Group Blog for Western History and Culture: February 2014

Friday, February 28, 2014

The Evolution of Condoms

By: Mariah Alexander

The condom is one of the most popular choices for contraception; they are also the oldest form. It is believed that the Ancient Egyptians were the first to wear them. Although, there is no evidence that they were commonly used in Ancient Egypt for contraception being that they worshipped the good of reproduction. Many forms of “penis protectants” were used during this time to protect that area during combat, from insect bites, disease and evil spirits.[1]

Over the years, condoms have drastically evolved. The first condoms used by the Ancient Egyptians, as stated before, were made of a linen sheath for protection against sexually transmitted diseases. Much later, in the 1500s, during the syphilis epidemic, was the first published account of a condom. It was a “sheath of linen” that was claimed to have been invented to protect men from contracting syphilis. But later was found useful for the prevention of pregnancy. Soon after there was a great improvement made to the condoms. The linen cloths were saturated in a chemical and the dried before use, the first spermicides used on condoms. [2]

The first recorded use of the word condom was in a poem, by Lord Belhaven, in 1706. (Youssef) It is said that Condom was the doctor of King Charles II and created the condom to keep the king from having any more illegitimate children. The condom was made of animal intestines and was very expensive. It’s cost made this choice for contraception very uncommon (Condoms: Effectiveness, History and Availability).

By the 1800’s, rubber vulcanization was discovered. Making it easy to mass-produce condoms cheaply. This is was the beginning of the condom that is familiar to us today (Condoms: Effectiveness, History and Availability).

In 1919, we began hand dipping from natural rubber latex. Latex condoms had an advantage; they aged less quickly and were thinner than rubber condoms and odorless. The new latex condoms had a great growth in sales and by the 1930s more that 15 million condoms were being produced a day (Condoms: Effectiveness, History and Availability).

This brings us to present day condoms. With technology advancement companies can now offer condoms of different materials, thicknesses, sizes, widths, textures and with lubrication.

[1] Youssef, H. "The history of the condom." Jornal of the Royal Society of Medicine . no. April (1993): 226-228.

[2] AVERT, "Condoms: Effectiveness, History and Availability." Accessed February 26, 2014. http://www.avert.org/condoms-effectiveness-history-and-availability.htm.

Difference between 19th and 21st century men

The Difference between Men in the

19th Century and Today

By; Nia Beals

vs.

How men interacted with each other in the 19^th century compared to how men interact today is drastically different. The way men acted together during this time may be considered gay to today´s culture. The men of the 19^th century did not see a problem with sleeping in the same bed as another man. For example, the former president, Abraham Lincoln openly admitted to sharing a bed with his best friend Joshua Speed for over four years[1]. This was not an unusual thing for this time period, however if two men were to sleep in the same bed today society would label them as gay even if they were not. Males in the 21^st century think sharing a bed would damage there masculinity. Today´s men think they always have to be “hard” with their friends. Also, men think that if they do anything that can be perceived as sensitive that their friends will think that they are gay, because gay men are stereotyped as being sensitive.

Another way the men of the 19^th century interacted differently than the men of the 21^st century is the way they spoke to each other. The men of the 19^th century saw absolutely nothing wrong with calling another man “beloved” nor did they see a problem with telling each other that loved and missed them. This may seem extremely weird to our society, because men in the 21^st century normally do not tell their male friends that they love them on a daily basis. An example of a person that did not see a problem with speaking to his friends on such a loving level was James A. Garfield, whom was also a former president. James A. Garfield wrote letters to his best friend referring to him as “Harry dear” and telling him how much he loved and missed him in every aspect of his life. The most alarming part of the letter was how Garfield told his best friend that he “wanted to hold him all night” which in other words is cuddling[2]. This type of communication would be a huge red flag for the macho men of the 21^st century. No man, claiming to be straight in the 21^st century, would tell their best friend how much they wanted to cuddle them in a serious manner without being perceived as gay.

