What America needs is another "sexual revolution"

[Toots]

This puritanical bullshit of the Republicans is causing major confusion and psychosis among America's youth and in fact among Republican men as well. It is not surprising to me that most child sexual crimes are committed by Republicans and/or ministers. Something that is as natural as the sun coming up in the morning is suddenly banned and criminal. Forbidden fruit so to speak. While I am not advocating for free sex among teen agers, I am advocating for complete sexual education beginning at least in middle school. Tell the kids that their urges are natural and not some great sin that they need to feel shame about their entire lives. Broaden their horizons not limit them. Make them well adjusted children that become well adjusted adults instead of sexual perverts like the Republicans demonstrate so very often. Don't make children grow up loathing their inner feelings and themselves for something so very natural and beautiful. I mean Republicans are so uptight they want breast feeding to be illegal. Can a society get much sicker before it just collapses in upon itself?

[BleedingHeartPatriot]

1. How nice it would be for kids to learn about the mechanics and hormones of sex and then advance

to being taught, learning and then objectively discussing issues as varied as the sexualization of girls at an early age to the completely unrealistic portrayal of "heroic" men in movies and television as those who kill the most people on their particular "mission".

Right now, sex is either preached as evil unless a variety of restrictive conditions are met such as marriage between opposite sex people, for procreation only and without birth control, or is ridiculously glamorized in popular media, with soft lighting, perfect bodies and easily removed expensive lingerie.

No wonder kids don't know what to think.

Those of us with daughters are feeling very nervous about the direction our country is headed vis a vis their ability to understand and control their own sexuality, without undue influence or coercion. MKJ

[xchrom]

2. it's simply the logical evolution of the first sexual revolution.

embracing sexuality as a cornerstone of the human condition and talking about, and educating about it rationally.

and btw -- the sexual revolution cannot be separated from the womens equality movement.

it's about removing hysteria and evil mythologies from ruling our bodies.

[juno jones]

3. Not to mention

not ruling our (generally female) bodies as evil due to mythology :). And we have souls BTW!...

[xchrom]

4. lol -- indeed -- whole, complete beings unto yourselves.

[Colobo]

5. It will happen, but it will take time.

[treestar]

6. You are right, just educating them and being upfront about it

will in fact tend to convince many kids to put it off.

The RW fundies think they can prevent teen sex by trying to hide the existence of sex from teens. Totally insane belief, and one that just eggs kids on to find out about it and rebel. It's like the recipe for what they claim they don't want.

[mudesi]

7. Children must learn about it as soon as they start asking questions

It's amazing to me that even people who believe in sex education still wait until it's too late to teach their children about sex. Usually a teenager is already having it when he/she is told about it.

When a two year old asks where babies come from, it's OK to tell him that they come from inside of Mommy. When that child is seven and asks again, it's OK to tell him about sperm and egg and how it develops. When that child is nine and asks how the sperm gets in there, it's OK to tell him about the mechanics of sexual intercourse. When that child is 13 and starts to have erections and begins to masturbate, it's OK to tell him that it's normal and healthy and that with sex comes consequences like STD's and pregnancy.

Unfortunately, religious indoctrination has made people feel uncomfortable about sex. Children don't learn about it from their parents because their parents are embarrassed to even mention it.

[seatless-in-seattle]

9. .

don't they teach them that while in jail for "sex crimes"?

[newyawker99]

11. Hi seatless-in-seattle!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[Deja Q]

8. Sickness can be defined many ways.

And the way the economy is going, we're all gonna get fucked.

[conscious evolution]

10. Time for another summer of love

Way past time.

[Orsino]

12. It's not just the Republicans.

Most humans seem to take perverse delight in regulating each other's sexual behavior, and always under the cloak of "morality."

[beevul]

13. Its not just...

"Most humans seem to take perverse delight in regulating each other's sexual behavior, and always under the cloak of "morality.""

Its not just sexual behavior, its all kinds of behavior. But your right, all too often in its the name of morality.

People are fucked up.

[Orsino]

16. This trait must have survival value.

Presumably, a culture in which everyone dresses and acts alike can more easily identify and defend against outsiders--and individuals who appear to be having too much fun must pay for being different.

[beevul]

17. The human condition can be a frightening thing.

But what can be done to change things?

[bamacrat]

14. I agree.

But it would take years to undo the damage done by all the abstinence programs. Oh wait they arent working anyway.

[MistressOverdone]

15. My kids learned about it by watching

our farm animals.

Couple of questions, is there really data to show that most child sexual crimes are committed by Republicans and ministers? That would be a useful link. And the reference to making breastfeeding illegal: I'm out of the loop on that! When did that happen? Can you fill me in?

For the record, I think abstinence programs are intrusive. I would prefer to teach values to my kids myself. The schools can do the biology.

[porphyrian]

29. There isn't a whole lot of data because much of it isn't reported.

Basically, unless someone goes to court for a sex crime, there's no record. And, even then, records can be expunged if you know the right people. Ask a pediatrician or school counselor, without naming names, what they've seen.

[MistressOverdone]

30. I am a teacher

since '72, and quite a few of those years in a counseling position. What I can tell you about child abuse is that it knows no boundaries. I've seen wealthy abusers, "hippy" abusers, black, white, Latino, Muslim, single, divorced, gay, straight. And I definitely have never seen a propensity of one political party above the other.

There are two constants I can report. One is substance abuse and the other is isolation.

I have personally never worked with a child who was abused by a clergyman. Or let me qualify that. I have never worked with a child who reported he/she was abused by a clergyman.

