Feminists For Choice

We all know the old feminist adage, “If men were the ones to get pregnant, choice wouldn’t be such an issue.” At least that’s the way I’ve seen it since I was 12 and realized I was a true feminist (after listening to a Backstreet Boys song and getting angry because it contained a sexist message). In any case, I still think most of us can agree on that “adage”. In a way, this is about to be put to the test.

I’m sure we have all heard of a little thing called the HPV vaccine and the controversy over it. Still, I’m going to give a bit of a refresher so humor me folks. The Human Papillomavirus (HPV) has over 30 different strains that can be sexually transmitted. In recent years, it has been discovered that certain strains of this STD is the leading cause of cervical cancer in women. However, a ray of hope emerged in 2006 when the FDA approved the first of two vaccines (for women and girls only, it should be noted) that prevent two “high-risk” strains of HPV that cause cervical cancer. A truly great breakthrough in the fight to prevent STDs.

With this vaccine came a new wave of controversy in reproductive health. When the vaccine was first approved, it was only to be given to women and girls aged 12-26 and it was recommended to get vaccinated as early in life as possible. This meant that 12-year-old girls needed to get the vaccine to be protected against this disease. Many people, including parents, didn’t like this idea at all.

The argument against getting teen girls vaccinated was always the same: if we get them vaccinated for a sexually-transmitted disease now, it will encourage promiscuity. I truly hate this argument. What is so wrong with protecting your daughters against a disease whether or not it’s transmitted sexually? First of all, if I had gotten the vaccine at 12, I don’t think I would’ve known or cared what I was getting shot into my arm.  Like most kids, I already had to get a lot of vaccines and shots to attend public school, why would I even question what this one was. Even if I was told that I was getting a vaccine for an STD, I probably would’ve blushed like crazy at the mention of sex. However, I might question why it hurt so goddamned much (because it seriously does. If you haven’t gotten this series of shots done, beware the pain), but I don’t think I would have leaped off the table and jumped the bones of the next boy I saw. I would’ve blocked the situation from my mind as mortifying and painful.

I have an easy solution to making sure teen girls know that this vaccine won’t protect them from everything sexually. It’s called education and communication. How about talking to them about other STDs they can acquire from sex and how to protect themselves from the ones that don’t have a vaccine? Or, as a parent, if you are not comfortable with this talk, lobby for comprehensive sexual health education to be taught in your child’s schools.

Here’s where our familiar, yet made up by me, adage comes in. A new study has found that HPV is also the cause of almost half of all penile cancer cases. So now HPV causes cancer in men too. And the maker of the vaccine is currently trying to get the FDA to approve it for boys and men as well. With this new study, I’m sure that process will be smooth sailing and we’ll see the vaccine become available for our sons within the next six months. That’s my guess at least.

And do you think we will see the same controversy over the boys getting the shot at age 12? Hell no! The Washington Post caught on to a shift in the way the nation is looking at the vaccine for boys compared to girls. I think the article had it right with this passage:

Now the vaccine’s maker is trying to get approval to sell the vaccine for boys, and the debate is focusing on something else entirely: Is it worth the money, and is it safe and effective enough?

There isn’t worry about boys becoming promiscuous. In fact there is only talk of making sure the vaccine was safe enough for them. Where was this safety conversation when the drug was approved for girls? As a nation, do we still feel our girls are more expendable than our boys? That thinking is more suitable for the eighteenth century, not the twenty-first.

The fact is, vaccinating both genders from this virus helps all of our youth. Even then, they still need to be educated about STDs and condom use and contraception and, above all, abstinence. So, instead of complaining about how girls will become sluts and whores with this vaccine, teach them the value of not having sex until they’re absolutely ready. For equal measure, let’s get the boys in on this sex talk too. It’s worth it, I promise.