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infiniteandsmallThis essay is very interesting and brings up yet another bad thing about the abstinence-only, limited and vague sex ed that most conservative homeschoolers get.
I never received any kind of sex ed (I literally learned everything I know about sex from fanfic, though I was reading graphic sex scenes when I was pretty young and knew about sex before any of my friends did), and as a result, I thought I was asexual because I felt nothing towards boys. The nice tingly feelings I got from girls? Didn't everyone feel that? I thought that when I was attracted towards boys, something bigger and more explosive would happen. I would feel fluttery towards all of them, to a one, be intrigued and excited and unable to hold a conversation or think of anything else.
Then I realized that, hey lesbians existed, around the same time I had my first crush, one celebrity and one in real life, both girls, and realized that, hey, maybe I was one?
I was never told what I would experience, physically or emotionally, never opened up to other ideas about sexuality (asexuality felt much more acceptable and something I had more experience with, as a few of my good online friends were asexual whereas I mostly watched Teh Gays of my forum with a shy kind of interest, trying to find what it was all about and how it wasn't actually a horrible sin, and yes I was kind of a little shit at ten years old).
I thought (annnd here's that TMI alert) being aroused meant that there was an infection down there, but I was too scared to tell my mom. Then I read a very graphic femslash ficlet and smacked my head and went THANK GOD I'm just turned on, but not before I had gotten an infection by shoving my mom's tampons in and leaving them in way too long. I didn't realize they weren't supposed to hurt, which again: I was not very intelligent as a child.
Basically keeping kids in ignorance of their bodies, sexuality (what it is and that they have it) and treating the whole thing like it's a shameful terrible bother is actively harmful and I think it sucks.
I never received any kind of sex ed (I literally learned everything I know about sex from fanfic, though I was reading graphic sex scenes when I was pretty young and knew about sex before any of my friends did), and as a result, I thought I was asexual because I felt nothing towards boys. The nice tingly feelings I got from girls? Didn't everyone feel that? I thought that when I was attracted towards boys, something bigger and more explosive would happen. I would feel fluttery towards all of them, to a one, be intrigued and excited and unable to hold a conversation or think of anything else.
Then I realized that, hey lesbians existed, around the same time I had my first crush, one celebrity and one in real life, both girls, and realized that, hey, maybe I was one?
I was never told what I would experience, physically or emotionally, never opened up to other ideas about sexuality (asexuality felt much more acceptable and something I had more experience with, as a few of my good online friends were asexual whereas I mostly watched Teh Gays of my forum with a shy kind of interest, trying to find what it was all about and how it wasn't actually a horrible sin, and yes I was kind of a little shit at ten years old).
I thought (annnd here's that TMI alert) being aroused meant that there was an infection down there, but I was too scared to tell my mom. Then I read a very graphic femslash ficlet and smacked my head and went THANK GOD I'm just turned on, but not before I had gotten an infection by shoving my mom's tampons in and leaving them in way too long. I didn't realize they weren't supposed to hurt, which again: I was not very intelligent as a child.
Basically keeping kids in ignorance of their bodies, sexuality (what it is and that they have it) and treating the whole thing like it's a shameful terrible bother is actively harmful and I think it sucks.
