Monday, August 17, 2009

Sex Education. Sort of.

March 31, 1994
Dear Bethany,
Hi! Today Patrick wrote me. It wasn't much of a letter. Plus he signed it Sincerely, and I signed mine Love. He's not very romantic! 
Today we had a film called "Changing". There were three parts. 
Part 1: Girls. You know like periods and pubic hair. I didn't learn anything I didn't already know except one thing: I learned what tampons are. They're like pads except they go inside. YUCK. 
I'm not sure if I want my period. It seems like a hassle. 
Part 2: Boys and Girls. Mostly it just talked about zits and "feeling differently about the other sex". 
Part 3: Boys. It was boring except for this part when a little boy goes, "Mine's smaller than the other guys. Does that mean I'm less of a man?" Then this voices comes on and goes "Penises come in all different shapes and sizes." It was sooooo funny! 
Love,
Corey

This film sounds... really informative? Sex education in this country is... totally going in the right direction? 

I love Part 2-- Boys and Girls. And that all it really talks about is zits and feeling differently. Yeah. That pretty much sums up everything you would possibly need to know about interacting with the opposite sex in adolescence. I don't know if I even know what sex is at this point. I do remember a long period of thinking sex was kissing naked. It's entirely possible I still believed that at the time of this film. 

As for Part 3... my real question now is what child actor had to play the part of the boy with the small penis in "Changing"??? This poor child must be seriously scarred. Also... boring?? It was boring to learn all about boys and the changes in their bodies?? This sounds highly unlikely. I'm either lying or this film failed to address anything of actual substance. Or I just found it so embarrassing that I use the word "boring" to disguise my discomfort. 

As for the letter exchanges with Patrick... I love the expectation for romance already cemented in my little girl brain. Some things never change. 

4 comments:

  1. I asked my mom what "fuck" meant. That's how I discovered what sex literally was.

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  2. Um that's AMAZING. I love that your mother actually answered that question honestly. how old were you?

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  3. I was told it was a special way a man and woman touched when they got married, which my five year old mind interpreted as the bride and groom's hips touching during the ceremony. A year or two later I made a comment at a wedding reception about how nice it was when they were fucking in front of the minister(or something to that effect) and got a more specific explanation.

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  4. Corey, I can't tell you how much I love this blog.

    Sex education in this country is a travesty. Have you seent he numbers of pre-pubescent girls engaging in oral or even anal sex because they think they're still virgins if they don't have missionary style sex? it's scary.

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