Dr. Anonymous Talks About Sex

There is an interesting new book called UNPROTECTED. The author is a female physican who works in a college health clinic somewhere in the U.S. and wishes to remain anonymous. Why? Because she thinks what she has to say would destroy her career. It is nonetheless important.

Our society is obsessed with health. We are constantly told to eat this, don't eat that, take supplements, don't smoke, stay out of the sun, get more exercise, avoid germs, etc etc. In other words, we are advised to change our behavior in order to remain healthy. Except in one area: sex.

The medical profession, according to Dr. Anonymous, refuses to face the fact that our sexual choices have medical consequences that can be easily prevented. She speaks specifically about the behavior of college students, among whom casual sex is commonplace. In fact it is encouraged on our so-called "elite" campuses. Explore, experiment, find yourself, be tolerant: these are the messages college students get.

And should all this joyous experimentation end in externally verifiable effects--should girls find themselves afflicted with a disease or an unwanted pregnancy--then (and only then) do their campus "women's health" departments go to work for them. They will book the abortion, hand out a condom or prescribe a course of antibiotic treatment. And then they will pat their young patients on the shoulder and send them back into the world, without an admonishing word about the conduct that got them into trouble in the first place.

"Look at how different health decisions are valued," the author advises. "When Stacey avoids fatty foods she is being health conscious. . . . When she stays away from alcohol, she is being responsible and resisting her impulses. For all these she is endorsed for keeping long-term goals in mind instead of giving in to peer pressure and immediate gratification. But if she makes a conscious decision to delay sexual activity, she's simply 'not sexually active'--given no praise or endorsement." MORE

I've always wondered why HIV is treated so differently from other infectious diseases. If someone shows up at the clinic with, say, typhoid fever, doctors would swing into action. The patient would be isolated, authorities would be informed, everyone who might have been exposed would be tracked down and checked. Not so with HIV. It is a politically protected disease. Why? Because it is a result of sexual behavior, which no one is allowed to question.

We are so obsessed with being "tolerant" that we refuse to acknowledge our choices about have consequences, in our own lives and those of the people around us. Even otherwise mature, responsible people are unable or unwilling to accept that the sex act is more than just "harmless fun." No - we are blasted with messages telling us to have sex as much as we want, with whomever we want, however we want, wherever we want, and with as many partners as we want. The key word here is "want." If we "want" something, society must not keep it from us. How infantile is this?

Meanwhile, the positive consequences of sex - children - are either prevented from coming into existence, or destroyed if they do. No wonder we have such a low birth rate. We're a society of sexual bulimics - we gorge and then purge, so that we can gorge some more. Guess what - all this binging and purging isn't good for your health, mental or physical. The people who are supposed to be telling us this aren't doing so. Eventually we learn, hopefully before too much damage is done.

As for the college students who will learn these lessons the hard way, there is plenty of blame to go around. Most of it belongs with their parents, who themselves grew up in the days of free love and consequently feel reluctant to "impose" any values on their own offspring. Every generation is becoming geometrically more hedonistic. I'm guessing that ancient Rome was something like this. We know what happened to that civilization. Where is ours going?

More reviews of Unprotected:
Spero News
Beliefnet
Christian Post