Driven by Curiosity…

It must be women’s virginity that is the issue here…for how can a man possibly lose his virginty to sports? 

H. was telling me today, how she will never pardon her parents for not allowing her to play sports when she was younger… they never explained. They gave her excuses such as it is 3eib for a girl to be playing basketball, or swimming or riding a bike. 

She is a very independent, mobile and an adventurous spirit. Her parents have zero objections to boyfriends, camping or traveling.. basically, any of the luxuries that other young women would not even dare request.. this has always been the case.…  but sports were not a negotiable matter… in their case, they trust her.. They know that she will never lose her virginity to a man outside wedlock… 

But  sports… oh boy… they are a treacherous enemy! 

I have been asking around if sports can indeed cause loss of virginity. Most health professionals I asked, agree that normally, playing sports does not cause a woman to lose her virginity. However, it is possible for a woman’s hymen to become stretched open through playing sports. This is why the condition of the hymen is not necessarily a proof of virginity. Virginity is a state of mind rather than a physical state.

There are many different beliefs about what losing one’s virginity means. Most people agree that women and men lose their virginity the first time they have penile-vaginal intercourse. Or through oral and anal sex for non-straight sex. (even though the hymen remains  intact) so based on this belief, non consensual sex, for example in the case of rape, women do not lose their virginity even though the hymen is ruptured. 

Unfortunately, in our side of the world, generally, people think of virginity in a different way. Most people believe that an intact hymen is proof of a woman’s virginity. Which is the root cause of most oppression women get imposed to, including not being allowed to play sports because of the fear that a girl could loose her virginity.  By the way, I just read  in an article that people who start having sex at a younger or older than average age appear to be at greater risk of developing sexual health problems later in life.   

Comments(30)

I was having one of those stimulating discussions with my brother O. and my sister E. about the genetic engineering field.  O. was briefing us about the latest news in the organ replacement and transplantation field.  This discussion soon evolved into a discussion in which we pondered if there is a relationship between Islam and Judaism forbidding eating pork and genetic engineering.

I think that xenotransplantation is acceptable in most religions. (xenotransplantation is the transfer of living organs, tissues, or cells from one species to another to replace the ever increasing organ shortages.) Both Islam and Judaism forbid the eating of pork, but accept xenotransplantation on the basis that humans have a higher place in the world and therefore have the right to use animals for their welfare, as long as the animals are treated with respect.

However the question that poses itself here is if the opposite holds true? Is it possible that Islam forbids eating pork because pigs have proven to be one of the best sources to supply organs to humans?

Maybe we will find a plausible reason soon… and the reason will be more convincing than the old debates about the pig eating its shit, or because it is polygamous!

By the way I know about genetic engineering as much as I know about Chinese language… so I am counting on O.’s contribution here.
Omar
Most organ transplants nowadays are considered to be relatively safe and routine procedures. However, the global demand for organs for patients waiting for transplantation is not being met. Recently, scientists and researchers are placing great hopes on being able to use cross-species transplants between humans and animals to help alleviate part of the shortage. This process is called xenotransplantaion.

Most animal organs have been extensively researched to find the most suitable replacement to that of humans. Of all the different animals, baboons and pigs are the favored xenotransplant donors. Baboons and chimpanzees are genetically close to humans. However, because of their developed social structure, human-like behaviors, and the large number of viruses they host; many ethical and medical issues were raised concerning their use; as a result, pigs became the most likely candidates for the job; mainly because of certain characters they hold, such as: pigs have organ sizes that are very similar to those of humans, and their genes can be easily inserted in human DNA.

Risks
1-      Many public health concerns regarding the clinical trials of xenotransplantation have been raised. The major growing fear in transplanting animal organs, cells and tissues into humans is that such transplants might expose humans to the many different viruses primates and other animal harbor
2-      Hyper acute Rejection usually caused by the natural antibodies

3-      Acute vascular rejection

4-      Ethical issues

Madas
This whole debate makes me think of the novel Never Let Me Go by Japanese/British author Kazuo Ishiguro, who also wrote the Remains of the day…The book is disturbing in the sense that when I finished the last word, I realized that I had been sobbing for a while… However it is also absolutely touching. Ishiguro always allows his characters to reveal their human weaknesses via veiled but suggestive language and situations. Usually the feelings feel very real and plausible.  

Comments(6)