Gabrielle Rothman 1/14/2017 FHS 2450 Human Sexuality U1E1 Parental Communication

Question:
Why do you think some parents (maybe yours included) are hesitant to discuss sexuality
with their children? If you are not a parent, do you think you will communicate about
sexuality like your parents or will you approach the subject differently? If you are a
parent, have you communicated to your children about sexuality? Was your approach
different than your parents?
Answer: Word Count: 557
What is the one topic you are hesitant to talk about with your parents? Is it drinking,

drugs, sex, or all of the above? Coming from very European household, my family didnt worry

as much about underage drinking and hiding alcohol from us. They made it an approachable and

an everyday subject. However just like most parents I know, sex was something they covered our

eyes for and often changed channels for when it came on TV. My father would squirm out of his

chair whenever the topic of boys came up at dinner. I never truly understood why until now.

I often talk about how proud I am that my mother would talk about any and everything

with me. She had made any subject approachable, well almost any subject. When it came to sex,

my first actual Birds and Bees talk only occurred when I was an official teenager, 13. To my

mother I can only assume the timing was normal because that was when her mother had the same

conversation with her. I am now 23 and to this day sex is not a topic that is easy to talk to my

mother about and is never spoken of in front of my father. At times it appears to be as

uncomfortable for my mom as it would be for me to hear about my parents sex life. Having

worked in health care since I was 18 and having a very biology oriented major, I have come to

embrace that sex is human nature and without it none of us would be here today. Knowing what

I know now, I understand that my parents thought process stems from a very Absolutism belief

system.
 Absolutism by definition is a belief system based on the unconditional power and

authority of religion, law, and tradition. (Knox & Milstein p. 9) Growing up, this belief system

was how I shaped my sexual values. My parents had raised me that way and I didnt want to

disappoint them. Although as I got older and became more of my own person, my values evolved

with me. Things I experienced and sexual encounters I wanted to talk about with my mother

were difficult because I didnt conform to her beliefs as she had hoped. I had moved on from

their baby girl to an adult with my own beliefs; beliefs that were very in line with a Relativism

belief system. The only understanding we share when it comes to sex stems from a common

background of an absolutism system of belief

As parent, I believe that I would start taking about sex a lot sooner and make it a normal

topic in my house. I understand that as infants grow to toddlers and then into teenagers, sexual

self-concept plays a huge role. In todays society having sex as early as 15 is steadily becoming

common practice and I cant even begin to imagine where it will be in 5 or 10 years. It would be

my main priority to give them a safe place to come to for accurate information. I of course would

want my children to share the beliefs that my parents and I both share about waiting for the right

person, but I know from personal experience that beliefs and values fluctuate all the time as one

gets older.
 REFERENCES

Knox, D., & Milstein, S. (2017). Human Sexuality: Making Informed Decisions (5th ed.) [with
Salt Lake Community College supplement]. Redding, CA: BVT Publishing.