(UK MP) Nadine Dorries: Teenage girls should be taught how to say no to sex

[alp227]

Source: The Guardian

Teenage girls must be given lessons in how to say no to sex, a Conservative MP has told parliament – and MPs have backed her call.

Speaking in the Commons on Wednesday, Nadine Dorries, the MP for Mid Bedfordshire, proposed a bill that would result in classes in abstinence, but only for girls aged 13 to 16.

She said society was "saturated in sex" and teenagers should be taught that it was as "cool" to say no to sex as to know how to put a condom on their boyfriend.

MPs voted 67 to 61, majority six, in favour of allowing Dorries to bring forward her bill. It will receive its second reading in January, though it is unlikely to become law without government support.

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2011/may/04/nadine-dorries-teenage-girls

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Hey Ms. Dorries, maybe you should see how well abstinence education worked in America.

[woo me with science]

1. I have no problem with talking to teenagers about how to say no.

Sometimes it helps to have words, and to anticipate some of the pressuring situations in which you might find yourself.

But why only girls? And certainly not as the *whole* of a sex education program.

[alp227]

3. I've heard that girls need to be taught not to be sluts.

And that's coming from a woman member of Parliament in Britain, so it's gotta be true. Because boys can resist their sexual feelings because they never need to use sex as a status symbol. :sarcasm:

[woo me with science]

5. They wouldn't have this problem

if all the girls just wore burqas.

[JDPriestly]

10. Agreed. This is especially true for the girls raised in

very protective, Christian families. They are very vulnerable. Sometimes their parents just don't know how to prepare them for the world.

[OhioChick]

2. What about boys?

:eyes:

[alp227]

4. see my reply #3 n/t

[provis99]

6. so if a pregnancy happens,it's only the girl's fault.

Man, these conservatives hate women...

[JDPriestly]

11. I don't think you understand the point.

Kids want to be loved. Young girls need to understand that not every guy their attracted to will be able to love them. Also, I've known some really sweet, naive, Christian girls who can't imagine that someone might have some motive that was not sincere. That is within my experience but may not be within the experience of a lot of people on DU.

[raccoon]

17. Great post, and ITA. nt

[JDPriestly]

20. Sorry about my typo. I'm quite ashamed that my posts contain

so many, many typos. I type very fast but make mistakes as I type. I do know better.

[Xithras]

21. I hate to admit it...

But yeah, as someone who was a hormonal, sex crazed teenage boy at one point, I completely agree. Some girls just didn't understand that most boys will gladly have sex when offered, without a single emotion being involved. Teenage girls often equate "Sex" with "Love" or "Relationship". Teenage boys will often fuck anyone warm and willing.

Sex ed needs to go beyond the mechanics of pregnancy and safe sex, and talk about the realities of the different sexual attitudes between the genders. I knew very few boys in high school who considered sex to be the exclusive domain of "loving and committed relationships". I knew very few girls in high school who considered sex to be a purely recreational activity. Teens often don't understand that the genders typically approach sex from very different starting points, at least at that age.

[Demeter]

7. You know, I don't have an Issue With the Definitions of the Problem nor the Solution

It's the implementation that is the crucial part.

I don't think a female "has to" give free rein to every animal urge that rears up in her body or mind or hormones. Nor does any male. And I have heard this "has to" theory in popular television series, as well as from "friends" who think that chastity in the face of worse options is somehow "unhealthy".

Sex, like eating or drinking or any other addictive behavior, is best when exercised responsibly with an eye to what happens in the future. Although our genes would prefer it, we do not live merely to have sex and make babies and then dump babies into foster care and/or discard sex partners like hamburger wrappers. We live to build families, cultures, societies that survive, thrive and develop for the good of all members.

Building a family takes more than sex. If the goal were to build a family, as it has been for most of human history, then the ideal course of instruction would teach boys and girls those life skills needed to do so.

Families, when functional, are the best thing for all the members of the family, and for the larger society. It's hard work, and it takes at least one adult, preferably two for a marriage, and in extended families, there may be a handful or two of adults, all working for the welfare of the tribe.

I came out of such a tradition, and made the mistake of marrying outside it. Now single, I regret that I had a good example but no ability to find a good mate, and such shoddy choices around me when I wanted to form my own family. In part, my parents' choices determined my options, and they limited my ability to meet anyone, period, let alone suitable mates.

But where are the men who want to build families? If they are in the fundamentalist churches, they have lost my interest, because such thinking is not designed to benefit all.

[JDPriestly]

12. You really have a good point, Demeter.

I have been married many, many years. Marriage is not easy but it is very, very rewarding. It is a great institution, but it gets an undeservedly bad rap.

The pendulum swings back and forth on this. Marriage is no developing into a tradition of partnership and equality and I think that will make it more popular with men.

But it is really hard for young women, especially young professional women right now.

[MindPilot]

8. What is that some kind of lost talent?!

Girls never seemed to have any problems with telling me "no". Maybe it's just me...

[JI7]

9. some sexist crap here, why focus on girls only ?

i bet she is one of those who would ask a girl who was raped what she was wearing when it happened and imply she asked for it.

[JDPriestly]

13. I think you misunderstand. I don't think she was criticizing the girls.

She was probably basing her suggestion on her personal experience as a young woman.

[Odin2005]

14. What sexist BS, what about telling the guys to keep it in their pants?

[WatsonT]

19. You want the task of convincing a 15 year old guy to say no to sex?

They'd hump a cactus if you drew two circles with dots in the middle on it.

[PassingFair]

15. Here's her picture:

[guitar man]

16. Well if that's what they want to accomplish

Then they should go back and study what was going on when I was in high school. Hell, it seemed they were always saying no to sex then! :silly:

[WatsonT]

18. Well she lost the teenage boy vote