Pornography is replacing sex education – Telegraph.
Dangerous stuff… one that gets me worried as a parent.
Pornography is replacing sex education – Telegraph
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Category Archives: gender
Fun with Google Trends
Google Trends is a service Google provides where you can see some interesting statistics on topics that have been searched on Google over time.
Spurred by a post I saw elsewhere on the web I tried out some ‘trend-spotting’ of my own. Interestingly, the country which searches for topics related to ‘sex‘ the most is Pakistan. India comes in at number three and Indonesia at number six. Out of the top ten, six are Muslim majority nations. And the number one city in the list is Bangalore. When it comes to searching about ‘god‘ Philippines comes out on top although the rest of the list is dominated by cities and countries of the developed Western world. The small city state of Singapore is at number five beating the populous nations of India (sixth) and Indonesia (seventh). But funnily enough Philippines also takes the top spot when it comes to searching for ‘atheism‘. The rest of the list is entirely dominated by Western nations with India being the only exception at number nine.
The fact that India features on almost all the trend lists I tried out may have something to do with its large and young population who make up for the world’s third largest in number of Internet users. (China, the largest, of course doesn’t feature in these lists for various reasons!)
If you notice I have refrained from drawing any inferences from these statistics and am merely presenting what I saw. You can draw your own conclusions and try out more keywords at the Google Trends site. And for a perspective on these trends please do also see this chart of the world’s top 20 countries in terms of number of Internet users.
The cage
Few people who are heterosexual can fully understand what it means to be gay and why homophobia exercises us so much.
To be gay is to grow up and live in a cage made of people’s put-downs, ignorant labels, derisive jokes, outright ranting and explicit laws. We see exclusions everywhere we look – in family traditions, employee benefits, in army service, in job promotion. We see hate scrawled everywhere – on posting boards, religious sermons, even in parents’ letters to far-off sons and daughters.
We hear silence when the censors have flicked the switch. Silence again when, even when our parents know we’re gay, they don’t have a good word to say about it. And more silence when we see so many others in our city who are clearly homosexual gag themselves for fear of exposure. But worst of all, we too often hear silence from our own lips, surrendering away our very own dignity.
The cage often looks inescapable. And we wonder sometimes if it may be wiser to just bear it all to our dying day, and take our fears, frustrations and futile hopes with us to our graves.
But some of us can’t do that. I can’t. If I did, all my parents’ and teachers’ efforts would have been in vain. I can do them no greater honour than to keep speaking about humanity over hypocrisy, honesty over hype.
I have discovered an exceptionally well-written blog today. He deals with multiple issues though – not just LGBT matters.
“Life is short…
…Have an affair.”
I came across this mind-boggling advertisement somewhere on the internet today. The product being advertised is “The World’s Premier Discreet Dating Service with over 7,570,000 anonymous members”.
I will leave you with your thoughts now, whatever they might be. And in case my wife is reading this, “Honey, no, I am not their 7,570,001st anonymous member!”
Dictatorship of the Majority
Majority Pressure
(Photo © Jakarta Globe)
The Constitutional Court of Indonesia, an independent body which reviews existing and new laws passed by the Indonesian government and is supposed to uphold the principles of the Indonesian constitution has dealt a second blow in the space of a month to Indonesia’s pluralism and human rights – the basic tenets of the nation.
Around a month ago came the first strike when it upheld the controversial Anti-pornography bill, which by its vague, archaic, uncertain and misleading definitions and pronouncements opens up a Pandora’s box of misinterpretations and abuse that could threaten women’s rights and minority rights.
Anti-Porn Statute to Remain Law of the Land in Indonesia – Jakarta Globe
Constitutional Court upholds divisive pornography law – The Jakarta Post
And now the second blow by refusing to revise or scrap the 1965 Blasphemy Law which forbids non-mainstream interpretations of the six officially recognised religions. The Law has been routinely used to harass and intimidate minority Islamic sects as well as critics of Islamic hard-liners. The appeal for review of the law was filed by none other than the late former President Abdurrahman “Gus Dur” Wahid amongst others(including several human rights organizations and progressive Islamic scholar Siti Musdah Mulia).
Constitutional Court Keeps Faith With Indonesia’s Controversial Blasphemy Law – Jakarta Globe
Court upholds Blasphemy Law – The Jakarta Post
The decision though unjust, is hardly surprising as it in line with the wishes of the Muslim majority. There were vigorous demonstrations and attacks on the petitioners by hard-line Muslim groups, including the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI). As Poengky Indarti of Imparsial, The Indonesian Human Rights Monitor remarked, “The dictatorship of the majority has contributed [to the decision].”
