Over-sexualisation in society

[speedphantom]

I was at the basketball last night and I see heaps of kids in the crowd. The cheerleaders prance around half naked and do all these dirty dance moves and all. Do the kids think anything of it? Do they lose their innocence faster in this society?

The cheerleading thing is just minor compared with every single advertising poster which always have some kind of sexual reference or imagery.

[Rain]

I think there is too much sex "used" in todays society. Sex is used to sell almost everything it seems.

Younger kids won't understand what is going on, nor will they until they become older. Once they reach puberty they will understand, but they'd understand anyway (even if sex wasn't so previlent in society). All the obsession with sex is showing what teens already think, so I doubt it causes them to lose their innocence faster

[Mei]

Just look at Bleach......-__-

Is it really necessary that girls/ women like Matsumoto, Orihime or now Nel (who first was a baby, a toddler, a chibi) have these exorbitant large breasts...?
I mean: couldn´t they be considered beautiful and sexy/ hot even without those doubleD or whatever cup-sized-breasts....? Other shounen manga can achieve the same effect and please the male audience. It might be good for some pervy jokes here and there, but, well, that´s all, it gets boring and well, is it really this.....attractive....? @@
It gives me the impression that Kubo wants to make up for some lack in whatever aspect...=___=

[speedphantom]

Yes, but Japan is Japan haha. They're obsessed with sex from what I've gathered.

If you're exposed to all the sexual images around, that takes the innocence out of childhood. Sex and all is to be dealt with later on. Sure they might not understand but I'm sure they're slowly becoming more aware of it all.

[manfan]

I was at the basketball last night and I see heaps of kids in the crowd. The cheerleaders prance around half naked and do all these dirty dance moves and all. Do the kids think anything of it? Do they lose their innocence faster in this society?

The cheerleading thing is just minor compared with every single advertising poster which always have some kind of sexual reference or imagery.

This may sound silly, very silly.....but can you tell me specifically what you mean by sex?

When I think of sex.....I mean two people on a secluded place, being intimate with each other....usually opposite gender, male and female.

I just can't get the imagery of dirty dance moves that has to do relation with sex, among the girls, in the public.:)

[anathema]

I agree about the over-sexualization of society, but this seems to be a by-product of our society having evolved to what it is at this point in time. This is not relevant to the topic at hand, but violence is much too prevalent as well (and yet, movie ratings are influenced more by how much an actress' body is exposed than how much violence there is; is it that we are so obsessed with sex to the point of prudishness, or are we just that desentisized by violence?)

[Rain]

One thing I saw on the news earlier:

some school districts in the state I live in have made it mandatory for some schools to have condoms in every health room.

Whats unique about this, these schools that now have to have condoms available for students- they are middle schools (which are grades 6-8 in most areas:eek:)

With this type of information does anyone change their opinion (or is it old news to you:D)

[Akutabi]

When 9 month old girls are wearing outfits that have the word "juicy" across their butts, I can't help but think a line was crossed a while ago.

[speedphantom]

This may sound silly, very silly.....but can you tell me specifically what you mean by sex?

When I think of sex.....I mean two people on a secluded place, being intimate with each other....usually opposite gender, male and female.

I just can't get the imagery of dirty dance moves that has to do relation with sex, among the girls, in the public.:)Its not about "sex" its about the dancing being sexual. The cheerleaders dancing around in hardly any clothing is clearly to entertain men in particular. You can't say thats not sexual. There was even this one part where the cheerleaders jumped and kneeled on the male dancer's thighs, which was sorta emulating sex. So it is not specifically "sex" but supposed to be sexually arousing to males.

[manfan]

Its not about "sex" its about the dancing being sexual. The cheerleaders dancing around in hardly any clothing is clearly to entertain men in particular. You can't say thats not sexual. There was even this one part where the cheerleaders jumped and kneeled on the male dancer's thighs, which was sorta emulating sex. So it is not specifically "sex" but supposed to be sexually arousing to males.

I'm curious.....so, is there a complain launched against the school....or is that suppose to be regional / nationwide basketball championship?

Normally......it's only the girls who do cheerleading, not the males.....still, ....because it's basketball, a male-dominated sport game, I would think.....yeah they sensationalize it/them(the game, team, sponsored organization) by making girls to do it.