[1] Gritz, Jennie. theatlantic.com, "But Were They Gay? The Mystery of Same-Sex Love in the 19th Century." Last modified September 2012. Accessed February 26, 2014. http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2012/09/but-were-they-gay-the-mystery-of-same-sex-love-in-the-19th-century/262117/.

[2] Gritz, Jennie. theatlantic.com, "But Were They Gay? The Mystery of Same-Sex Love in the 19th Century." Last modified September 2012. Accessed February 26, 2014. http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2012/09/but-were-they-gay-the-mystery-of-same-sex-love-in-the-19th-century/262117/.

WAR AND RAPE: TWO EVILS COMBINED

War and Rape, two of the most terrible acts in the history of mankind. Both can destroy a man or woman mentally, physically, or both. Rape happens with or without a war happening, but it seems that the amount of rapes go up in countries that are in a war zone. Now this does not come as a surprise to most people, especially if a country is being invaded. Apparently, to the men of the invading country, the women of the country they are invading become theirs. Sadly, this is just something that happens. Rape has been happening for a long, long time. Humans are inherently evil, and war seems to bring that part of us out the worst.

Before we get into war/rape facts, let’s learn about rape in general. To just put things into perspective, 13 percent of women in America 18 and older have reported that they have been raped.[1] As of December 2013, there were a total of 161 million women in America[2], if we do the math, 13 percent of that number is 20,930,000. Those of you who were thinking that 13 percent was not that much, what do you think now? This is a problem that people do not seem to notice. We always talk about the murder rate of a city, but what about the amount of rapes that occur within a city’s borders? The following quote epitomizes the reason why rape is going more and more unnoticed.

[3]

Not enough people understand what rape is, and, until they do ... not enough will be done to stop it.
—rape victim, quoted in Groth 1979 (p. 87)

This is exactly right, and sadly it does not look like anytime soon people will really understand what rape is.

Now you may have been surprised at the amount of rape that takes place in America, a country that is not in a war zone. A country that is “the place to be”, the most powerful country in the world, and we cannot reduce these high amounts of rape.

Rape and war are two evils, but in many ways rape is worse. War, it is a situation where people lose their lives, and yes rape always comes with war. But there is something that sets rape apart from war. You do not need a war for rape to occur. This fact sets rape apart from war because it is an always ongoing problem.

War has always been around, and with it rape. So much so that after the fall of the Roman Empire, Saint Augustine declared that rape during wartime is an ancient, and customary evil. The fall of the Roman Empire took place 14 centuries ago.[4]

Now another excuse people make about rape is that it is just done by the “bad guys” during a war. An example is the Axis Forces during the Second World War, but this a misunderstanding. During World War Two, the Soviet Army (Red Army) raped 100,000 to 2,000,000 people during their invasion of Germany.[5] The Soviet Army was a part of the allied forces. If you do not know who was in the allied forces, it was the United States, Great Britain, and the USSR. This side was considered the good side, yet the USSR raped that many people. Sadly, the United States Army may have also raped their fair share of people during the war, I just could not find any specific details on them.

You may say that there is no hope, that rape will always happen in war, but this is not true. In fact, during El Salvador’s civil war, rape was rather rare. If rape did occur it actually involved state forces, not the rebels. The reason for this was that the rebels were relying on the civilians for valuable information about the ruling government. Why would they rape the very people that they rely on?

Though in some wars rape was absent, it was used as a weapon in some. In a war conflict involving Bosnia, Darfur, and Rwanda, many women were herded into “rape-camps”. Here they were raped multiple times, mainly by multiple men, until death. During this war, rape was used as a genocide weapon.[6]

Sadly, rape remains prevalent with or without war, but it always seems to flare up when war is around. Though rape will never truly be gone, due to the sin nature of man, we can surely do our best to make rape less prevalent in the world of today.
-Nathan Brown

[1] Thornhill, Randy, and Craig Palmer T. The New York Times, "A Natural History of Rape." Last modified Jan 2000. Accessed February 28, 2014. http://www.nytimes.com/books/first/t/thornhill-rape.html.

