This headline worries me:

Healy Health Tip: Viagra for Jet Lag?

'A terrific study on the neurobiology of jet lag just appeared in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences', no fly-by-night journal, I assure you. It has created an international splash and serves up fodder for late-night TV. That's not because it happens to be an elegant study of biological clocks in hamster brains. Rather it's because the chemical the researchers from Buenos Aires used to successfully help the hamsters adjust to the equivalent of a forward time shift, such as a trip from New York to London, was none other than sildenafil. Viagra, that is. Even a low dose insufficient to affect male erectile function had a beneficial effect, though the higher doses worked better.'

NO!

I am especially concerned since I am about to make a long trip over the Atlantic...by myself! And most men are like. so. totally. gross! Argh! And so are hamsters!

It's a good thing my mom sent me to college fully aware of how to walk confidently so as not to be bothered, how to scream loudly if a stranger approaches, and how to hold a key as a weapon (I won't even mention the pepper spray, the whistle, and the personal belt loop alarm she packed in my luggage).

Also thank goodness for the school security guard who, during a teacher inservice, taught me to PRACTICE screaming so that my vocal chords will work when I need them. She also taught me to yell (and I quote), "Get the hell away from me you mother f*cking a#$hole!! I'll show you "a f*cking good time". Do you like crazy, b*@ch? Yeah. Come to momma, you P#*$y. Let me introduce you to a friend of mine called Genital Herpes!

Hellllp!!

Fiiiiire!!"

(We actually practiced this at school. Nothing fulfills a person more than hearing their school librarian or the 80 year old math curmudgeon take part in this "exercise.")

The security guard also told me to leave something behind at the crime scene so that the authorities could know how to find my body in a more timely manner, since, according to her, the a$@hole would car jack me, murder me (after the obligatory assault, of course), and then leave my body in Death Valley - apparently a very difficult place for finding bodies. And, after all, my family will appreciate the immediate closure.

Cheery, right? So you can see my cause for concern here. No one needs extra excuse, "jet lag" Viagra to perpetuate the situation!

Fortunately for me, the article ends with, "Since Viagra is known to cause blood-pressure drops and chest pain in those who have heart disease, this could be risky when you're flying high across the ocean far from a good emergency room. For now, I'd make those no-smoking flights Viagra-free too."

Whew. That was close.

Fear culture, indeed!

**Disclaimer - I do believe in protecting women, and I do believe that education and awareness do save women from horrendous crimes. And you better believe that I will be screaming if someone approaches me in a sinister way, and I will park under street lights. I won't be afraid to ask someone (even a security officer) to walk with me when I feel afraid, and I know there is safety in numbers. This is part of my Womanifesto.

**Disclaimer again - I have no idea why some of the profanity ended up as links, but I am wildly amused at this.. I guess blogger decided we needed some more enlightenment?