As for society......the way I see it, it's a general idea/concept that people are matured....therefore they know when sex is used as a supportive form of advertising, to draw attention from immatured people to it; stuffs like cars, drinks, tobacco and fashion designs. For these kind of industries/business, nowadays.....sex sells.

And somehow, because of them(advertisings and visual mass communications)....sex is equated to be something fun and exciting.

[Who]

Just look at Bleach......-__-

Is it really necessary that girls/ women like Matsumoto, Orihime or now Nel (who first was a baby, a toddler, a chibi) have these exorbitant large breasts...?
I mean: couldn´t they be considered beautiful and sexy/ hot even without those doubleD or whatever cup-sized-breasts....? Other shounen manga can achieve the same effect and please the male audience. It might be good for some pervy jokes here and there, but, well, that´s all, it gets boring and well, is it really this.....attractive....? @@
It gives me the impression that Kubo wants to make up for some lack in whatever aspect...=___=

In retort to that comment, not all men love large boobs. Thats a generalization. I know plenty who prefer smaller chested girls, myself included.

Anyway on the subject matter, sex sells. That is the act of the invisible hand, demanding sex for things to sell. As long as the market continues to respond to sex/sexy advertizing, you won't see a change. I'm not saying I agree with it, just taking an economic view on it.

[speedphantom]

Thats very true. Won't really change but I wonder how far they can put it. They show absolutely everything except the parts. I bet nudity will be accepted sometime in the future.

[Bleu]

I agree that everything is too oversexualized?

Even in commercials for the simpleist things. I search commercials on youtube and i see references to sex to order a damn pizza. I can understand why they use the "sex card" to sell things, and its because sex is appealing. sex appeals to EVERYONE.. except.. nuns o_o But, even though it appeals to them does not mean they have to use it in advertising. Children watch TV and see these commercials or programs, and its appalling not appealing. I do NOT want my children (im 15 so i dont have any xD) to think that there is ANY other topping for a pizza other than peperoni, cheese, hamburger, mushrooms, pineapple, and whatever else is normal for a pizza, no fluids in my pizza. kthx.

Bleach.. i have no problem with in reference to sexualisation. Matsumoto, Hime, Halibel.. whoever else.. they do have big boobs, yes, but i think of it as an art form more than anything. They arent stripping in any panels (lets forget about the hime matsu scene for a second) and no sexual references are made. Their bodies take on an artform that may not be realistic, but it still works (I would kill for orihimes chest and physique anyday xD).. we arent at hentai yet. xD

Regarding condoms in schools, particuarly middle schools, i think putting them in place for anyone to have would make MORE kids go out and have sex because they know the option is there, and that action is telling them "its ok to be 11 and getting a booty call.. just wear this!". its a disgrace x_x we should be teaching our kids NOT to have sex. "have sex and you will get aids and die" scare their pants back on.. xDD

Sex and everything should be a private thing, not something to be put on tv or in music, and the body shouldnt be flaunted like that in a way just to give old men something to look at instead of their old wives.

[speedphantom]

With Bleach, the big boobs thing is all about making the characters appealing to menm there's no other explanation for it, its art since you draw every character but its a sexualised art ><.

They actually have condoms in schools......? That certainly is telling more kids to go out and have sex....whoever thought of that system really doesn't have their head on right.

[Sexta]

Bleach is full of fanservice, it's not just the big boobs. Naked Matsu, Rukia, and Hime? Upskirt Rukia and Cirucci? It pleases a lot of people, no doubt....I'm not complaining...

About society: What can we do? Sex is just a VERY powerful attention-whoring tool. I agree, it does sell. People, especially the media, are quickly drawn to this sorta thing.

I wouldn't be surprised if kids knew what it was at a very young age. TV, ads, curiosity, friends, the parents, etc. They'll be exposed to it eventually. Problem is that a lot of them make stupid mistakes that screws up their lives.

[Sora Chan]

With the whole condom in school thing, I sort of agree with it. Whether we think it is appalling or not, kids do know what sex is. I remember in sixth grade this girl was shocked because I didn't know what semen was and she started laughing at me. The youth are being "corrupted" if they aren't already "corrupted". At least this way, kids can practice safe sex rather than not safe sex.

I agree with the over sexualization in society. I look at the movies they show now a days and think, why is this rated PG13. WTF. Then I see my sisters watching it and think, 'why are they watching this garbage'

[speedphantom]

Practicing safe sex is good but just young kids having sex is another thing all together. Its not like there's a rule on when you should but still it seems to be getting younger.