Another factor could well be the composition itself of the panel of judges of the Constitutional Court. Eyebrows were raised when the replacements of two judges in the Court were announced in January – the replacements were both from strong Islamic backgrounds, one a former deputy head of the Religious High Court in Yogyakarta and the other the deputy head of the Islamic Crescent Star Party (PBB). This was controversial and insensitive as one of the judges being replaced was the only Protestant Christian in the panel.
Critic Questions Selection of Constitutional Court Judges – Jakarta Globe
The lone remaining non-Muslim judge in the nine member panel also happens to be a woman, thus truly making her the only voice of the non-majority in the panel. And not surprisingly she was the only dissenting judge in the panel for both of the controversial judgements above. Dr. Maria Farida Indrati is a former Professor of Law from the University of Indonesia and a Catholic.
Maria Farida Indrati: Feminine voice of reason – The Jakarta Post
Dr. Maria Farida Indrati
(Photo © The Jakarta Post)
Sharia police arrested for ‘rape’
Sharia police arrested for ‘rape’
The woman was gang-raped by the three Sharia policeman during her interrogation… the issue began when Sharia police officers were conducting patrol on the night of Jan. 8, and found a couple on the side of the PTPN-1 Langsa ring road. The police brought the pair to the Sharia police office in Langsa. The suspects then questioned the couple in relation to violating the 2003 Sharia Public Indecency Bylaw.
She is a university student.
It had to happen sooner or later innit?! What happens next? Let’s wait and watch…
Gay Justice – II – The Repercussions
In my earlier post on the Delhi High Court’s historic judgement decriminalising same gender consensual sexual relationships, I had said that the religious protests have begun. Now they have gone for direct confrontation by approaching the Indian Supreme Court to challenge the verdict.
One challenge is from the self-styled Yoga guru Baba Ramdev. In his defence he says,
“Homosexual relationships, if encouraged, would bring population growth of a country to a halt…”
Well, I for one can’t see the harm in that! The current rate of population growth, by virtue of which we are going to overtake China as the most populous nation in the world, has never been something any Indian needs to be proud of. When I was growing up it was an evil that was straining the resources of our country. None of us growing up in the 80s can forget the birth control ads that were beamed continuously on our only television channel then, Doordarshan, the national channel – ‘Hum do, hamare do’ (We two, ours two!) was the motto of the 80s. But somewhere amidst the economic liberalisation of the 90s that message was lost and our huge population was looked upon advantageously as a huge market. All that makes economic sense I know, but in the long run it does not and will never make common sense. The resources are always limited and if the demand on them keeps growing there will be a point where they will fail to meet the hungry mouths that await them. It does already happen in India – let us not forget that our emerging super-power still has to face the embarrassing fact of starvation deaths. The problem is that, though the logic of birth control by now has been firmly etched upon the minds of the Indian urban middle class, the rural areas are still caught in the age-old paradox of safety in numbers.
I digress! To come back to Baba Ramdev, he says,
“…there is high risk of exposure of a large chunk of population to dangerous sexually transmitted disease including HIV/AIDS.”
A false interpretation again. As Ashok Row Kavi, a leading gay rights activist and the editor of India’s first magazine for gays, asserts, “…the ruling will help in HIV prevention. Gay men can now visit doctors and talk about their problems.” And may I add, without fear. Openness has never hurt any society. It is only when you create walls and barriers around something which is universal and natural that you damage society.
The other law suit is from astrologer Suresh Kumar Kaushal. I will not digress and go into the denunciation of astrology, a pseudo-science and a slur on civilised society, like I did with Ramdev’s comment on India’s population growth! I will rather focus on his utterances with regards to his legal challenge. He says,
“Even animals don’t indulge in such activities.”
Now that is an untruth, if there ever was one! I had referenced this article in an earlier post which clearly states that instances of homosexuality has been observed in other animals. Do read it and I will rest my case!
Gay Justice
Gay sex decriminalised in India
A court in the Indian capital, Delhi, has ruled that homosexual intercourse between consenting adults is not a criminal act.
In an earlier post on an Indonesian rock musician’s theory on homosexuality, I had written how strange it is to hold on to such prejudices in this day and age when Science has already shown that there are possibly ‘biological explanations for sexual orientation across species — including humans’. This bold judgement coming from my ultra-conservative country is sure to do some justice to this much maligned group of our fellow human beings.
[UPDATE: Loved what Gautam Bhan says in Indian Express:
"This judgment should be seen by all of us, gay or straight, no matter what we think of sexuality and homosexuality, as a victory for a secular, democratic, constitutional and free India. We should all be proud."
