The Joke of Contraception in Politics. A Plea.

I don't usually talk about politics because, honestly, I don't want to. Politics and religion are the two topics that no one on different sides will ever really be able to discuss rationally, everyone's too goddamned convinced that they're right and everyone else is wrong.

But today I'm going to go against my mini pledge. I'm going to talk about Politics. Just a little bit. Please don't run off scared, because this is important.

I've had the basic idea of John McCain's status on Abstinence Only Education (he's all for it) since I first did research on the elections in the spring. It made me dislike him. But after reading This Article, I started doing some more research into an accusation which seemed far more horrifying than just AOE.

My findings say this: John McCain is AGAINST Sex Education AND Contraception (including Condoms).

Let me say that again. John McCain is AGAINST CONTRACEPTION.
That includes birth control pills, Plan B pills, and CONDOMS!!

Contraception is one of the most important topics of today's society.
Condoms are vital in the prevention of HIV and teen pregnancy, and Birth Control is one of the most issues in Women's Health because it prevents pregnancy as well as aiding in other medical problems.
Contraception and Birth Control is a Basic Medical issue and a basic medical Right! It isn't just sexual health or reproductive rights, it is Women's Health.

But McCain's status on Condoms is that he "isn't sure they really prevent" pregnancy or STDs.
He has voted AGAINST allowing or paying for Contraception every single time he's gotten the chance to.

To a reporter in Iowa, when asked about contraception and HIV (talking mostly about condoms and AIDS in Africa), he said "I’m not informed enough on it."

What??? A Presidential Candidate not INFORMED about one of the most important social issues?
If he's lying to save his own ass, what a horrible way to do it. Just say your against contraception and take your stand. He's supposed to be a "straight talker" who will take on questions and accusations against his issues head on, but he stumbles over contraception??
If he's not lying, and really doesn't know (or care about) contraception, then why the hell would we want him as President?

And that's not the first time he's said that. So many times when asked about contraception issues, he responds with "I don't know...etc". Even going so far as to ask his press secretary what his stance on the issues were!
Do we want a President who doesn't know about these issues?

At another time, when asked about the fact that Viagra is paid for by insurance but birth control isn't (he'd recently voted against a bill that would have birth control paid for along WITH what it pays for now-Viagra), he responded "I certainly do not want to discuss that issue".

Once again, WHAT? He doesn't want to talk about it? How can a Presidential Candidate not want to talk about an important issue? Do we want a president who is uncomfortable with talking about these important issues? He then says that he "doesn't usually duck an issue, but I'll get back to you".
Well we've got more instances where he DID duck that very same issue!

In this case you'd think it'd make perfect sense for any insurance that covers Viagra to cover birth control as well. As if the two weren't completely related to each other.



Today I even discovered an article talking about the new "definition" of Pregnancy. The government has decided to THROW OUT the established MEDICAL definition of pregnancy as beginning at implantation (when an egg attaches to the Uterus lining), and instead adopt the religious PUBLIC OPINION that pregnancy starts at conception (the meeting of the egg and sperm) as the new DEFINITION. This is an attempt at defining any hormonal contraception as ABORTION, which it's NOT! This also goes on to propose a new rule that would allow government funded programs to DENY women BIRTH CONTROL, and any company that didn't hire someone who would REFUSE BIRTH CONTROL to patients would be threatened.

This is just one step closer to outlawing Contraception in the US. Can you believe it?
Abstinence Only is one thing, but these little bitty steps towards completely ANNIHILATING the RIGHTS of women and their HEALTH is getting ridiculous and, frankly, absolutely frightening.

I don't care if your republican, democrat, christian, pro-life, pro-choice, pro-abortion,or pro-abstinence only, you cannot support a complete lack of Contraception and Condoms!

I don't care who you usually vote for, who you're planning on voting for, or why, but PLEASE don't vote for McCain. If you care about health, sexuality, or just WOMEN, PLEASE don't vote for him!
A man who doesn't want to talk about vital health issues and doesn't know enough about contraception to simply answer a question should NOT be allowed to be our entire countries President!

*deep breath*
I can deal with abortion being illegal or Abstinence Only taking over the schools, but if Contraception is banned in the US, or made legally ridiculously hard to get, I'm moving to Canada or England. And for the first time, I'm completely serious.

I can't support a country that doesn't support basic Civil and Women's Health Rights.



(PS: all the hyper linked phrases lead to blogs or news articles explaining the phrase)

First Experiences - The Female Condom

I advocate a lot for all forms of effective contraceptives. Condoms, pills, patches, caps, gels, whatever. If it protects you from something, I'm for it.

But the other day I realized that I hadn't actually used all those things. I use birth control pills- Yaz- which I may often mention, and I never go without a condom. (I can't say I never have, but I never do.) But that's pretty much my experience. My pills work for me, so I haven't tried anything else. I'm not big on lubricants (too slimy and dries me up), so I'm not an avid spermicide user (although I do have a fondness for condoms that come With spermicide already on them). And for the rest, they are over my price range or superfluous with my avid pill and condom use.

