Day 19 of 30 Day Challenge

Question: Do you believe in regrets? Do you have any terrible ones?

No regrets so no terrible ones. LOL, that was a short one for today! Seriously though I don’t believe in regrets so I don’t have any terrible ones either! My post on my other blog Reflections On Life Thus Far has a longer post on this topic for today: 
http://reflectionsonlifethusfar.wordpress.com/2013/06/19/day-19-of-30-day-challenge/

©Anya, 2013.

Day 18 of 30 Day Challenge

Question: Do you believe in aliens? 

I’m not sure. On the one hand it’s difficult to believe we humans are the only life forms in the

oh no! they’re still here! they’ve got us! help! save us, mr. president! do we have any chance? let’s contact ‘em! can it be really true? (Photo credit: pixelroiber)

Universe; yet on the opposite hand I am not keen to meet any! I don’t know if they would be friendly or violent so I prefer to not think too much about their potential existence. If there are extraterrestrials then I hope they are more compassionate than most of us humans!

©Anya, 2013.

Day 17 of 30 Day Challenge

Question: Do you think there should be an age to get tattoos/piercings without the consent of a parent?

As I was supposed to write this yesterday I’ll make this brief. Yes, there should be an age one

tattoo # 4 – finished! (Photo credit: Tracy Lee)

needs to be to get piercings and/or tattoos because they are hard to undo. So you should be old enough to understand tattoos are forever unless you have thousands of dollars to remove them; piercings can grow over but you should still be at least 16 to get them without a parent’s consent. I think 16 for piercings and 18 for tattoos would be fair. Most people can make reasonably well informed choices at 16 and 18 concerning body modifications.

©Anya, 2013.

Day 16 of 30 Day Challenge

Question: What do you think about bisexuality? 

Bisexuality is fine by me. I think as long as sex is consensual and takes place between people who know what they are doing it is okay. I don’t judge people as long as there are no children/minors involved and it is agreed upon not forced (sexual assault/ rape). We all have a male and female side to us in a sense it’s just that most of us identify stronger with one side more than the other. Of course bisexuality is to some people an indecisive person! Can’t decide if you like your own sex, the other or both? Be bisexual! (I am being facetious). Maybe that is the case for some but more than likely it’s just someone who is very open to their sexuality and willing to ‘experiment’ a bit. I’m not  an expert though so please correct me if you have better knowledge.

Bitriangles (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

In a way bisexuality is very positive because you aren’t limited in who to partner with sexually. It’s probably more common than reported too because of hetero-normative ideals in many cultures pushing people into being “straight”. You don’t hear about “bi bashing” the way you do “gay bashing” either so I assume more people are okay with the orientation by and large. The only negative thing I can think of might be if you are straight with a bisexual person or gay with a bisexual person you would be worried about males and females “stealing” your partner (if you are the anxious, jealous sort), instead of “just” one sex or the other depending on the situation.

©Anya, 2013.

 

Day 15 of 30 Day Challenge

Question: What do you think about prostitution and should it be legal?

In my opinion prostitution is degrading to girls and women (and boys/men) and treats them as

Prostitution Exhibit (Photo credit: JeromeG111)

though they are only a body to be bought and sold for sex. For many in the ‘industry’ they are there because they have nowhere else to go due to limited education or they were abused at home as young people so ‘escaped’ one bad situation for another. Some prostitutes are not even there of their own free will as they have been ‘trafficked’ by someone wanting to make money off of them. Or they get ‘seduced’ by the idea of ‘easy money’ then find it difficult to leave because they’ve become drug users or see no other possibilities for themselves. Of the percentage of women who are actually their voluntarily I still think they are lying to themselves if they believe they are in control of the situation. Even if they chose to be there it is because other safer opportunities weren’t available to them that would pay the bills.

I just can’t imagine how selling one’s body to a stranger for sex is in anyway desirable. There are so many risks involved in prostitution not limited to STIs (sexually transmitted infections), such as violence and exposure to drugs. What about the damage it does to one’s psyche too?

Then there is the morally reprehensible issue of children being sold for sex to anyone sleezy enough to think it’s okay to have sex with a child. The problem is the children don’t choose to be there-how could they? so any child in prostitution is a victim. Somebody trafficked them into the sick business and there seem to be no shortage of disgraceful people willing to have sex with them. Even if a minor is in prostitution ‘voluntarily’ think about what their situation must have been like growing up if they saw selling their bodies for sex as preferable to staying home. There is just no way I can see prostitution as acceptable. Not the way it currently is anyway.

If prostitution were legalized it might help provide some standards to the ‘industry’. The children would hopefully never be allowed into the industry and women would perhaps be assured of some safety. Male prostitutes would be safer too since not only women are involved in selling their bodies for sex.

