I come from a culture that is African-based because both my parents are Nigerian. In Nigeria, there really is no such thing as contraception. Condoms have just recently been introduced in recent years. The culture there is mainly Catholic and Catholics tend to look down on contraception. They make it seem like contraception and abortion are the same thing and feel that contraception is a way to keep a life from happening. Many cultures and religions believe in sex after marriage. However, sex is now beginning to occur more frequently before marriage and commitment and birth control is necessary. I feel that people from cultures and religions that frown upon contraception fear rejection by their own people or fellow followers so they try to avoid contraception because of what “others will think.” I feel that whether or not you are married, you should be able to decide whether or not you want to have kids or not. Americans support contraception but if I was to get on contraception and my parents found out, they would probably kick me out of the family just for the fact that I would even be involved in such a thing. I see that as protecting myself, but my parents would see it as a disgrace to the family. It’s situations like this that make it hard for people to get on contraception. I knew a girl in high school who had several kids by the time we were eighteen and it was because her culture did not believe in birth control, even if they were having sex outside of marriage. They also did not support abortion so she ended up with four kids by the age of eighteen. I thought this was ridiculous but so many people make decisions based on their culture and religion. Hopefully, these religions will someday realize it is not a crime to postpone having babies until the time is right.
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3 comments:
Amaka I understand were you are coming from because I am Nigeiran too. My parents do not belive in contreception or sex before marriage. It was hard for me to talk to them about sex because all they would say is "after you graduate get a good job and a good husband then you can talk about having sex. I know that the Nigerian culture has a lot to do with that but their are some parts of the culture that I choose not to follow and my parents understand the to a certain extent but it does not stop them from reminding me that I was not born in America I am Nigerian and just because I am in the states does not mean I should forget were I came from.
Amaka,
Very well stated and I concur with your thoughts regarding women being bound to their cultural beliefs regarding their choice to or not to use birth control. It is freightening to know that one could be banned from their family if it is discovered that they are using birth control. But what about the innocent children who are being born into this world by parents who are not physically, mentally or financially prepared to take care of them?
In my culture, we have many similarities because my family does not believe in sex before marriage either because it is not right to be sexual before marriage. That was their generation growing up but it is different in my day and generation. They do not know how life is and its true we are only protecting ourselves. It is a good thing though to have contraceptive practices in any sexual relationship or what not.
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