Let's talk about 'sexuality', not 'sex'!
Sep 24, 2021
I recently had the pleasure of speaking to Jo Stanley and Kerrie Stanley on Broad Radio for Women’s Health Week.
We spoke about removing shame and stigma from talking about sexuality,
modelling healthy, respectful relationships for your children, talking about pleasure and much more.
In this chat, I spoke about the difference between sex and sexuality, and how I don’t like the word sex. If you have come to one of my parent or teacher presentations, you would have heard me talk about this before.
I always ask parents “What do people think when you hear the word sex?” The responses always vary because sex and sexuality mean different things to different people. It is not really a helpful word and I think it’s important to think about what limits our responses to that questions so we know how to have more positive conversations around sex and sexuality moving forwards.
Here is some feedback I received from a parent on this very question:
This is a reminder that we need to be mindful about how our relationship with sexuality impacts our children. Sexuality is often spoken about with fear and shame, but it is a part of being human. This is how it should be communicated to young people to allow them to write their own script to their sexuality journey through life.
When parents refuse to do the homework for them that I send home with kids, when they express disgust in talking about or having their kids learn about these topics, their kids will absorb that messaging and carry it with them too. Kids are getting a sexuality education every day, whether you like it or not. So as parents, you need to provide them with positive and accurate information that counteracts the messages they are getting elsewhere.
This interview also covered information for adults that went beyond sexuality education as a parent. Often you get to hear me talk about how as a parent you can support your child as they learn about sexuality, so it was great to be able to talk to adults about nurturing their own relationship with sexuality. It’s important to remember that as adults and/or as parents, our relationship with our body and sexuality should be a priority and learning about sexuality never stops, regardless of your age.
I hope this interview can be a good reminder to everyone to have more positive conversations about sex and sexuality, and if you need any tips on how to have those conversations, I'll always here to help.
You can watch my chat with Broad Radio on Youtube or Facebook.
Here are some of blogs mentioned in the chat:
