Monday, April 18, 2005

Abstinence at Princeton

Professor Althouse points to this article about a group at Princeton that is encouraging abstinence. More power to them, I say. I have no problem with abstinence programs (even if ineffective) provided that the federal government isn't funding them with tax dollars to the exclusion of other forms of sex education. But this quote struck me as a silly statement in profound garb:

Jennifer Mickel, a 19-year-old sophomore from Monroe, La., brought up abstinence at a women's forum at Ivy Council, an inter-campus student group in the Ivy League.

"The discussion was very sex-focused, like about having rape kits in medical centers and condoms and the morning-after pill," Ms. Mickel said. "And I asked, 'What do your schools have for women who are not having sex?' And the room fell silent.

They were probably too stunned to ask, "Well, what do they need?"

If campus women's groups want to provide the incidents of a safe and healthy sex life to consenting, adult women, are we really going to suggest that they have some responsibility to spend their limited time and resources on women who choose not to engage in the same behavior?

What do women who are not having sex need from a women's group?

And the room fell silent.

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