Still stuck in the '50s

The days of separate dorm buildings for men and women are over. There are no more den mothers, no more curfews. The University of Nevada, Las Vegas' curriculum includes women's studies. Heck, girls are even allowed to take math classes these days.

But one segment of UNLV is still stuck in the '50s. The Student Health Center has deemed it necessary to withhold medical services from women who have not completed a class called Body Talk, which is basically the "where babies come from" speech from sixth grade. Not only is this condescending, it is coercive. Any woman who hasn't taken this class does not have access to a Pap smear, condoms, birth control pills or even dental dams (for safe lesbian sex). The class is held intermittently, so students who work and go to school full time find it quite inconvenient.

But convenience is not the point. The point is that men supposedly have to complete the course before getting condoms from the Student Health Center, but that policy isn't enforced. The policy that is enforced is the one that says a 17-year-old female virgin and a 47-year-old woman with four children and a hysterectomy must go through the same sex-ed class before getting the medical care their $30 per semester entitles them to.

Body Talk sends a message to the student body that birth control and disease prevention are women's issues and not the responsibility of both sexes. It assumes everyone is heterosexual. And most importantly, it serves as a barrier between women and health care.

The class could easily be administered through an interactive website for students (or nonstudents) to complete privately on their own time. It should be entirely optional, regardless of how it's conducted. And condoms should be free. All the time. For everyone.

Members of Choice UNLV, a student reproductive rights organization, held a rally on campus March 26. After gathering support for their cause and collecting about 100 signatures (an impressive eruption of activism by UNLV standards), they took their demands to student health director Tina Saddler. She was full of politician answers like, "I'll look into it," "I'll consider it" and "Let's revisit this again soon." She also said she supported the idea of converting the Body Talk class to a website, but the software costs $5,000.

Even though student health fees are mandatory, some students never use the SHC. In my four and a half years there, I visited it once to use the bathroom. I know someone who is graduating from UNLV in May. She's been at the school for four years and has paid a total of $240 in health fees. She used the SHC once to pick up a tampon.

So when Saddler says funding is the reason the center can't afford the software to build a website, I say bullshit. How much did the Body Talk program cost to implement in the first place? How much does UNLV pay the woman (yes, a woman initiated and facilitates this sexist program) who teaches it? How would Saddler feel if someone forced her to take a basic sex-ed class before she was allowed medical attention?

The teachers I had at UNLV were mostly forward-thinking people who taught gender equality. It's too bad the Student Health Center's actions are drowning those lessons out.

CityLife staff writer Megan Capehart was born and raised in Las Vegas and hates it here, yet refuses to leave. She can be reached at 702-871-6780 ext. 352 or meganc@lvpress.com.