Pushing me off of life's little ledge
11/18/2000 The children of the night
Jacquie over at E-Whore had a bit to say about Rach and CB. While totally provoked, she managed to defend herself in a civil manner, and wind it up on a happy note, so I have to give her props. Well done, Jacquie!
However, then I started reading through the site, and found her rant about condoms being distributed in prisons. It had been a while since I had a chance to blow holes through someones logic on any such issue, so I figured, it might as well be this one. While she makes a few attempts at funny comments about life as a Prison Bitch, she eventually gets into the dreaded handing out condoms encourages sex argument.
Horny men + other men's asses = sex galore. Horny men + other men's asses + installation of condom machines = PROMOTION OF GAY SEX
Maybe it's just me, but I don't see how offering free condoms can possibly be promoting sex in general. When you promote a band playing a gig at a local pub, you give people little fliers and tell them to come to see the show. You're encouraging them to come to the show. They like to listen to good music, you tell them where to find good music, they come to hear good music. Now contrast that with the condoms. If little Billy doesn't want to have sex yet, for whatever reason, and you hand him a condom and tell him that he can use it for safe sex, you're not encouraging him to go get laid. You're telling him that if he does decide to get laid, he'd better use his brain and keep himself clean. If he doesn't want to have sex, he's not going to, condom or none. You haven't promoted sex, you've promoted safe sex.
Now try the same experiment in a prison setting. As Jacquie points out, you have lots of sex-deprived men. As they decide on their values, inevitably some are going to take the availability of sex with other men over their former heterosexual ideals. Some will be homosexual before entering, and won't even have to do any soul searching before jumping in. Others will hold true to their heterosexual values and won't partake willingly. Again, by offering free condoms, these men aren't just going to up and decide, "Sure, I'll try being gay now that it's safe!" Last I heard, condoms didn't really help during anal sex, as the anus is much more rigid than the vagina, causing the condoms to break with higher frequency. But then again, it's been a long time since I took sex ed, and I've never been interested in anal, so I'm not the best source of info there. But anyway, the point is that if someone is straight with no intention of going gay, condom or not, they're going to keep it in their pants and bide their time.
Although I found Rach's review of Jacquie as "ignorant" a bit extreme, she does make a good point. I've been told in the past to watch what I say about prison sex/rape, so I tend not to joke about it. I've never been in such a situation, and I don't plan to. I can respect the hardship that someone else has been through, even if I can't relate to it. I'm not sure if Jacquie simply underestimates the horror of prison life, or if she passes it off as much easier than her own life. Perhaps she has been raped numerous times and takes it as a part of everyday life. *Shrug*
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