Warning -- a rant
This might offend some people but it's been bottled up for several months. It is a reaction to people that believe that sex education shouldn't be taught in schools and that promise rings are the only reasonable approach to dealing with teenagers and sex.
Welcome all girls, ages ten through twelve years old. You have gotten your period. You have started puberty and now can get pregnant at the drop of a hat. You have entered the war against women. Nothing can keep you out of this war. Even if you have an IQ of 50, you will be conscripted and forced to fight. No one gets a ticket out.
Here's your plane in this war you've entering. Its not fastest plane out there. It has no weapons. It is also subject to odd electrical surges that make it difficult to control. You will be constantly asked to fly into unfamiliar territory with unknown landmarks and unknown dangers. You will be pitted against bigger, faster planes that are heavily armed and often attacking in numbers…good luck.
You will be expected to fly this plane into enemy territory daily. Some of you unfortunates will actually be stationed at enemy airbases where you will attacked as you sleep or refueling. Also be aware that supposedly neutral territory - your classroom, your church, your playground - can suddenly become enemy territory without any declaration of war. If you are attacked under these circumstances - shame on you.
We will not be supplying you with weapons or teach you how to fight or even teach you tactics on evading the enemy. We won't even be warning you about how trusted allies can often be double spies for the enemy. You should instinctively know how to avoid attack and if you don't, shame on you. This applies even to those stationed at enemy airbases.
If you're shot down, there is no parachute. You should have avoided being attacked over enemy territory. You should have been more careful, faster, more vigilant. Shame on you. Because of your negligence, you must go down with your plane. If you survive the attack, it will be up to you to find your way back to safety. We won't believe that you were attacked, instead we'll believe that you purposely crashed your airplane. If you become pregnant from this attack, you'll just have to carry on your missions, but with a baby strapped to your back. And shame on you.
Yes, you are ten or eleven or twelve. Nature, however, has selected to make you a fully functional soldier in this war and we refuse to acknowledge that your youth makes you unprepared to deal with constant attack. We will not train you in any way because it might make you more negligent instead of smarter. We believe soldiers should be kept totally ignorant at all times. If you fail, shame on you.
We will be keeping the enemy - males - ignorant too. God forbid they understand how civilized people will act. We will simply tell them not to shoot at you. Then we will ignore the constant barrage of aggressive images fed to the masses. How great it is to attack women. How they secretly want it. How it will make everyone respect the boy for his victory.
Your mission in this war?
Those that don't want you to be trained believe that you're supposed to identify one of those boys roaring past you at high attitude over unfamiliar territory as your spiritual soul mate. If you manage to find him, you will be lifted up above all others in a glorious celebration and the war will be over (so they tell you) and all be wonderful. This means you're supposed to open yourself up to attack and then hope for the best. Unfortunately, even the best male pilots don't have full control over their weapons systems. Accidental discharge is quite common.
If you fail once, we have pre-recorded a message for you to play every moment after you fail. It says "Shame on you. You're a slut. You failed. You are no longer a virgin. You can't wear a promise ring. You won't be able to wear white at your wedding." This is because those in charge of the war don't believe in Plan B, or parachutes, or actual 'forgiveness of sins' since their only defense for girls is "keep your virginity intact or SHAME ON YOU."
So soldier welcome to the war. Yes, you may be as young as ten, and it won't be until you're eighteen before you legally can chose your own course (although by cultural norm the age you actually reach a point where you can declare your independence is actually twenty-one,) FIGHT ON!
Welcome all girls, ages ten through twelve years old. You have gotten your period. You have started puberty and now can get pregnant at the drop of a hat. You have entered the war against women. Nothing can keep you out of this war. Even if you have an IQ of 50, you will be conscripted and forced to fight. No one gets a ticket out.
Here's your plane in this war you've entering. Its not fastest plane out there. It has no weapons. It is also subject to odd electrical surges that make it difficult to control. You will be constantly asked to fly into unfamiliar territory with unknown landmarks and unknown dangers. You will be pitted against bigger, faster planes that are heavily armed and often attacking in numbers…good luck.
You will be expected to fly this plane into enemy territory daily. Some of you unfortunates will actually be stationed at enemy airbases where you will attacked as you sleep or refueling. Also be aware that supposedly neutral territory - your classroom, your church, your playground - can suddenly become enemy territory without any declaration of war. If you are attacked under these circumstances - shame on you.
We will not be supplying you with weapons or teach you how to fight or even teach you tactics on evading the enemy. We won't even be warning you about how trusted allies can often be double spies for the enemy. You should instinctively know how to avoid attack and if you don't, shame on you. This applies even to those stationed at enemy airbases.
If you're shot down, there is no parachute. You should have avoided being attacked over enemy territory. You should have been more careful, faster, more vigilant. Shame on you. Because of your negligence, you must go down with your plane. If you survive the attack, it will be up to you to find your way back to safety. We won't believe that you were attacked, instead we'll believe that you purposely crashed your airplane. If you become pregnant from this attack, you'll just have to carry on your missions, but with a baby strapped to your back. And shame on you.
Yes, you are ten or eleven or twelve. Nature, however, has selected to make you a fully functional soldier in this war and we refuse to acknowledge that your youth makes you unprepared to deal with constant attack. We will not train you in any way because it might make you more negligent instead of smarter. We believe soldiers should be kept totally ignorant at all times. If you fail, shame on you.
We will be keeping the enemy - males - ignorant too. God forbid they understand how civilized people will act. We will simply tell them not to shoot at you. Then we will ignore the constant barrage of aggressive images fed to the masses. How great it is to attack women. How they secretly want it. How it will make everyone respect the boy for his victory.
Your mission in this war?
Those that don't want you to be trained believe that you're supposed to identify one of those boys roaring past you at high attitude over unfamiliar territory as your spiritual soul mate. If you manage to find him, you will be lifted up above all others in a glorious celebration and the war will be over (so they tell you) and all be wonderful. This means you're supposed to open yourself up to attack and then hope for the best. Unfortunately, even the best male pilots don't have full control over their weapons systems. Accidental discharge is quite common.
If you fail once, we have pre-recorded a message for you to play every moment after you fail. It says "Shame on you. You're a slut. You failed. You are no longer a virgin. You can't wear a promise ring. You won't be able to wear white at your wedding." This is because those in charge of the war don't believe in Plan B, or parachutes, or actual 'forgiveness of sins' since their only defense for girls is "keep your virginity intact or SHAME ON YOU."
So soldier welcome to the war. Yes, you may be as young as ten, and it won't be until you're eighteen before you legally can chose your own course (although by cultural norm the age you actually reach a point where you can declare your independence is actually twenty-one,) FIGHT ON!