it in private where not many people can hear them or they keep it to their selves. I feel woman are like this because they are stereotypically supposed to be accepting and loving of everyone. Also you see lesbians portrayed in the media more often and more positively then gay men. This makes lesbians more accepted then gay men therefore we hear less homophobic slurs about them.

Personally I am not homophobic in any way and I accept everyone for who they are and hope that one day homosexual people will be treated the same as heterosexual people.