Scanners

In the height of a holiday, travelers have been expressing their concern over the new body scanners that have recently debuted in airports throughout the country.

These body scanners can examine your bodies (through your clothing) in order to make sure no one is hiding dangerous weapons in undisclosed locations.

Opposers to these new machines say they are intrusive, due to the fact that anyone who objects to going through these scanners will be subjected to a full on pat down.

I was there one of the first days that the new backscatter machines actually were in use, and I watched as certain people walked through two large blue rectangular boxes, holding their arms upright and turning occasionally. I wasn't forced to go through and I don't recall many people having a problem.

I guess I just question why people are so afraid to walk through the scanners. You can say no, but then you are basically being molested by a stranger (for good purposes, mind you). Are people just that afraid to have someone else view them naked?

For starters, according to the TSA's website, features on a person are blurred so no distinction about who you are really can be made. An example of what a security guard sees is here. Also, those photos that are taken are not stored or reproduced.

Not to mention, how many times has it been brought up in casual conversation about how, as strict as standards are in the airports nowadays, you could really get some things past the guards. Drugs for instance, can be stored in the anal cavity, as well as weapons.

Considering how many of our people have worried obsessively since the attack on 9/11 about safety on airlines, is this something that really should be made a big deal? I'm all for privacy, mind you, yet when I'm on a plane, the last thing I want to be worrying about is careening 35,000 feet into the landscape below.

If you ask me, this could also be a great way to target obesity. Think about it. Those who are questioning these so called "intrusive" scanners are just terrified of having someone else view them naked (honestly, who would actually choose the pat down over a simple scan? I've heard it likened to sexual harassment, but really, I think those people are just bringing it onto themselves)

It scares me to think that society has really gotten to such a prude point. It's the 21st century! Being naked is not something we should be ashamed of, considering after all, that that's who we are as beings.

Maybe now that our bodies may be projected to strangers on a less than personal level, people will start realizing that they need to take better care of them selves. It's a long shot I know, but I feel as if this entire argument is stupid. You can't tell me that half of these protesters really care about some pat down that wouldn't even be administered unless they decided to receive it.

What do you care more about? Amped up security or insecurity about your body?