]
The rumblings of protest from religious bodies have begun – my only prayer is that they do not grow loud enough to drown out the voice of rationality.
On a similar note, watch the movie Milk if you haven’t. It is the story of Harvey Milk, an American politician and the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in California. Sean Penn in the title role does a beautiful job in portraying such a sensitive character and rightfully earned a Best Actor Oscar for his performance.
One Woman, One Mind, One Vote
A great read! Simply put, honest and sincere, but potent.
It is about the power of the individual in a democracy. Often we forget how important our vote is or are too cynical to realise its power. This should serve as a wake-up call.
I love the way she ends it,
“They have the right to ignore me.
But I too have the right not to vote for them to represent me.
My vote is not a gift. I cast my vote with a hope that they will fight for me and for people like me.
Yes, one vote from one woman probably means nothing.
But they should remember: In Indonesia, there are millions of us and we all can think.”
To Abort or Not To Abort
(Warning: If you possess religious sensibilities and they are easily offended, I advise you to refrain from reading further. And especially if you think the following quote from Voltaire is a bunch of bullshit: “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to death your right to say it.”)
Dr. George Tiller’s murder is unquestionably outrageous and frustrating and I have been keenly following the story like most of you, as it further polarizes the two sides of the abortion debate. It is undeniably a most difficult issue to easily decide on your colours. As a rationalist I lean towards pro-choice but I am aware how difficult it is to determine where life begins – in the womb, or later. And to me that is the pivot around which the whole debate rotates – for if we say life begins in the womb, then taking it is murder.
To me this is not a religious question – I am as irreligious as they come but it would be hard even for me to fully accept that an unborn foetus is not life. You need only watch the eyes of any parent looking at an ultrasound scan of the unborn baby to realize that. (Of course when the Pope says don’t use condoms, then that is sheer religious bullshit!)
So I guess I will tilt towards no abortions for unwanted pregnancies, unless it was rape and am willing to be damned by all my liberal and libertarian friends! It is as simple as, you were stupid enough to get yourself in this mess, now deal with it! And if you are a teenager, then your parents were stupid enough not to teach you about the birds and the bees, so let them face the consequences!
But how about those cases where the scans hint at some serious problems with the foetus which could result in a considerable amount of pain and suffering for the parents and also the baby in the future? Then I think the debate boils down to the debate of euthanasia. And in this debate I know for certain which side I am on – the go-for-it team! Here the religious opinion that god gave us life and we have no right to take it, even my own, just does not cut any ice with me.
My parents brought me into being by a not-entirely-unpleasurable act and there was absolutely no third-party involved except the doctors and nurses at the hospital and they received payment for their services and have relinquished all claims and rights! Being a mature individual (well opinions may differ a bit on that!), such above-mentioned rights to my life have been wholly and completely transferred to me. So I am at complete liberty to decide when to die – no state or institution can dictate to me on that matter. In other words, I support euthanasia and to go another step forward, suicide. As long as you have exhausted all options, explored all avenues, weighed all pros and cons and have decided that there is nothing left to live for, the least society can do is let you die in peace.
But there is a pitfall in my argument – my argument for euthanasia still does not wholly justify the abortion of a foetus with deformities – since a foetus, though a rudimentary form of life, has still not acquired the higher intelligence and collective human experience that makes man a thinking animal and he/she has no chance of deciding his/her own fate. So it is the parents who are making the decision for him/her, assisted by modern medical science and its practitioners. Will not that still be murder, albeit a collaborative one with accomplices? I told you this debate is not easy!
Now is the point where we have to be rational! The foetus though a form of life, is only an elementary form of it and has no capacities for thought. And his/her biggest well-wishers are most often the parents (and hardly ever the Pope sitting in Rome!). So if they decide to abort to save everyone concerned from pain and suffering, based on the advice of neutral experts- doctors, then this should be allowed.
(The same argument could be used for terminally ill or paralysed patients who can’t express themselves or patients in coma. And I support euthanasia for such cases too.)
And if you are incapable of rational thought, maybe this piece written by a lady who had an abortion at Dr. Tiller’s clinic will appeal to your emotional side.
“…The MRI reminded me of my other son’s. He’s autistic, and when he was three he’d had an MRI that also showed abnormalities. …we couldn’t handle having another special needs kid. Psychically, we just couldn’t handle it. …I cry all the time, and that will be for the rest of my life. Because I really, really wanted that baby.”
And if you are devoid of both rational and emotional faculties, maybe it is time you considered euthanasia – its not a bad thing, you know!
(On the darker side, here’s a sarcastic piece from Onion – “Christ Kills Two, Injures Seven In Abortion-Clinic Attack“.)