I recently watched a movie called “Let’s Talk About Sex” for my Human Sexuality class. The movie features Director James Houston, an Australian photographer, as he explores the question of why the US has such a strange attitude when it comes to sex. He notices that his home country and the US are similar in their way of using sex in advertisements, but in general culture, we seem to be much less willing to talk about it. He journeys all over the country and up to the Netherlands in order to compare the differences in our attitudes on sexuality.
I have always considered myself someone who promotes confidence in your sexuality, and educating yourself in it more, and for some reason I am considered a bit unorthodox in American society. It has always seemed to me that people were afraid to talk about sex in this country, especially with their children. For some reason we have this extreme fear of treating our children like adults, then we freak out when they make the kind of mistakes that they were never informed about because we didn’t talk with them. I think that is the idea that this video really hits on, and it is kind of shocking how differently European cultures look at these ideas. The video makes it look like teenagers are taught more about sex and sexuality, and are less afraid to ask questions about those situations.
While exploring the Netherlands, Director James Houston talks with several teenagers who claim to have been told a lot about sex already, and an interesting statistic about condoms. It is a stereotype in the US that every guy carries a condom with him, but to be honest the only guys who do are sexually active ones, and even then it is only a few of them. Whereas in the Netherlands, every teen, both male and female, carry a condom with them at all times, and consider it standard practice and the societal norm. This extra level of preparedness and safety among their culture has led to much lower rate of teenage pregnancy as compared to the US norm.
The feeling I often get from adults who do not want to talk to children about sex is that they think that if they never bring it up, then it won’t happen. Unfortunately for them, it does happen. Teens are going to have sex. People are going to have sex. Whether you want them to or not, it is going to happen. Sexuality is a part of human nature, and I can’t agree more with teaching people about it when they are young. The more people know about sex safety, then the more people who will be having safe sex. It’s a sign to us when we see that cultures that are more open to talking about sex and educating about, have much lower rates of STIs and pregnancies as opposed to the US.
Sex education does not belong to just one area of an adolescent’s life. It is not just the parent’s job, or the health teacher’s, or the church’s. Each needs to take equal responsibility in teaching children and making them feel comfortable with their sexuality. And in my mind, that means helping young people come to terms with their differing sexual orientations as well. I know that is a long shot with how many people still disapprove of what is a natural part of life, but it is going to have to happen some time.
I guess my biggest problem with the issues that this video brings up is the fact that it makes it so apparent that many young people in our country are going into their adulthood blind. And when children are raised by parents who are afraid of sex, then they are going to grow up being afraid as well. And this vicious cycle will just repeat, with us not advancing anywhere.