[2] United States Census , "Women by the Numbers." Last modified Dec 2013. Accessed February 28, 2014. http://www.infoplease.com/spot/womencensus1.html.

[3]Thornhill, Randy, and Craig Palmer T. The New York Times, "A Natural History of Rape." Last modified Jan 2000. Accessed February 28, 2014. http://www.nytimes.com/books/first/t/thornhill-rape.html.

[4] The Economist, . "War's overlooked victims." Last modified Feb 3, 2011. Accessed February 28, 2014. http://www.economist.com/node/17900482.

[5] The Economist, . "War's overlooked victims." Last modified Feb 3, 2011. Accessed February 28, 2014. http://www.economist.com/node/17900482.

[6]The Economist, . "War's overlooked victims." Last modified Feb 3, 2011. Accessed February 28, 2014. http://www.economist.com/node/17900482.

Planned Parenthood Controversies

By: Gabriela Borzachini

The program that was started in 1916, Planned Parenthood (PP) aims to help women and men make responsible choices concerning pregnancy and sexual activity. Their services include everything from STD testing to birth control to abortions to so much more. [1] However, there has been speculation concerning the morals the company holds.

First off, it is important to know that methods of contraception have been around for many years. Some are recent while many were used hundreds of years ago by people just like us. In the Colonial era, contraception was not used as much because in this time sex was mostly used for procreation. The use of contraception increased by the Victorian era. This is caused by several factors including the creation of ports and cities, independent farms, and the new idea that marriage and sex is based on intimacy. Since these new ideas about sex came along, the use of condoms and other types of birth control increased. [2]

A widely used form of birth control that is used today is the pill, an oral contraceptive taken daily. In 1950, Margaret Sanger, the founder of Planned Parenthood, started her research on the birth control pill. Her pill was approved by the FDA in 1960 and has been used by women ever since. [3] There is controversy around several PP services. One of these services is giving birth control to minors without the need for parental consent. However, this particular issue is one that would need to be taken up with federal and state laws. Most states allow minors to obtain birth control without the need of a parent to sign off on it. There are loopholes in the system for states that do not allow this. If a patient has federal grants or Medicaid then clinics are required by law to provide patient confidentiality no matter how old the client is. This means the federal rules do not allow them to ask for a parent’s consent. [4] Planned Parenthood definitely uses this to their advantage.

Another related issue includes PP’s methods of sex education. An organization called “STOPP” has promoted their opinions about PP and its sex education services in order to keep their services outside of the public schools. They claim that PP is making kids interested in sex too early. They are exposing children as young as ten years old to phallic and vagina shaped objects and books on how to masturbate. What is the end result of this exposure? Teenagers and young adults have sex on their minds; therefore they start having sex early, and will start using PP’s services to get birth control, STD testing, and, if all else fails, abortions. According to “STOPP”, PP wants to provide children with this information and expose them to sex so that eventually they will use PP’s services and bring in revenue.[5]

There are certainly other issues involved around PP. In some instances, Planned Parenthood can provide good services. For those who are pro choice, they will find PP’s services to be worth their while. In my opinion, if you want to use their services, go for it, and if you do not, then stay away. I do not think it is right to deny a person something they choose to do just because some people do not find it ethical.

[1] Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc., "Mission," Planned Parenthood, http://www.plannedparenthood.org, (accessed February 28, 2014).

[2] Crystal Moore, lecture for “Sex in Colonial America,” University of North Carolina at Charlotte, 4 February 2014.

[3] Kirsten Thompson, Our Bodies Ourselves, "A Brief History of Birth Control," http://www.ourbodiesourselves.org/book/companion.asp?id=18&compID=53 (accessed 28 Feb. 2014).

[4] Carolyn Jones, “Getting Mom’s Permission,” The Texas Observer, 30 July 2013, http://www.thetexasobserver.org (accessed 28 Feb. 2014).

[5] American Life League. “Hooking Kids on Sex II.” YouTube video, 6:35. February 27, 2012. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7XR9yH2ETk#t=380 .