Most Important Social Norms
Sex. The word alone, not only grabs your attention, but also probably makes you feel a little uncomfortable. For some reason, talking about sex has become a taboo in this modern day society. This norm has developed and has affected our society in more ways than you would imagine. This is, arguably, one of the most important social norms this country needs to break. This idea of sex being uncomfortable/wrongful to talk about is something that can only lead to many consequences among American youth. In order to understand the consequences of this social norm, one must understand the root of this taboo. According to cultural anthropologist Ernest Becker, sex is such a problem because it reminds humans of their basic, core animalistic nature (Heflick). In other words, sex has branched away from being purely for child baring purposes and this
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Sex education at home is almost nonexistent. Sex education should be a parent’s responsibility; but in many cases, the parents are ill-equipped to adequately educate their children on all the factors regarding safe sex, and all the consequences of unsafe sex, or are too embarrassed to talk to their children about sex, and vice versa. As a result, the issue may never be addressed which may lead to the child making uniformed, unhealthy decisions about sex. Moreover, parents often face a great deal of resistance from their teens when they raise the topic of sex. Teens often don’t welcome these conversations and are embarrassed by them. Many parents, in fact, confessed that they are frankly relieved when their teens do not want to have family conversations about sex; they aren’t particularly comfortable with this topic either. The parents’ stories made me realize just how hard it still is to talk about sex in our
Sex education at home is almost nonexistent. Sex education should be a parent’s responsibility; but in many cases, the parents are ill-equipped to adequately educate their children on all the factors regarding safe sex, and all the consequences of unsafe sex, or are too embarrassed to talk to their children about sex, and vice versa. As a result, the issue may never be addressed which may lead to the child making uniformed, unhealthy decisions about sex. Moreover, parents often face a great deal of resistance from their teens when they raise the topic of sex. Teens often don’t welcome these conversations and are embarrassed by them. Many parents, in fact, confessed that they are frankly relieved when their teens do not want to have family conversations about sex; they aren’t particularly comfortable with this topic either. The parents’ stories made me realize just how hard it still is to talk about sex in our