[Chemical Bill]

18. Think about this:

The time from the beginning of widespread use of antibiotics until the spread of AIDs was the only time in history that you couldn't die from sex. I don't see another sexual revolution anytime soon. Sure repugs and fundies are often perverted, but caution is necessary for good reason, unlike in the '60s. I think we need another Age Of Enlightenment, personally.

Bill

[Mind_your_head]

20. I figured (correctly) that you were talking from a male perspective

because you said: The time from the beginning of widespread use of antibiotics until the spread of AIDs was the only time in history that you couldn't die from sex.

Women have never had any such 'relief'. WOMEN have been/are ALWAYS at risk of dying through child birth, which would be 'dying from the result of sex'.

Women have always been much more 'invested' in the whole process than men ~ who usually only consider the 'act of impregnation' itself....not the carrying the child, not the birthing, not the YEARS of caring, nurturing, and just 'being there' that MUST follow....not the loss of income that results from "being there for the child"...

Put your thinking cap on a little tighter please and IMAGINE what if you were the 'WOMAN', what would it be like?

Peace,
M_Y_H

[Chemical Bill]

24. That was mostly due to...

male doctors and their interventionist agenda. I dated a midwife who opened my eyes to the ways men kill women who are giving birth.

BTW, the pill meant that women didn't have to die in childbirth during the sixties, so I stand by my statement.

But thanks for the POV.

Bill

[Manifestor_of_Light]

19. But to remove guilt and fear, you'd have to remove Christianity!

Christianity is founded on guilt (just because you're breathing due to the made up doctrine of original sin) and fear (of god smiting you because he's a cosmic cop -- spies on everything you do, whether you're a Christian or a heathen). And because your body is God's temple, but basically it's evil if you do anything that's pleasurable. If you even THINK about something pleasurable, you've already sinned. So you're screwed no matter what you do or think.

[shadowknows69]

21. You show me yours

and I'll show you mine.

[NuttyFluffers]

22. and here i thought America needed an enema

well, we'll try your idea first. sounds cleaner.

[glowing]

23. As someone who went through the revolution of sex education in the

90's, I would deffinately change the way it is taught.

Sitting in a class full of your peers with different organs and charts and contraception is really intimidating. #1. Not all people are at the same comfort level as others when it comes to sex and dealing with their bodies. #2. Why in the world would I want to sit around discussing sex and my body with people I barely know.

I would definately begin by separating the class down to girls only and boys only. At least there would be a little bit of comfort. And I would make the classes smaller. At the most 10 and try to group them within same age groups. Someone who is 14 and a freshman is usually not at the same level as someone 17 or 18 and pretty much an adult.

Seriously, who do you feel comfortable as an adult discussing sex with. I was lucky enough to have parents who didn't try to pull the stork out of the closet. When I was very young my mom brought out the anatomy book and showed us the difference between men and women and how little babies were born. The first exposure to sex ed was in 7th grade. My poor male science teacher is standing there in front of a lit up overhead of a limp penis and pointing out technical terms like scrotum, anus, and penus... we felt sorry for the man. And believe me, it was quite a chuckle when we were tested on the anatomy and we all received copies of the limp penis and had to identify each region. The guys in my class kept hollering out "boner" and "stiffy", etc. when his back was turned to the overhead. Poor guy. And then our guidance councelor, who needed psychological help herself, in my opinion, seemed to always have a fascination with sex and molestation and would go on and on about things that were really inappropriate.

Then in highschool one year, the school hired outside professionals. They had a lady, who seemed to be really hostile towards men (older lady in her 50's) and a gay male... who after showing a banana/ condom demo, proceeded to eat the banana... The parents started finding out some of the things they were saying to us and were pissed... they showed videos that might as well be labled porn.

I'm not saying abstinence only works. But the 90's method sucked. It was uncomfortable and degrading.

[BleedingHeartPatriot]

25. Interesting that my daughter's experience was so different. She had her first formal

sexual health and reproduction class in 5th grade, late nineties.

It was taught by her regular teacher. I was coaching her and some of her classmates for Odyssey of the Mind, so they all arrived to that particular after school session talking about the class. They were comparing the information on males and females and seemed to be developing some empathy for each other's plights as they headed toward adolescence.

For some reason, they really fixated on the word "pubic" which sent them into gales of laughter each time one of them, girl or boy, said it, LOL.

I do have to say, the birth control lecture she received in High School was sort of idiotic, because the presenter, not a regular teacher, while discussing the various methods of birth control offered the caution with each that none really works that well and Jesus wants you to abstain anyway.

The principal received several calls, I know, after that particular presentation, where the theme was that if you have sex, God will be mad. :wtf:

However, my daughter certainly doesn't harbor your angst about the experience. I hope you can recover from the clumsy attempts by your educational system to provide this information.

MKJ

[glowing]

32. Sounds a little similar. She may have not had a problem with the

lecture, but I'm sure someone felt uncomfortable.

Def. no hang ups about sex, enjoy it immensly, and I'm glad I waited until I did.

[XemaSab]

26. I had the mid 90's sex ed

Where the goal was to teach you SO MUCH you'd be freaked out over the technical details.

Like the symptoms of EVERY STD and how to prevent getting EVERY STD. And how to use EVERY form of birth control *with* failure rates when properly and improperly used. (The moral here being always use a condom plus another method.)

It was total information overload.

Then they did the same thing for drugs. :eyes:

[glowing]

31. Agreed...

[slampoet]

27. We ARE having annother sexual revolution....

..It's happening with the current teen to 25 age group.

Universal porn access through the net is changing everyone's perception of normality as well as opening them to how commonplace oral sex, mild kinks, group sex, and other practices really are and always have been through history. No one is learning this more than our young adults right now.

[seabeyond]

28. our kids are inundated with sexuality and sex from the youngest of ages

they cannot get away from it. it is everywhere.