SEX

SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX

Even though it is a vital part of life (without it we would basically die out as a species), sex is still a hush hush topic around the world. People don't want to address it, talk about it, or have anything to do with it. And this denial, this viewing of sex as a taboo subject and a forbidden act, is killing people, literally killing tens of millions of people worldwide. Governmental officials and public health experts have the information, can access the stats, but they still aren't doing much of anything when it comes to problems or issues associated with sex.

Classic example: The AIDS epidemic. Because it was mostly effecting the gay community in San Francisco, the Reagan Administration chose to overlook it. As it result, the research for AIDS/HIV when it matter most lacked the funds and the resources it needed to figure out what's going on.
And even today, we are educating children about AIDS/HIV and other forms of STDs by telling them to abstain from sex.

Dear World, horny teenagers are going to have sex regardless of what you tell them. Show them proper protection so they don't get infected in the process.

Another example: female sex workers. I understand that governments don't want to admit that prostitution goes on, but it DOES. Governments don't have to condone it, but denying that it goes on doesn't make it go away. Address it! Educate people! Require sex workers to use condoms to stop venereal diseases from spreading!

And it doesn't have to be about condoms or other forms of contraception. Male circumcision lowers the chance of STDs. It is a simple, effective procedure that would have an enormous impact on lowering rates of HIV/AIDS. If circumcision is worked into the social context in Africa, for example, there will be lower rates of the debilitating disease. We are so focused on finding a vaccine or a cure for HIV/AIDS, but something like HIV/AIDS can't only be addressed in a scientific aspect. It is also a social problem and could be solved or at least made less attenuated with social solutions.

We need to change our perception of sex. We need to be more open-minded about it. We need to be able to discuss it, address it, and accept it.

I know I don't have much of a voice in all this. I can easily be dismissed as a liberal 20-year old. It probably doesn't help that I go to Cal, an institution with a reputation for hippies and free love.

But this isn't a matter of conservative vs liberal.
This is fact vs. fiction, education vs. ignorance, what is good for the population vs. a population being overlooked and ignored.

And it's infuriating when I read or hear about "adults" and "experts," people who are supposedly more experienced and educated than I, refusing to see things that are so clear and so obvious.

It seriously makes my blood boil.