Cervical Cancer Vaccines and Aussie Rules

April 4, 2009

Ok, before I start bitching let me do a happy dance. St Kilda’s kicked ass on the first and second games of the season. First against Sydney Swans then again Adelaide Crows. can I say how truly happy I am about this? SUPER HAPPY!!!!! WHOOO!!!! GO SAINTS!!!!!!

So about the cervical cancer vaccine. I just read this morning in Today that the health ministry still doesn’t want to offer the cervical cancer vaccine to younger girls in school immunisations due to ‘ethical concerns’. And what are these ‘ethical concerns’? That mass immunisations of teenage girls will send the message that teenage sex is condoned.

Say it with me now, people. BULLSHIT.

Bull-fucking-SHIT.

Bad enough that we have women in their 20′s here who won’t go for pap smears because of bloody ‘Asian values’ and the misconception that going for a pap smear before marriage some how interferes with your virginity. NOW we have a VACCINE for CERVICAL CANCER. And instead of encouraging women to seek out more information about this vaccine to protect themselves and their daughters they want to get into knicker wadding modes over condoning teenage sex? WHO THE FUCK CARES ABOUT CONDONING TEENAGE SEX? This is cancer we’re talking about, its life and death. Cancer doesn’t wait for you to get married so you can get pap smears to detect it. Cancer doesn’t care if ‘Asian values’ prevent you from seeing a gynae to get checked up on it. Cancer doesn’t wait for a teenage girl’s parents to feel ‘ready’ (which might never happen) to educate her about the importance of safe sex and getting a pap smear once every year when she turns 18. IT DOESN’T WAIT.

At most, I see mass immunisations and its possible implications on teenage sex as a good thing. It will force schools, teachers and parents to clearly communicate to girls on what safe sex is and about the importance of making smart decisions regarding sex. The only reason why we have these pansies knicker wadding over the possibility of this sort of bullshit ‘ethical concerns’ is because people here are still under the hold of outdated and useless ‘values’ which can only further harm. People here still don’t want to talk and set boundaries about sex with their children because it makes them uncomfortable. So rather than pushing themselves out of their comfort zones to protect their kids, they want to hide behind bullshit Asian values to avoid having to talk about it.

Personally, I’m against immunisations of any kind and I most likely won’t go for the vaccine because I get checked every 6 months as is. But this is the government’s chance to force people to start talking properly to their kids about sex. Not just the stupid pansying over abstinence or ‘Good Asian girls don’t do this’ or ‘you’ll get an STD and go blind’ kind of nonsense that people pass for sex ed these days. But the real, gritty, into the details of how your body works, what implications sex has for teenagers, of the real (not inflated) risks of sex, about how to set boundaries and make wise decisions. Or at the very least, if you’re gonna oppose mass administration of a vaccine, make sure its something concrete like concerns over its safety that has been established by the FDA.