Authors: Alfred Vernacchio
normalizing talking about sex, ideas for, 61–66
opening lines, samples, 41–42
pizza metaphors for sexuality, 54–57
preparing to talk with a child or teen about sexuality, 39
romance language about sex, 37–38
secret language and, 34–36
slang, 33–34
talking about lessons learned from early sexual experiences of parents, conversation starters, 189–90
talking about sexuality, conversation starters, 40–42
talking about sexual orientation and, 145
talking to young children about sexuality and their bodies, 63–65
technology and, 210
conceptual models, 51
condoms, 16–17
baseball metaphors for, 52
STDs and, 198
contraception, 29, 196–97
cougars, 128
dating
formula for age of youngest person to date, 83
power imbalance in, example, 82–83
decision-making
about intercourse, 53–54
about sexuality, reviewing recent, 29
external factors determining (baseball model), 53
gender assumptions and, 121–22
keeping the lights on and, 198–99
parents offering choices to children and learning good skills, 87
pizza model for sexuality and, 56
relationships and, 78, 79, 80
sobriety and, 192
“value free” or “value neutral,” 22
values and, 22, 23, 25
demisexuality, 137
“Dove: Evolution” (YouTube video), 164–65
Dunham, Lena, 7
emotions, 7, 10, 15, 98, 176, 183.
See also
anxiety; intimacy; love; relationships
boys vs. girls, expression of, 120
broadcasting, parental, 62–63
coming-out experiences and, 143
electronic communication and avoidance of, 213, 216
emotional risk, 47, 148
expression of sadness and grief, 90
first serious sexual and/or romantic relationship and, 73
giving teens permission to feel their feelings, 91
guilt, as positive, 25
honest expression of/“owning,” 86
hurting and healing, 93
masturbation and, 43–44, 187
oral sex and, 43
readiness for sex and, 15–16, 29
surviving first breakup and stages of grief and healing, 89–95
variations in romantic feelings, 98–99
equality, 26, 28, 30, 82
gender roles and lack of, 121
loss of, in relationships as sign of trouble, 95
maintaining individuality and personal power in a relationship, 83–85, 99
pizza metaphor and, 56
in relationships, 82
sexual activity and, 122–24, 191
erogenous zone, 14
Estefan, Gloria, 31
Facebook, 8, 210, 215
preteens on, 223
family philosophy of sex, 19–42
Question Box, 42–46
foreplay, 203
friendships, 73, 74, 75, 78, 220
intimacy of, 77
problem of “friends with benefits,” 76–77
responsibility and, 87
undesirable, parental response to, 81
gender codes, 120–21
gender identity, xii, 3, 4, 106–8, 135
assumptions about, 121–22, 135
assumptions about whether someone is male or female and their physical appearance, 126–27
authenticity in, 113
bullying and, 136
definition of term, 133
gender expression and, 133–34, 135
healthy sexuality and, 108
internal, innate sense of, 113
other vs. opposite gender, 111
Question Box queries about, 126–28
television and stereotyping of, 107, 107n
transgender people, 137
variations other than male and female (intersex, transgender, transsexual, genderqueer and more), 112–13
gender myths
male and female are all there is myth, 112–13
male and female genitals are different myth, 109–12
Gender Project, 124–25
gender roles (gender scripts), 2, 114
bromance movies and, 120
“A Day at the Beach” activity and assumptions about gender, 114–17
definition of term, 117
determining factors, macrosociety and microcommunities, 119–20
gender expression and, 118–19
“gender foul,” 118, 120–21
Gender Project, 124–25
heterosexual boys vs. girls, 119–21
individual decisions about conforming to, 121–22
inequality and, 121
influencing of teen behavior, 118–19
movies and depiction of, 120–21
oral sex and, 122–23
popular culture and, 117
sexism or heterosexism and, 121
sexuality and, 122–24
genitals (“junk”), 3, 21, 61, 63, 187, 201.
See also
penis; sexual activity; vulva/vagina
building a relationship with, 176–81
gender identity and atypical, 112–13
intercourse and, 33
language about and children, 36–37, 63–64
“lost genitals” activity, 103–5
male vs. female (Play-Doh activity), 109–11
self-exploration of, 186
sexual stimulation and, 14, 138, 144, 202
George, Kenneth, 86
GI Joe (male action figure), 167
Girls
(TV drama), 7–8
Go Ask Alice (website), 181
Gray, John, 108
guilt, 25
heterosexism, 121, 131, 151–52, 203
definition of term, 121
heterosexuality, 24, 32, 63, 105, 116, 135
as assumed sexual orientation, 143
assumptions about, 59–60
gender scripts and, 119–20
as a sexual orientation, 136
synonyms for, 33
virginity and gender, 128
hickeys, 69–70
Hite Report, The: A National Study of Female Sexuality
, 186
HIV/AIDS, 36, 222
abstinence education and, ix–x
homophobia, 153, 154, 178
homosexuality (gay/lesbian), 129–60.
