Emma Hutchins
Section: Opinions
“This one time…at band camp….” You know the movies. Them of the profanity-filled jokes that linger around late night time slots on Comedy Central. Long story short: sexually-frustrated-boy-meets-too-‘cool’-for-him-world and hilarity ensues. But beneath the façade of being a harmlessly crappy look into teen angst, these movies also place sexual pressures on the audience (of whom a good portion probably find the protagonist’s tale all too familiar).
On the other end of the spectrum, there are the abstinence crusaders—I even heard about one religious leader in our community who told kids that each time they engage in premarital sex, a baby is born to the devil—and we wouldn’t want that, would we?
But this article is not really about sex (sneaky title, huh?). It will neither tell you to invest in a chastity belt nor in plan b, because (surprise!) human sexuality is no simple concept, and certainly cannot fully be covered in a several-hundred-word high school opinions article.
Instead, I’m trying to question the healthiness of a culture in which young people’s sexual choices are pressured most vocally by two conflicting camps—the abstinence army and the hyper-sexualized entertainment industry.
Whether or not it is the explicit intention of either group, the dilemma many young adults face because of this clash in societal ideologies is important to look at because it leads to a cocktail of shame and confusion.
Essentially, neither philosophy gives young people enough credit for being able to make their own decisions. Instead, each camp projects its own views of appropriate sexuality onto teens, making experiences that could be about intimacy and emotional connection into an impossible choice: social necessity or moral wrong.
Yet each side makes a point. On one hand, the media is designed to entertain, and by making a caricature of something that is so interrelated to the teenage experience – hormones, awkwardness, you get the picture – they are in some, perhaps convoluted, way connecting to their audience.
From the other perspective, what is the rush to start running around the sexually-oriented bases? A lot of teenagers aren’t at a maturity level to deal with the intense emotional and physical consequences that can come from intimate activities – so why not preach for holding off?
Despite what those 4th generation American Pie spin-offs tell you, there is no rush to take things “fast”—whether that means a first kiss or something more. And despite what more conservative voices may say, there shouldn’t be guilt or shame associated with young people that embrace their sexuality in a responsible way.
Ultimately your sexual experiences belong to you, so whether you choose lifelong celibacy or take things to the “next” level, you should acknowledge the (sometimes clashing) cultural influences for their respective worth, but make your own decisions. If you do, you’ll have a lot fewer regrets with whatever you choose.