If you have condoms its just like a vehicle for promoting sex if you have them around. Its making kids think more about sex which isn't really necessary since they are teenagers afterall....

[Planeswalker]

I was at the basketball last night and I see heaps of kids in the crowd. The cheerleaders prance around half naked and do all these dirty dance moves and all. Do the kids think anything of it? Do they lose their innocence faster in this society?

The cheerleading thing is just minor compared with every single advertising poster which always have some kind of sexual reference or imagery.

I think in our soceity kids tend to keep their "innocence" far longer than in the past~ well...most of the past.

I mean if you think about medieval times people were executed in front of crowds of many people containing children. 12-13 year olds were elisted into various armies and taught to kill. Tis a major loss of innocence imo. Of course back then it also wasnt uncommon to be married by 12 or 13 and be exposed to this sex of which everyone speaks.

Srsly if in this soceity all we have to complain about is half naked cheerleaders prancing around and a bunch of advertisments arousing teenagers then I think we are doing pretty damn good compared to whats in the human race's track record.

[speedphantom]

It improved and then got worse. You wouldn't really find all this stuff going on about 30-40 years ago, but then thinking about the "Swinging sixties" perhaps not....hmm. Perhaps it came then it went and now its back again. Not too severe to my knowledge in Australia but I don't really know what goes on regarding sex.......

[Planeswalker]

Maybe not in the media, but it was still most definatly going on amongst the people. I mean there just comes a certain time where you become sexually active and aware of this sort of thing. Its completely out of anyone's control and probably better to have a decent education of it like we have these days instead of thinking "Omg whats happening to me" or "Somethings wrong with me" or something along those lines.

Innocence is ignorance.

[fly]

Nice points, Planeswalker. However, you have just proved that loss of innocence is not something new; and the past cannot be equated to present. I agree with you that there may be greater examples on how children loss innocence in the history of humanity; however what i feel is an issue here with over-sexualization is not a matter of how is it badly educating our children - but it is a matter on how we wanted gender integrity to be perceived.

We cannot say for sure that putting condoms in school is a negative endorsement of safe sex even if it did increase awareness upon sex in school children earlier than expected - however, that is a case where there are such things happening; and rather than sweeping it under the rug, why not embrace the situation by taking an affirmative action? There are chances of STDs happening, and prevention is not necessarily negative endorsement; it is to create a solution before the problem begins. That said, let me go to what i meant in my first paragraph.

What we see in over-sexualization in society is how sex is being viewed - imageries of suggestive and usage of sex appeal in social events are but many examples that demonstrates this. Whether we see it as over-sexualization goes back to how women is being viewed. Pardon if i may sound feminist; which i assure i'm not in entirety. Mass appeal often includes fanservice, and just face it - women are the tool. There are some who will pose suggestively as means of getting easy money, and there are artistic portrayal of sexually attractive women in fiction. All this are but examples on how feminine allure is utilized and (un)fortunately, it sells.

Thus, what i'm trying to say is that opinions on this matter is how you want females and males to be stereotyped - are girls just to be a display art for the sexual gratification; or are guys perverts that exult in the indulgence of revealing females? Respect for genders play a part here; because when it comes to matters like this, it is always basically floored upon how both sexes view each other.

That said, let me say that the examples are but examples to exhibit the typical situations occured and also had been given by others who post before i did.

[Planeswalker]

Well the past does need to be compared to the present from time to time in order to progress. Yeah it doesnt really apply to the bulk of the thread but the use of the word "innocence" is what got to me.

I think you have some very good points, but your leaving out one side. That is the sexual exploitation of men in the same way that women are. Its not done nearly as much, especially in Western media, but Ill give you an example. About...95% of my friends are women and a furthur 95% of them are yaoi fangirls. Some more extreme than others, but I know and experience a good deal of them viewing males in the same way some guy would gawk over a cheerleader...just louder. Men are also a tool. Humans in general are tools that get used by one another.

Just to make it clear I am agreeing with all your points, I just felt that side of things should be brought up.

Honestly I dont really see a debate here. I mean what does anyone expect. Reproduction is the goal of all species. Our minds have come a long way, but sex is generally our instinct. Soceity has always been over sexualised. I mean porn or what archaeologists call "erotic art" has been around since before Christ. Humans were using each other as tools then and they are now. We will never be able to change. However nowdays we have a better sense of restraint and precautions. I think we are living in the best day and age yet considering what we are.