See also
sexual orientation
baseball metaphor for, 52, 54
“coming out,” 142–43, 145
coming out to others, 146–49
female-female sex and, 158–59
gay males, 134
men dancing together and, 157
parent-child conversation about, 62–63
percentage of Americans who are openly homosexual, 156–57
prejudice about, 149–54
prejudice about, eliminating, 154–55
self-recognition and self-definition, 143–46
societal attitudes and, 142
virginity and, 188–89
hookup or hooking up, 2, 34, 38, 45, 53, 71, 72, 73–74, 75–76, 77, 78–79, 159, 212
Howe, Leland, 22
“human sexual response cycle,” 14
Huynh, Lisa, 29
hymen, 193
identity.
See also
gender identity
adolescents and, 88
breaking up of a romance and growth, 94
gender and, 107–8
loss of, in relationships, 94
maintaining individuality and personal power in a romance, 83–85
I’m, Like, SO Fat!
(Neumark-Sztainer), 164
infatuation, 99
intercourse, 194
advice by teens about, 9
average age for first, 190–91
average duration of, 203
definition of, 33
feedback from a partner and, 194–96
first time, girls’ assumptions about, 59–60
first time, questions about, 188, 193
foreplay and, 203
hymen and, 193–94
keeping the lights on and, 198–99
“making love” as, 37
nervousness about, 191–92
orgasm in women and, 186
pain and, 193
percentage of teens having, 8, 67
pregnancy and contraception, 196–97
readiness for, 188–96
relationship intimacy and, 53–54
romance language and, 37–38
rule for, 191
sexual pleasure and, 186
words for, 33
International Journal of Eating Disorders
, 166
Internet
avoidance of relationships and, 85
dangers of postings on, 95
formula for age of youngest person to date, 83
parental rules about, 81
pornography, xi, 226–30
rules and limits set by parents, 224–25
sexual information on, xi
sexual messages from, 7
smartphones and online access, 223
intersex people, 113
intimacy (emotional intimacy), xi, xii, 1, 13, 15, 19, 38, 44, 54, 74, 120, 201
Circles of Intimacy lesson, 218–20
electronic communication and, 212, 215
friendships and, 75
friends with benefits and, 77
love, component of, 74
meaning of having extreme sexual attractions to one gender but extreme emotional and (only slight) sexual attractions to the other, 159–60
oral sex and, 43
romantic or sexual relationships and, 75–76, 90, 122, 156, 159
Sternberg’s definition of, 74
Kaiser Family Foundation, 67
Kantor, Leslie, ix
Kinsey, Alfred, 157
Kirschenbaum, Howard, 22
Kübler-Ross, Elisabeth, 91
Lady Gaga, 131
love, 2, 7, 29
adolescents and, 5, 8, 12, 90–91, 99–100, 138
baseball metaphor for sexuality lacking, 54
being in love with two people at the same time, 99–100
commitment, 74
guidance about healthy ways to express, 12
intimacy (emotional intimacy), 74
Kenneth George’s definition of romantic love, 86, 99
lack of sexual attraction and, 100–101
parental response to adolescent’s feelings of, 12
passion, 74
Sternberg’s three components, 74
lust, 7, 99
Lyons, Jenna, 118
Masters, William, and Virginia Johnson, 14–15
masturbation, 29, 70, 181–87
autoerotic asphyxiation, dangers of, 185–86
girls and, 186
male assumptions about, 182–83
myths and, 184–85
pornography and, 232
sexual pleasure and, 183
signs of problems and, 185
stress relief and, 183–84
values test for, 43–44
walking in on your teen, 199–200
words for, 32–33
Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus
(Gray), 108
morals and values.
See
values
Morgan, Michael, 107
MSM (men having sex with men), 137
No Second Chances
(film), x
nudity, 29
sexting or online posting, 220–21
Obama, Barack, x
omnisexuality, 137
oral sex, 3, 7, 33, 189
gender scripts and, 122–23
query about semi-virginity and, 202–3
values test for, 42–43
orgasm, 194
girls and, 186, 202
masturbation and, 183
myths and, 202
stress relief and, 183–84