Gisele Bundchen, the Church, and Condoms - Cattiness from the Catwalk
Gisele Bundchen, the Brazilian supermodel, revealed some opinionated ideas to a reporter for the Brazil's Folha de S. Paulo newspaper. Less than a month after Pope Benedict XVI criticized government-sanctioned birth control and abortion laws during a five-day visit to Brazil, Bundchen publicly expressed disapproval with the Roman Catholic Church for its "outdated" views on abortion and condom use.Gisele criticized the church and its need to change its views on contraception because ""today, no one is a virgin when they get married."
The Brazilian government provides more than 300 million free condoms a year to help avoid unwanted pregnancies and prevent AIDS although most abortions in Brazil are banned.
The supermodel was also quoted as saying, “"to prohibit condoms is ridiculous, just think of all the diseases transmitted without them. How is it possible to not want people to use condoms and also not have abortions? It's impossible, I'm sorry."
Maybe it’s just me, but I don’t believe Gisele has anything to be apologizing about! Although, I do not agree with her rationale that there are no people out there saving themselves for marriage – because many people choose the route of abstinence before marriage and respectfully so. I do believe that it is somewhat irresponsible to basically ignore the fact that condoms are the only form of contraception that do prevent sexually transmitted diseases. It also seems to me that if it is the church’s belief (as well the majority of society), that we need to lower the number of abortions that occur, common sense would say that its better to use contraception to prevent the need for an abortion in the first place.
What do you think? Please feel free to post a comment.
Gisele Bundchen Photo courtesy of icelebz.com
Comments
I’m not Catholic, so my views don’t exactly align with those of the Church. I’m a Christian and I don’t believe in sex outside of marriage, so I do understand the viewpoint.
Giving out condoms is like condoning pre-/extra-marital sex. It’s a little hypocritical to say, “Don’t have sex outside of marriage, but if you do, use a condom.”
I feel like this: STDs and unwanted pregnancies are the result – I dare say punishment – for doing something wrong. Condoms and abortions are ways of not facing the consequences of those actions.
There ARE exceptions, I know.
It’s possible to want people not to use condoms and not to have abortions…by encouraging them not to have sex unless it’s with their spouse.
Why should the church have to give in to social pressure? I agree with latoya’s comments about giving out the condoms and the double standard it is giving. I don’t think so much that pregnancy and std’s are punishments but what is the best way to avoid unintended consequences? Tom Brady should be very proud of his girldfriend’s views-what is the actual percentage of people who use a condom or use birth control on a regular basis anyhow? I doubt that a 16 year old or a 30 year old isn’t using birth control because the church says it’s wrong. There is plenty of access to it and it still isn’t being taken seriously.
I think it’s just more realistic to give kids the information that they need to be safe if they make the choice to have sex.
It’s OK to discourage kids from having premarital sex for the reasons laytoya mentioned. But I don’t think that precludes giving information to kids who are going to be having sex anyway, no matter what the adults in their lives are telling them.
It’s for this same reason that I am pro-choice: It’s OK to discourage abortions, but it’s a fact that some women are still going to want them and have them, and we’re all better off making that a safe and regulated procedure.
I don’t know where the catholic church gets the nerve. This from the organization that routinely passed known child molesters from parish to parish and didn’t attempt to stop it until they started to lose huge sums of money in court battles.
Why does everyone think that condoms (or any other form of birth control) are just for youngsters or singles? Plenty of people are married, and for whatever reason(s) are not ready for, can support, or shouldn’t have kids.
These people can’t use condoms because the church says so? They should pass on diseases to their partner or newborns, or suffer medical problems or die, because they’re married and want to have sex with their spouse?
Government (and everybody else’s church) get outta my bedroom. Who invited you to this party?
The Catholic Church is misogynistic – they put women down at every opportunity. The last pope said he wouldn’t even consider women for leadership roles in the church.
Priests used to marry 900 years ago, until a pope banned it. With married priests, women would be more favorably thought of. The church views on family planning, abortion, and condom use would all change. As long as men continue to dominate the church, contradictatory views such as banning birth control, family planning, and condom use will continue, and STDs will increase. If men had the babies, abortion would be a sacrament. It is easy to hold contradictory views when your feet are not held to the firel
Traditionally the Church likes to stick their nose in everyone else’s business. They like to play head games with their smoke, insense and mirrors. The Pope might not have a need for birth control but it might be better that he is more proactive with his flock of priests, many of which have abused many boys and girls. The best way to deal with the Church is to ignore them. They can only reach those that give them an audience. More more educated people become the more they they for themselves. There have been many a baby aborted that was fathered by a priest.
