The Birds and the Bees and the Hymens and the Mens

But if any man be ignorant, let him be ignorant.

— 1 Corinthians 14:38

Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection.

— 1 Timothy 2:11

True or false:

  1. Men have hymens; women don’t.
  2. Women can lose their virginity from riding a bike.
  3. Women can drink alcohol to increase menstrual flow.
  4. Women can apply menstrual blood to their faces to prevent acne.
  5. Women can skip over three steps of stairs to shorten their period to three days.

If your answer for every statement is false, congratulations: You are smarter than the young Filipinas who participated in the Kotex BodyLife IQ Study.

But not that smart. After all, of the six countries that participated, Filipinas were the most “misinformed” (i.e., stupid).

26 percent believe #1 (that only men had hymen’s).
18 percent believe #2 (that a bike could ride them, too).
54 percent believe #3 (maybe thinking beer transforms into blood — that’s wine, duh).
38 percent believe #4 (perhaps thinking menstrual blood turns into new skin, replacing pimples — kind of like stem cells)

There was only one Filipina who believes #5 (skip steps to skip to the end of your period). I feel sorry for her. The rest of the girls must think she’s stupid and superstitious.

On a totally unrelated note, the Philippines is Asia’s largest Catholic nation, with its priests, bishops, and clergy continuing to wage war against the evil Reproductive Health Bill.

12 comments

  1. At the risk of getting flamed for necro'ing an old post…here goes:

    Francesca, Texas previously implemented a sex education program that focused on an abstinence-only angle for birth control. To summarize the results based on State reports: It was a catastrophic failure:
    http://www.tfn.org/site/PageServer?pagename=JustShttp://www.dshs.state.tx.us/hivstd/info/annual/20http://www.rhrealitycheck.org/blog/2009/02/27/whe

    You can posture and defend the church's stance all you want. All I know is that the policy the church is trying to enforce on all of us pinoys – regardless if they're Catholics or not – is rubbish

  2. I am surprised that a group of free thinkers like you feel that reproductive health needs to be legislated.
    A reproductive health bill such as this is not the only way to provide so called "better" health care to women.
    Bills such as this seek only to help men continue to engage women in acts sacred to marriage.
    Anyone who is TRULY concerned about women's health would advocate abstinence and would seriously research the connections between contraception and breast cancer and ovarian cancer.
    The monies that are to be spent on such programs this bill would require are better spent advocating healthy lifestyle choices.
    And if you think that only those who agree with you are free thinkers, think again, because in your stance right now, you are advocating your own version of "close-mindedness".

  3. "Bills such as this seek only to help men continue to engage women in acts sacred to marriage."

    Wow its a male driven conspiracy now. Aren't you being closed to idea that there may be women out there who want to have fun? That even in the context of marriage they may want to continue to 'enjoy' their husbands whenever they want.

  4. I recently saw an interview of an actress (i forgot name) and she is remembering her early movie life. She had a kissing scene and after that she got depressed thinking that she will get pregnant as a result.

  5. Reminds me of a Rita Magdalena movie….

    "Lola lola binuntis po ako ni tito jim" says very young actress, a supporting cast to Rita's character. Highly conservative lola had warned the girl a look from a man without wearing clothes will get oneself pregnant.

    Tito Jim played by Tonton Guttierez was just shocked because he did not touch her and came upon the naked young woman by accident. Fortunately Rita the very liberated relative and BF to Tito Jim of said young girl came to the rescue.

  6. Ummm… I was once also "misinformed"…. and the blood made my acne worse…. some of the larger, open pimples got infected…. I became "moonface" in more ways than one…. and that was the turning point for me….

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