The Dichotomy of Sex in America

“It’s ironic that [the] more open societies have fewer problems associated with adolescent sexual activity, because much parental resistance to sex education in the United States is predicated on the notion that it will lead to more teen sex. American parents fear that if teachers talk to teens about sex in a classroom, the information will somehow trigger their interest in it–as if teens have not heard of sex before taking a health class on it.”

DAVID WALSH, Why do they Act That Way?

         Why is it that in a country so driven by sexualized media, topics such as safe sex, birth control, and the sex education of our youth have become taboo and uncomfortable to discuss? Sexual imagery pollutes almost every aspect our consumer lives. Billboards, internet, commercials, magazines, movies, television; all of which are progressively becoming more overtly sexualized; and yet as a country, America leads the polls in teen pregnancies, abortions, and reported cases of sexually transmitted diseases. Perhaps the problem lies in the approach to sexual education in young adults; a topic that remains controversial despite the growing epidemic of sexually active teens.

It’s a shame to see this dichotomy take its toll on our nation. Over-sexualizing aspects of everyday life, while maintaining the stigma that talking about sex and promoting safe sex somehow increases the prevalence of teen sex. The fact of the matter is that teens are going to have sex whether or not they understand the risks, so why not make preventive measures more readily available instead of ignoring the problem in hopes that it will go away? The US has three times as many teen pregnancies per year than any European country. I believe the reasoning behind this is the liberal attitude that Europeans have in regards to sex. It’s a topic that is open for conversation, as it should be. Sex is one of our most basic human practices—so why the embarrassment and the need to hide it? In an article called Sex in the Media, Sarah Gilbert notes, “There is a major disconnect between what mainstream media portray — casual sex and sexuality with no consequences — and what children and teenagers need.” Unfortunately, since we no longer live in the 1950s,  abstinence-only education is no longer the answer.

While remaining at the top of the charts for issues such as teen pregnancy, HIV prevalence, and abortion rates, the only category that the US scored the lowest on was condom and contraceptive usage; explicitly laying out the reasoning behind the other statistics. But what’s being done about this? Rather than providing the facts about sex (the anatomy of it, how to be safe about it, as well as the risks,) society keeps spitting out more junk in the media about an idealized version of it. More and more shows are entering the mainstream media such as Jersey Shore, The Bachelor, The Real World: all showing unrealistic sexual scenarios in which there are no explicit consequences following. As Gilbert mentions in her article, these shows “corrolat[e] with beliefs in a double standard—that men are sex driven and women are sexual adversaries.”

Another shocking statistic shows that 61% of adolescent females in France use a form of contraceptive birth control, a fifty-percent increase from the 11% of teen girls in the US.  Also, studies show that a sexually active teen who does not use a contraceptive has a 90% chance of becoming pregnant within a year (If the US offered teens more access to sexual health information and services, perhaps the number of girls using birth control would increase and correlate a decrease in teen pregnancy. Until the US admits that sex is a normal and healthy part of being a human, and addresses it in such a way to promote good sexual health—these numbers will continue to increase.

The epitome of stupidity in regard to birth control was so elegantly delivered in a speech by presidential hopeful and public lunatic, Mitt Romney. Perhaps confused about the purpose of contraceptives, Romney wants to cut off funding to organizations such as Planned Parenthood; whose mission includes pregnancy prevention, birth control, counseling, and family planning. Suggesting that birth control accessibility somehow encourages teens and young adults to be sexually active, he naively responded to a question on this topic, “If you want access to free birth control, vote for the other guy.” Well said Romney, well said.

Unless there is a dramatic change of pace in the sexual education of our youth, these numbers will continue to climb. The more sex is thrown in our faces through the media and advertising industries, the further the gap between idealized, consequence-free sex, and our youth’s perception of a healthy, sexual relationship.