Sex, Rape and Circumcision: Shall We Go There? Yes, Let’s!

Sex isn’t just for procreation, of course (although Mother Nature often seems to feel that way), and as humanity has moved beyond the basic challenges of survival, the role of sex as a delightful joy in our lives appears to be obvious to all adults—whether it be sexual intercourse or any other form of sexual intimacy.  The lure of sex without emotional attachment is as powerful to most adults as is the need to establish exclusivity with that one sex partner with whom we feel inexorably bonded.

Sex is also big business—check out Yahoo or other online publications, or Sports Illustrated or any print publication, and that becomes pretty obvious.  If one were to attempt an understanding of the female mind by reading Cosmopolitan magazine, it would be easy to interpret that women were obsessed with sex even more than men.  

And while the LA Times might focus on the online business success in women’s clothing that is Nasty Gal, the issues behind that success (or the success of any other female apparel line) are both obvious and yet often remain unmentioned:

1) The greatest power that women hold over men is their allure and that while a giving, loyal wife or girlfriend is beloved by their husband or boyfriend, the need to change their look and reboot their image appears to remain perpetually strong among women in ways we usually just don’t see among men.

2) A woman’s worth to her mate and to society in general (to say nothing of their own self-worth) appears to often be tied up in their youthful appearance, perhaps associated with the need to subconsciously come across as fertile; hence we see wise and powerful older female professionals, politicians and corporate executives dye their hair and dress to look younger in ways we just don’t see men do so often.

3) The debate as to whether a woman is “liberated” or “repressed” by promoting her sexuality will rage on, but whether it’s former child stars, Olympic athletes or reality TV figures, beautiful and attractive women will always grab the eye of both men and women for a variety of reasons that even the viewers may not always understand.

But as much as the feelings of women are complicated with respect to appearance and sexuality, those feelings become inexorably more complicated when issues of maternity, abortion and rape enter the political or social arena—because while women are society’s usual sex objects, they are also our society’s source of life and motherhood.

Hence the huge firestorm of controversy surround Missouri Senator-wannabe Todd Akin, who both insulted women and “legitimately raped” the Republican Party by providing those who question the GOP’s attitudes towards women an excellent reason to presume that Republicans were still stuck in the 1950’s.

Representative Akin, who has been asked by Mitt Romney, Paul Ryan and even Sarah Palin to drop out of the race, has refused to do so.  Furthermore, while Akins' subsequent apology of using the term “legitimate rape” is arguably sincere, his decision to not retract his comments that women could reduce their ability to become pregnant after being raped reveals that he is terminally and irreparably ill-informed about human biology.

Short of hiring someone to kidnap Mr. Akin, the GOP will be unable to push Akin out, and now that the GOP fully understands why the Missouri Democratic incumbent, Claire McCaskill, bought ads to attract conservatives to vote for Akin during the GOP primary, the GOP is now likely to promote a write-in third party candidate to finally turn the tables on McCaskill.

The secondary issues and questions still rightfully abound:  Is Todd Akin that different from the rest of the GOP?  Are the Democrats aware that the country is becoming more pro-life with the commonplace availability of fetal ultrasounds to drive home the reality of the presence of an unborn child?  What’s a legitimate political concern versus just a game of “gotcha”?

But one overarching conclusion can be had from the Achin’ Akin debate:  if someone is going into politics, and is going to vote on key decisions relating to women’s health (or any other health issues), the need to be familiar with reproductive science is vital.  Ignorance or a lack of education will not be tolerated by modern, informed voters.

Similarly, misinformation on other issues such as circumcision and vaccination against genital HPV (human papillomavirus) has hurt the health of both children and adults (especially females) alike.  As the mounting evidence supporting greater societal acceptance of male circumcision, in addition to evidence supporting greater vaccination of boys as well as girls against the virus that causes genital warts and cervical cancer, one can only wonder why we took so long to arrive at these conclusions.

The American Academy of Pediatrics is becoming more open to the idea that male circumcision (which is entirely different than female circumcision, and which is often inappropriately and incorrectly conflated with male circumcision) has cost and health benefits to society, and that perhaps Medicaid should cover this beneficial health procedure.

For dermatologists, urologists and infectious disease specialists who have been aware of the greater transmission of female-to-male syphilis, HPV and HIV transmission from infected females to uncircumcised males (versus circumcised males, who form tougher and a more barrier-forming skin after the foreskin is surgically removed), this is hardly earth-shattering news.  But the spread of syphilis and HIV in regions of Africa with low compared to high levels of circumcision should have made this conclusion obvious years ago.

Equally obvious are the benefits of routine vaccination of both male and female children to HPV viruses associated with cervical cancer and genital warts.  Sexual activity leads to a virtual 70-90% likelihood of exposure to these viruses in today’s society, and while mandatory vaccination is not the right answer, encouraging vaccination is hardly the same thing as encouraging promiscuity when all we’re doing is asking children to roll up their sleeves for another shot.

And for those parents who still believe that HPV vaccination is promoting sexual promiscuity among young teenagers and children, three questions are critical for the answering:  

1) Can’t we quietly toss in HPV vaccination along with the myriad of other shots kids get, and also discourage promiscuity at the parental and school level, because they’re not mutually exclusive?

2) Do you think that your children will be virgins until they get married?

3) Were you a virgin when you got married?

Yet the ignorance of so many about circumcision and HPV still abounds, just as it does for so many with regards to sexuality, rape and other issues we’re loathe to talk about—despite their fundamental tie-in with our daily existence.  So let’s go there, let’s confront the issues surrounding humanity’s inherent sexual nature, and let’s not presume that one side of the political aisle is immune to the problems associated with myopic thinking and biased ignorance.

“Gotcha politics” might make for good political fodder, but the health and quality of life for ourselves and for future generations is by far a greater motivating cause to take up those personal issues that will not, cannot and do not go away.

(Ken Alpern is a Board-Certified Dermatologist and is a Clinical Instructor with the UC Irvine Department of Dermatology Residency Program.  He is also a former Boardmember of the Mar Vista Community Council (MVCC), previously co-chaired its Planning and Outreach Committees, and currently is Co-Chair of its MVCC Transportation/Infrastructure Committee. He is co-chair of the CD11 Transportation Advisory Committee and chairs the nonprofit Transit Coalition, and can be reached at [email protected]. The views expressed in this article are solely those of Mr. Alpern.)
-cw



CityWatch
Vol 10 Issue 69
Pub: Aug 28, 2012