HIV/AIDS

I read the article about global feminization of HIV/AIDS by Fletcher Njororal and Dr. Oomen-Early, which was very interesting. It was not interesting in a good way but more disturbing than anything really. I wanted to touch on a couple of things I read in this article, one being HIV/AIDS is mainly by heterosexual sexual activity. Many people think this to be more a homosexual disease, which it is clearly not true. More people need to be educated on this subject. When someone thinks of AIDS they usually think of a homosexual.
Under Socio-Cultural factors, it says in South Africa, infected men have sex with a virgin, in which they believe will heal them from AIDS. This sentence is just disturbing to me. This is very sad. As an American, I would think we could go over there to help them understand this is not true. I am not sure if it will work since they believe this, sometimes you cannot change what people believe unless they want to. But at least someone is trying to change their ways. Let them know that this spreads HIV and that is why they are the leading with the numbers of AIDS.
Under the Political factors, it speaks about trafficking. This needs to be put to rest! I cannot believe this still happens. Something needs to be done about this soon. This is horrendous that we have not done anything about this. I am not sure what needs to happen but I know there is something that can and needs to be done.
I think at this point there needs to be more information for everyone to have. I am not sure if there needs to be classes on this subject or teachings in other countries, but it wouldn't hurt. Our society thinks they know everything about HIV but obviously not educated about it at all. With all of the technology, you would (or I) would think there could be a cure. It is sad that we have all the diseases out there but no cure.

Children?

I am 28 years old and working on my degree. We do not have any kids right now, but we have decided if it happens it will. We believe everything happens for a reason. When we first got together we didn't want kids right away. We wanted to enjoy each other and do things without children. Also, my husband really thought I should get my degree before conceiving. I think the thinking behind that would be that I probably wouldn't finish school if a baby came along. But what was realized was that plenty of women do that now and have no problem! Now that we are older and more mature we would love children. I am pretty sure that is has A LOT to do with all of my cousins and my only sister has kid(s). So therefore we are the only ones (on my moms side) that do not have children. Our niece is our world right now-she is awesome only being 3 years old. So keeping her when she was about 6 months old, I think changed our minds. We are done doing the things we want to do. We are not getting any younger. Our attitudes have changed a lot since we have gotten together. So at this point if it happens that is wonderful and if it doesn't we will look to other ways to have children. You know also I think about this all the time: I would hate it if we cannot conceive on our own due to we would know this child is wanted and planned. There are so many children out there that women have and treat them like trash. Really? Do kids need or deserve that? There are people that have many kids (get pregnant if you look at them kind of thing) and then there is couples that cannot conceive at all (trying for years). You hear about all these parents beating, burning and killing their children. So again, if we cannot conceive on our own, there are plenty of way to become parents. We have dogs, a house, cars, wonderful marriage and jobs so I think one thing is missing and that is a beautiful child.

Things that influence contraceptive decisions

There are a lot of things that can influence your decision in using contraceptives or not. I believe that it is always your choice and your spouses but make that decision together. I think that no one should be able to make that decision for you unless it is because of your religion. I would say that should be a good intention that will influence your decision.
What I was talking about early where no one should be able to make that decison but yourself would be in a case where you are in a relationship and the women cannot express her concerns or feelings about contraceptives. Other than that, religion plays a big part in these situations. According to some religion the women are unable to use any contraceptions and others they are. It may be looked down upon if you did. In the book it states that Protestants endorse birth control as a marital option. They are most likely to use female sterilization. Judaism emphasizes the individual choice of the married couple with couples limiting the family size for social or health reasons. Jews practice contraception under special health circumstances by consulting with authorities. The Catholic church accepts only rhythm methods of contraception. According to Catholic teachings the primary purpose of sex is procreation and interference with that is in violation of the natural law. Catholics are most likely to use the pull. There are Catholics that do use contraceptives but this practice is in violation of the church. The Muslims forbid contraception due to it is seen as both a sacred duty and a gift. So there it is, how religion can influence using contraceptions, as the book states all of this. As well in the book it states that a study was done and it showed that white non-Hispanic women were more likely to use some form of contraception than black or Hispanic women. So there you have it on what can influence the decision on using contraceptions.
As far as my family goes, we really didn't have any beliefs on it. When my mother found out that I was sexually active then we took the route of going to the doctor and putting me on the pill. I did use other forms of contraceptions as well. So really no beliefs influenced her decision just wanted to protect us from having children in high school. I am sure she would prefer us to practice abstinence until marriage but it was not her belief. My mother was young when she had us so it would be sort of practice what you preach if she did tell us to wait.

My Menarche

I think when I had my menarche that it was both positive and negative. I think when it happened, it came at a very bad time. I think that is what made it negative. I was freaking out because I had a guest over and didn't want her to find out. I had no clue what happened when I woke up. I wanted to hide it from my guest. I had to call my mother at work (freaking out) and ask her where are those items I am supposed to use and what do I do? Moms always have the answer. I don't think I felt ashamed but I was not jumping for joy. Did I want to become a woman this soon? Many thoughts were going through my head-becoming a "woman" should be a good thing, why do women have to go through this, why did it happen so soon? I just remember a lot of things going through my head. Some of them good and some not. I think it was more scary than anything, even though my mother had prepared me for it. I was just shocked!
I would not say we celebrated that I got my period. I don't remember sharing this incident with my friends. My mom did tell some of the family without me knowing. I remember when I found out she did that, I was so upset. I am sure it had to do with all the emotions I was feeling while on my period. I think my mother was more excited than I was about the whole thing. I don't think I was ready for everyone to know my business. I think to me it shouldv'e came later in life just not so soon. I think all in all I was just happy that is happened in the summer, so I had time to get use to it before school started.