CULTURE
We Could Learn a Lot About Sex From the Dutch
My Dutch relative’s views shocked me, but I immediately realized she was right
Americans are hung up about sex. Because our real religion is capitalism, we are comfortable using sex to sell stuff. Sex that is not in service to advertising, however, makes us squeamish.
This puts us in a dither when we have teenagers, but the Dutch have a better way, and we should learn from them.
I have always thought I was progressive. My mom told me precisely how babies were made at a young age, and I did the same with my children. I took it a few steps further, too. I talked with my kids not once, but many times, adding age-appropriate information as they matured.
Sex ed starts at home
One day, I told my son I needed help piling up brush and branches a storm had brought down.
“I can’t,” he claimed. “I have to study.”
He probably thought that was an iron-clad excuse, but I needed his muscles to help me move the heavy stuff, so I wasn’t going to be deterred that easily.
“What subject?” I asked him.
“Sex ed.”
