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Jul. 27th, 2009 05:14 pm
I love The Onion
"Abstinence-only lunches"
It's also hilarious not just because of the thing it's satirizing, but because of how true the article really could be, too. It's no accident that the same sort of paranoid asceticism pushing against sex ed is also pushing against having a healthy relationship with food--and backfiring in exactly the same way.
( A bit of commentary )
I wish that I could say this kind of ridiculousness was limited to the tightly wound soapboxers from the religious right, but a massive segment of American secular culture has absorbed these notions of sin and shame with regard to our bodies and what they need and want. It's just barking TV talking heads scolding us for these things instead of clergy.
Still, with all this pressure, it's no surprise that so many of us have deeply troubled feelings about these issues. Some of this is generic fear of mortality--knowing that our bodies have needs reminds us how fragile they really are--but some of it is just constantly competing messages between righteous deprivation and sinful decadence. Between obedience and rebellion.
The truth, of course, is that there is a happy and healthy middle ground; a place where our bodies are satisfied regularly enough that we don't feel the need to go to extremes. But it's very hard for most of us--especially those with backgrounds that include strict religion or parenting--to settle in there. And I deeply envy those who have managed to do that.
It's also hilarious not just because of the thing it's satirizing, but because of how true the article really could be, too. It's no accident that the same sort of paranoid asceticism pushing against sex ed is also pushing against having a healthy relationship with food--and backfiring in exactly the same way.
( A bit of commentary )
I wish that I could say this kind of ridiculousness was limited to the tightly wound soapboxers from the religious right, but a massive segment of American secular culture has absorbed these notions of sin and shame with regard to our bodies and what they need and want. It's just barking TV talking heads scolding us for these things instead of clergy.
Still, with all this pressure, it's no surprise that so many of us have deeply troubled feelings about these issues. Some of this is generic fear of mortality--knowing that our bodies have needs reminds us how fragile they really are--but some of it is just constantly competing messages between righteous deprivation and sinful decadence. Between obedience and rebellion.
The truth, of course, is that there is a happy and healthy middle ground; a place where our bodies are satisfied regularly enough that we don't feel the need to go to extremes. But it's very hard for most of us--especially those with backgrounds that include strict religion or parenting--to settle in there. And I deeply envy those who have managed to do that.