If it counts for anything I would prefer a world without sex. It leads to far too many bad things like rape, murder, blackmail and just about every other crime there is.

[fly]

I would think that this topic doesnt spur much of a debate because after all, there should be two conflicting sides with concrete reasons to prove each side; and this topic just falls short on having any clear defining side. I am posting based on the notion that over-sexualization in the society is not that big of an issue, and there's deeper than just being pervert - for both sexes.


I think you have some very good points, but your leaving out one side. That is the sexual exploitation of men in the same way that women are. Its not done nearly as much, especially in Western media, but Ill give you an example. About...95% of my friends are women and a furthur 95% of them are yaoi fangirls. Some more extreme than others, but I know and experience a good deal of them viewing males in the same way some guy would gawk over a cheerleader...just louder. Men are also a tool. Humans in general are tools that get used by one another.

Thanks for bringing it up. Of course i agree that sexual exploitation goes both way. That's why it is important even in the midst of such sexualization; respect is being exercised because such actions are often borderline sexist; and respect is the only thing that can prevent that.

I wouldnt think that a world without sex is better; even if expressions of love can be done in manners which do not include sex. However, for me, sex in a relationship is an ultimatum of intimacy that deepens relationship - thus lack of respect from any side cheapens the idea of making love.

[Planeswalker]

Yeah I get that a lot when I say that. The whole "its an expression of love" thing doesnt even out all the bad things that stem from it in my mind. To me an expression of love is something thoughtful like a poem or a gift ect not a reproductive urge.

I just cant put that kind of weighting on sex. The so called ultimate expression. Theres too many ways it can fail as it tends to rely on the fires of passion rather than the long term love.

[cheez]

Sex is a very important part of society and always will be. Sex is a part of human nature and is one of the few things that has universal appeal. Sex is what we and society make it, either a taboo subject that shouldn't be talked about and purely for making children or something that should be enjoyable and embraced. Different societies have dealt with sex in different ways, Victorian era England sex was a very taboo subject to talk about, while in ancient Rome sex was public embraced, today sex is embraced and taboo at the same time O.o Today sex is seen as a tool used for advertisement and for mass appeal, it is also seen as something that should be enjoyed, and a form of recreation, sex is also associated with making families, and relationships, and not being monogamous is considered taboo publicly, but privately its more acceptable. For the people who have said that sex is too public, I will say that for society no, because society has allowed sex to be this public.

[Bleu]

i dont see how it should be public, or how it is public.. sex is two people engaging in intercourse, a private matter that should not be the butt of jokes or used as means of advertising. we can educate our children about the matter, but we should NOT use sex as a profit. its media prostitution.. X_X

I think that the term "making love" has lost all meaning to be honest. In school i hear about kids who went to parties and decided to go into the back bedroom, never talked to eachother again (totally sober too), and that was that. these kids are like 13, 14... their bodies havent even fully matured yet, let alone their minds! sex is just now..sex. there isnt any love involved, it is just selfish desires for pleasure and finding someone to comply to that pleasure. In all ages you see this, not just confused teenagers. Men cheating on their wives, wives cheating on their husbands... think about how the "family" is now compared to what it was 30 or 50 years ago. There are now more single-parent families, and many marriages end in divorce. I think that the reason for this IS the media and the world in general using sex like its a tool, and dare i say, "tempting" people.

[cheez]

The media is a reflection of society, if society doesn't want all of these sexually implied images then they would cease being effective, but society generally replies positively to these sexual images, so they are used.
We hear more about underage sex, and affairs because they are less taboo than they were in the 30's and 50's, but they still happened back then. Back then because divorce and teen/unwed pregnancies were much more taboo so affairs were ignored, people in unhappy marriages simply dealt with them, and pregnant daughters were hidden from public. As society has become more acceptable of these actions we see them in public.

[Rain]

cheez- that is almost the point of this thread though, should it be so acceptable

I still think that sex is over used in society, but as long as people let it happen, it will never stop, nor should it. it is peoples fault for letting it affect them the way it does.