A while back, my aunt brought me a few Female Condoms (odd, I know, but huzzah us for openness) from the Student Center nearby. They sat in my condom basket for a few weeks, until yesterday.
I don't think it's fair for me to say that all these contraceptive methods are great and should be used if I haven't even used half of them.

So, I gave one a try.

Now, my first Product Review is of the FC Female Condom.



I first heard about the female condom a few months back while stopping at a Planned Parenthood booth at the university. They were handing out little bags of stuff, and of course I'm always up for free stuff, so I took one and asked what was (supposed to be) in it. When a female condom was mentioned, I asked about it, and after an explanation was glad to have gotten it, I wanted to check it out. Unfortunately my bag didn't have one, but I didn't fret.
From the explanation given, I got an odd mental image of a double sided tube, partly in the vagina and partly hanging out, and having to get the penis into the outside tube to then go into the vagina. It didn't seem ideal. But after seeing the pictures in the pamphlet that came with the female condoms I was given, it seemed much more snug and comfortable; more practical. Unfortunately, on trying it, I found out my initial idea was more accurate.

The pamphlet includes lots of information. From why its a good idea to use it, to detailed diagrams of how to use it, to precautions and FAQs, it's pretty helpful. No complaints here. Although the actual descriptions of what to do are a bit hard to follow on the first attempt, but the pictures kind of take care of it. My favorite of the precautions is one of those things that is stated several times in several places, and you just can't believe they would actually put it on something, but sadly know that some people would actually be dumb enough to not know it. It stated “REMEMBER- The FC female condom only works if you use it.”
Wait, what? Isn't that silly? That's like someone complaining that they haven't learned anything from a book, while they've never even opened it. Unfortunately some people really are that ridiculous and probably would sue because the FC didn't keep them from getting pregnant while it sat on their bedside table.

The packaged condom itself is about twice the length of a regular condom, only slightly bigger in width. Lightly squeezing it, it feels about the same as a regular condom. All the squishiness and odd plastic circles that condom users are used to, only bigger.

Upon opening, the condom kind of looks like a small tubular trash bag, with a strange circlet in the bottom. Something like this...


Seeing it, my boyfriend- W- commented on how it was definitely not sexy. It wasn't. Vaguely translucent, thick, and covered in a layer of slimy lubricant, I wasn't particularly impressed. But I plowed forward anyway.

The insertion was probably the weirdest part. It suggests to lift one leg up during insertion- much like tampon instructions- so I tried with one knee up on the bed while standing. It wasn't easy the first few attempts. You're supposed to squeeze the inner ring- whilst it's inside the bag, just as you pulled it out- while pushing it up into the vagina. This is difficult because, as I said, the bag is covered in a layer of lubricant, so it tends to slip right out of your fingers. Once that's managed though, getting it in is fairly easy, especially if you're used to tampons and the such.
The biggest trouble I had with that was being sure that it was in correctly. I mean, sure, it was in, but the idea is that it should cup over your cervix, so it protects and stays in place. But once I put it in, looking at the pictures made me feel like it wasn't in far enough. It felt like my cervix was way to close to the outside of my vagina and I just didn't think it was the right place. But, having to admit that it probably was, I just pushed it as far as it could go and went on. This only really became a problem because due to a lack of anything nice to watch (this performance certainly wasn't), he lost his erection and we had to bring it back, but that was the biggest real issue.

But here is my biggest problem. There was a bag hanging out of my vagina.
Let me repeat that.
There was a BAG hanging out of my VAGINA.
It was not at all as close to my skin as the image looked, it was very much hanging there.
Kinda like that...

It just wasn't pretty. But lets move on.

We went ahead and gave it a try. As my first impression foretold, it was a matter of getting the penis into this tube, which wasn't exactly sexy, but once the action took place, the whole thing did adjust itself, and did fit closer to the skin, and once we adjusted to it, things went pretty much like normal.

From the guy's side, he said that at first he didn't feel anything at all, but once he adjusted, it felt pretty normal.

Oh, the only problem during the event was that the edges of the outer ring did not- like some pictures show- go all the way up to the clitoris. It did, however, go to about the urethra, and it irritated the hell out of it, rubbing back and forth against it like that. That might not be a problem for everyone, but I have a sensitive one, so it was for me.

Taking it out was simple, although a bit annoying that you can't get up before you do, unless you want a big icky mess on your hands/legs/sheets/carpet. And disposal was just like any regular condom; trash, not toilet. (W actually used to put condoms down the toilet all the time and it drove me crazy!)

Basically, my experience with the FC Female Condom was not particularly satisfactory. I will tell you, however, that the thing did not break. The plastic is thick and pretty much stayed in place. So unless you use a regular condom with it (Don't!) there shouldn't be any problems with the thing tearing. So, as far as pregnancy goes, it's a good preventer despite its strangeness.

Overall, I think that while I don't plan on making use of these on a regular basis, it is a pretty adequate alternative to condoms, especially for people who are allergic to latex (FC's are latex-free, yay!).

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