WOW!
These certainly are hot button ethical issues. The Church and the Bible asks us to respect our bodies. Nobody inside the Church or in the secular world wants to be reminded that sex is for procreation and not recreation.
Unfortunately, in a fallen world people are fornicating left and right. A double trajedy exists when people have sex outside of marriage and get a disease or get pregnant. Don’t kid yourself, Catholics use birth control like our Protestant and Jewish brothers and sisters. They also get their tubes tied and have vasectomys. The rhythm method doesn’t work because women ovulate twice a month. The Catholic High School I sent my daughters to — taught this: The ABC’s of sex: A, be abstinence, B, be married and C, condom. The Pope would have a fit.
Alright, LaToya – is cancer a ‘punishment’ for something, too?
Patricia – ‘in a fallen world’? Are you kidding? People do NOT NEED RELIGION to be good people.
In my opinion, I believe you cannot force people to follow archaic views that were written in the bible – which has been changed and edited SO many times that the book has little truth in it left.
Rae- we don’t need women in the church; we need to rid the human race of the church.
It’s not OK to discourage kids from having premarital sex. They should be educated! They should be educated not just on sex, but on the history of religion! Hell – even MARRIED people should be educated about sex!
Giving out condoms , whether you believe it may be like ‘condoning pre-marital sex’ is ultimately not even your decision. Why don’t you have a conversation with one person who does give out condoms and actually listen to their reasons as to why they do it. Why don’t you educate yourself! Don’t you know that there are other reasons outside of your perception??
And by the way – your daughters will grow out of the ABCs they’re being taught now. And most likely come to resent it.
Sarah…yes, certain kinds of cancer are “punishment” for doing something wrong, i.e. throat and lung cancer from smoking, liver cancer from drinking. The difference is not all cancers are linked to a specific activity, but all STDs and unwanted pregnancies are SPECIFICALLY linked to sex.
And yes, I think most respondents understand there are reasons outside their own perception, which is why this post is being responded to.
If my daughter (yet to be born) one day resents what I teach her, then that is her decision. It is my responsibility to tell her the right things and her decision to accept or reject it.
Hi Everyone-
Thanks for the lively debate! I just wanted to quickly respond to Patricia’s comment about ovulation. To the best of my knowledge, most women do not ovulate 2 times a month, but, given that sperm can live for 5 days, women are fertile for longer than the one day that they ovulate. You can read more about this important topic: Understanding The Female Body and Ovulation and Are There Certain Times To Be More Careful?. THANKS! Dawn Stacey
Thank God that someone, especially someone that is looked up to by young girls, is speaking out about the sadistic, barbaric, and medieval beliefs of the Catholic Church that condem millions of people to more disease and ignorance. Go Giselle!!!! I have respect for you.
PS The Church says by its behaior that raping young boys is okay, but condoms are not?
I agree with Gisele’s intent, not the actual words. I lived in an underdeveloped nation for 2 years and women whose husbands have multiple partners choose not to protect themselves to preserve the possibility of procreation. I asked the question what if you get an STD and died who would care for the child? It was very discouraging that intelligent, responsible adult women could be so irresponsible with their lives because of an archaic world view. Why doesn’t the Church castigate the cheating husbands and allow the wives to protect themselves?
Keep in mind that the Roman Catholic Church and perhaps all churches for that matter and Religion are not the same thing. There are some things that pretain to the Church and somethings that pertain to Religion. The church is just as much a political entity and a religious one.
I think that unfortunately, condoms are necessary due to STDs and although people SHOULD wait until married to have sex, the fact is most don’t. However, her remark about abortion is ridiculous. Condoms can help prevent abortions. Abortion is a terrible thing, and Gisele, it IS possible not to have one, just put them up for adoption instead!
I just hope she’s a friendley person. an not stuck up. She is coreect about her opinion an the church issue, I for one agree condom’s should be used to prevent AID’s an unwanted babies … The childen are the innocent one’s of the young people not useing condom’s. The poor kid’s that go with out an the children taht are born with Aid’s shame on The Parent’s where are their Brain’s
Oh At That time they don’t that into perspective….Rigt On G