[speedphantom]

i dont see how it should be public, or how it is public.. sex is two people engaging in intercourse, a private matter that should not be the butt of jokes or used as means of advertising. we can educate our children about the matter, but we should NOT use sex as a profit. its media prostitution.. X_X

I think that the term "making love" has lost all meaning to be honest. In school i hear about kids who went to parties and decided to go into the back bedroom, never talked to eachother again (totally sober too), and that was that. these kids are like 13, 14... their bodies havent even fully matured yet, let alone their minds! sex is just now..sex. there isnt any love involved, it is just selfish desires for pleasure and finding someone to comply to that pleasure. In all ages you see this, not just confused teenagers. Men cheating on their wives, wives cheating on their husbands... think about how the "family" is now compared to what it was 30 or 50 years ago. There are now more single-parent families, and many marriages end in divorce. I think that the reason for this IS the media and the world in general using sex like its a tool, and dare i say, "tempting" people.Thats so true. Its not love its just sex but that doesn't mean there aren't people out there who have "meaningful" sex. Its what you make of it really isn't it? Since you can have sex for love or lust and in the end, whatever makes people happy they'll do. There is a bad trend though.

Its just wrong for all these little kids to be going out and having sex when they don't realise the implications and know what it means. I wonder if the blame can be put squarely on the media for using more and more sexual imagery to sell things, like advertising on tv and music videoclips. Half the music videoclips out there are with half or fully naked women.

You can't just say tv makes kids have sex at a younger age though. Perhaps upbringing isn't as strict about sex or its a peer thing where everyone's doing it, why not me? Just a growing culture that isn't stopping anytime soon.

[cheez]

Right now in the US teen pregnecies are at their lowest rate since they have been recorded in the 1970's
http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/2006/09/12/USTPstats.pdf
Also sex with teens under 15 has decreased since 1995
http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/fb_ATSRH.html

I think the increased of public awareness of underage sex has lead to false beliefs that underage sex has dramatically risen where most data shows that underage sex has gone down along with pregnancies.

[Bleu]

I dont think those statistics are true (for the teensex) because in all honestly, how many teens do you know who will openly admit and survey this to someone.. i know i wouldnt xD

It may have decreased in the US, but here in Europe its a big problem.. :(
but lets save that for the teen pregnencies board =D

[speedphantom]

Right now in the US teen pregnecies are at their lowest rate since they have been recorded in the 1970's
http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/2006/09/12/USTPstats.pdf
Also sex with teens under 15 has decreased since 1995
http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/fb_ATSRH.html

I think the increased of public awareness of underage sex has lead to false beliefs that underage sex has dramatically risen where most data shows that underage sex has gone down along with pregnancies.Perhaps its a media scare campaign! The media really can do anything they want.

In Australia, everyone has the sense that there are fewer and fewer people marrying and more and more divorces because of what the media shows. But statistics prove thats completely not the case. More marriages and more families.

[Bleu]

Hmmm.. well, im curious about what your ideas (all of you) about how we could help lower over-sexuality.

My ideas arent really thought through that well so ill just name a few that pop into my mind, with the pros and cons.

Media Censorship:
If we try to censor the media, then we could lower the amount of sexual-references being broadcasted...
cons: tv would get pretty boring xD

I think TV is important, and also the internet.. Parents should control what their children see and i do notthink that this is going..that well.

[Rain]

how to help lower it:headscratch

make sex less taboo

I'm not saying to overexpose people, but don't make sex seem like something bad or unnatural. Don't censor stories involving it, or tv involving it.

parents should be able to freely talk to their kids about it (not in detail though, cause that just ew)

one reason that society is oversexualized is because that younger kids do it to be cool, if that is removed, then the problem will gradually be lowered

[fly]

Hmmm.. well, im curious about what your ideas (all of you) about how we could help lower over-sexuality.

My ideas arent really thought through that well so ill just name a few that pop into my mind, with the pros and cons.

Media Censorship:
If we try to censor the media, then we could lower the amount of sexual-references being broadcasted...
cons: tv would get pretty boring xD

I think TV is important, and also the internet.. Parents should control what their children see and i do notthink that this is going..that well.

Ok, let's see on censorship. I'm in a country where censorship hits a very high mark, and yes; i know all about censorship oppression. However, this is not the point.

Like Rain said, making it less of a taboo will seemed a likely option. The thing about having a rating and parental control is that - it depended on an external factor to help in countering this problem. I dare say that in this matter of over-sexualization where the real problem lies within the mentality of the society - forget retrospective; go for prospective and introspective affirmations. What we can see from media-censorship is just the authority trying to escape the responsibility.

Think this - i had censored and i had rated. Your job now.

