In reviewing some of the links from yesterday’s post I was struck by a disturbing trend – sometimes delaying sex was reported as a good thing. Things like “pledges did delay the onset of sexual intercourse for an average of 18 months”
I almost feel silly saying things, but Sex is Good. I guess that’s about as silly as saying Death is Bad, but that needs to be said too. People are crazy and the world is mad.
Seriously, can you imagine going without sex for 18 months? Or, if you’re not into sex, going without something you REALLY enjoy for 18 months? And then reading a study where some privileged asshat who probably gets sex at least twice a month without even thinking about it is saying how GREAT it is that this program has stopped people from having any sex for that long? It blows my mind.
Yes, in the Horrible Old Days We Should Never Return To there were some good reasons to not have sex. Thank man that we’ve basically managed to destroy those and all of humanity can live happier lives as a result. Let’s never go back.
More importantly – let’s start acknowledging that a program which delays sex for 18 months should have that count as a very black mark against it. This makes the program even MORE of a failure! If there were some great benefits that made it worth this cost, sure, it might be worth the trade-off. But to pursue that as an end is perverse. The line shouldn’t be “The program had no effect on overall STI rates, but it did prevent sexual activity by 18 months”, it should be “This program had no effect on overall STI rates, and it prevented sexual activity for 18 months!!” That sort of hedonic cost for no gain is outrageous.
PS – kids, use condoms. A second form of birth control is good as well, but condoms at the very least. That’s one of the major tools that defeated these monsters in the first place. Don’t screw it up.