I don’t like the notion of people selling themselves or having to do something that takes away their sense of self worth but I don’t see prostitution going away. So if it were legalized maybe the prostitutes could have protection from the outdoor elements, violence, and being ‘ripped off’ by those wanting the sex without having to pay for it. Protection from STIs with use of condoms could be enforced better with proper standards too. Drug use could also be monitored with the right standards. There could be surveillance of those using drugs and those wishing to have a drug free space. Honestly, I don’t know how people can have sex with strangers without being high or seriously dissociated. Who are the people who can honestly say they are able to sell themselves for sex to strangers and be present in their bodies at the same time?

In an ideal world people would only have consensual sex with people they want to have sex with but it’s not an ideal world. Thus, I support legalizing prostitution if it means helping those in the industry be a bit safer than they would be otherwise.

©Anya, 2013.

Day 14 of 30 Day Challenge

Question: What do you think about Straight edge?

So first of all I had to Google what Straight edge is because I only thought it was a variation on

Eva Genie, Sängerin der Vegan Straight Edge Band Gather (Ausschnitt) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

straight laced! LOL Anyway, that is not the case. Apparently it is a subculture of punk that emerged in the 1980s. There’s a wide variety of beliefs but most involve eschewing the “excesses” that came with the punk scene after the sexual revolution. They are punks with a social conscience from what I can discern from Wikipedia.

Now that I know a little more about what Straight edge means I can say I think Straight edge is perfectly fine. They seem to be a group of people leading an alternative lifestyle from the “mainstream” but also seem to be mostly nonviolent and no more likely to commit crime than the “average” person. In fact they might be less likely to be violent since many follow a set of values opposed to violence.  I’m actually not sure why there is any “fuss” over them unless they take the militant approach but they are in a minority among the Straight edge subculture. Most would likely be considered left wing politically.

©Anya, 2013.

Day 13 of 30 Day Challenge

Question: Pro-life or Pro-choice?

This is a challenging question for me to answer. I don’t see it as black and white or life vs death. To me it’s more complicated than that. Women should have the right to choose how they handle their body and not be told what they can and can’t do with it. On the other hand I don’t endorse the killing in principle but principle and practice are not always compatible. So in a perfect world girls and women would not get raped and pregnant or have unprotected sex resulting in unwanted pregnancies. But in the real world those things happen and sometimes the alternatives for the fetus aren’t very positive. Not every unwanted fetus can be carried to term by the mother then put up for adoption. There are a lot of variables and I don’t feel comfortable asserting things should go one way or the other when it isn’t my business.

The only thing I feel comfortable asserting is saying abortion should not be a reason to have unprotected sex instead relying on termination as a method birth control. I disagree with that when it’s blatant irresponsibility, especially if it happens not only once. Abortion is not ideal but I think the woman should choose what happens to her body first and foremost. If it is used as an impromptu form of birth control I believe that is wrong but maybe even then there might be exceptions. I just can’t say I am pro choice or pro life because it’s not that simple. Most issues that cause a lot of heated debate are not as clear cut as proponents of either side would like us to believe. There are a lot of shades of gray between supporting abortion and being against it.

©Anya, 2013.

Dr. Seuss on Love

Too true

Day 12 of 30 Day Challenge

Alcohol diagram (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Question: Do you think there should be an age for drinking ?

Okay, so the question doesn’t say alcohol but I imagine that’s what is meant by “drinking” since we’re allowed to drink water, juice, etc. from birth! In which case I think 25 would be a good age because one’s brain has finished forming completely so alcohol won’t interfere with its development. In Canada the age is 19 but I think the US has a better age with 21 because the brain is better developed at 21 than at 19. Obviously there won’t be a great deal of damage done if one has a drink in moderation before 19 or 21 but many teens drink more than is good for them.

If drinking was prohibited before the age of 25 there might be fewer binge drinking incidents and early onset alcoholism among troubled youth. Alcohol is not a bad thing but too many people don’t drink responsibly and enjoy getting intoxicated. I think if we were not able to drink until 25 we’d probably learn healthier ways of coping and  youth sexual assaults might decline. Other alcohol induced crimes among young people might decline as well.

Now I realize making drinking illegal before age 25 would cause a good deal of backlash yet I am simply offering the age I see appropriate for beginning alcohol consumption. It would take some time to change people’s attitudes much like drunk driving was acceptable until the most recent decades. Most people see drunk driving as morally objectionable now but it wasn’t that way in the 1980s and 1990s. MADD campaigned against drunk driving for decades before the mainstream was fully influenced. Something similar would have to take place with raising the legal drinking age.

When do you think drinking alcohol should be legal?

©Anya, 2013.

Day 11 of 30 Day Challenge

Question: Do you think any drugs should be legalized?

 

Not sure. I suppose it seems more reasonable to me to decriminalize than legalize any particular

 

Not inhaling, Amsterdam (Photo credit: dblackadder)

 

drugs. We don’t want to make it seem like doing drugs is a good thing but marijuana use is generally not responsible for much crime. It may have negative effects on those with a propensity for mental illness but generally it doesn’t damage people like “harder” drugs. Apart from “pot” though I don’t think we should legalize any other drugs not already legalized.

 

©Anya, 2013.