Even if necessary actions were taken; it will reach a certain limitations because of the need to cater to all age-ranges and not just some sexually-innocent groups. Like Bleu said, TV will be boring. Therefore, censorship is not practical because the only ones really affected will be the more vocal group of the society - the adults. And why do i call it an escapism from the authorities - because if there were any fingers pointing to them about the lack of censorship the answers will be "Hey, we rated the show; it is your responsibility to make sure the young 'uns do not watch them'. Given that the nature of such actions that required a disciplined enforcement - censorship is as good as not doing anything because it boils down, ultimately the young 'uns not watching them rather than not being allowed to watch. The difference is that one is a voluntary refusal (shall we call it abstinence?) and that one is the oppressive rejection.

Which leads me to my next point on how censorship is an act of imposing adults undermining the mental capacity of those target audiences that they wish to shield such non-child-friendly indications from. The younger generation knew better than to exhibit blind obedience because they simply wouldnt. An oppression leads to retaliation; thus censorships is a big no-no.

In this i believe that there should be a more objective manner of looking into the reality of the situation in which the issue is not coverable and not evadable. Of course; i'm not saying that more exposure will solve this eventual problem - however; what is being floored here is the notion of the prospective coping of the evolution of human sexual awareness. By that i meant sexual activity began at ages where puberty may had not ended yet. Like Rain say; being open-minded is the education tool of status quo; why take conventional when you realize the imminent inadequacies of it?

[Bleu]

Mm i am now inclined to agree, melody,
I dont think that we should shelter our kids to death, but we should avoid many sexual references if they really arent needed. for example, your watching a crime show and they want to get to the bottom of an invesigation, and yet you have people "interacting" in the next scene, completely going away from the storyline. it isnt neccasary for it to be there.

Yet, it is also a fact that sex is taken in different approaches in different countries, and censorship is different everywhere. For example, when i lived in Germany, if you opened up a magazine you would probably see naked people, on the news if they found a body they might show the remains.. and pretty much everywhere you went there wasnt a realwarning that you might be seeing something sexual... because in germany they havea whole different idea about the human body then america does or other countries.

So i think when it comes down to it, it is your opinions or beliefs about the body itself when it comes to the media, yet, throwing in sex in everything really isnt neccisary. (and i could never spell that word correctly xD)

i hope this made a little sense, my head hurts xD

[Rain]

Adding/clarifying to my last idea....i think that the biggest thing that is needed is realism.

in tv shows, sex can be used, because sex happens in real life, but when the entire series is more or less just sex (greys anatomy anyone) it is ridiculous.

or when any female character on any show wears a low-cut top, that doesn't happen in real life. if it did, i probably wouldn't be watching tv (lol, this sounds so pervy:D)

have tv mirror real life, it could easily help lower the over sexualization

[cheez]

I understand your reasoning behind censorship Bleu but censorship doesn't solve problems it only covers it up and makes the problem taboo the problem is still their just nobody is willing to talk about it.

To address the problem of underage sex we have to address it head on. I think the best way to do this is to have sex education classes when children are beginning to start puberty and shortly before they start also. By having mandatory sex education classes children will have a better idea on why their bodies are changing and these new feelings towards the opposite sex.

I believe that all sex education should also include education on birth control. We may not like it but even with sex education some kids under 14 are going to have sex and the best we can do is to provide them with enough education birth control that they can protect them selves, and hope that they do so.

[Bleu]

I dont see whats so wrong with really making sex "taboo".

I wouldnt want my 16 year old daughter comming home and telling me shes pregnant. Its just..wrong. Sex is natural yes, and is necessary (in more ways than one xD), but.. i want to have more kids saying "ewww" when they learn about sex and then imagine their parents doing it. Which is gross, but, it works to keep them away from sex.

[Rain]

Bleu- but teenagers in general will do something just because its taboo:p if we make it more open, then there is less motivation to do it

and, going with the same example you used....

you're 16 year old daughter will most likely have sex, despite how "eww" you try to make it seem, so wouldn't it better for her to know whats safe.

And, if she learns about it from you she will learn the truths about sex , instead of listening to lies/rumors from friends (thats what teens do)

[Bleu]

I kind of feel the opposite, if it is more open then they will want to do it.

but, i dont really have a 16 year old daughter =D

[speedphantom]

Agreed Rain. No kid will remain that innocent and sheltered, not unless you homeschool them or something. No point hiding the truth. Just make sure they have a good attitude towards sex and don't go sleeping around........