Introduction
Sexuality involves sexual intercourse in all its forms and includes different social activities. According to Strong, DeVault and Sayad, sexuality is diversified in contemporary America (2005, p. 31). There are various forms of sex which include male and female intercourse, female to female intercourse (lesbians) and male to male intercourse (homosexuals).The most common and accepted sexual behavior is the intercourse between a man and a woman. However, the concept of sexuality varies from one social institution to the other. These institutions may include religion, educational systems and culture. Formal education about sexuality is very important although not everyone gets the chance of being educated. This paper aims to address sexuality education and includes values, attitudes, beliefs and behaviors associated with sex.
My Sexuality Education
I am a 29 year old lady who is taking a sex and sexuality class. I was eight years old when I first learned about sex and sexual behavior. At that time, my aunt had just delivered a baby boy and I had gone to visit her in the hospital. I was so naïve during those days although I was always inquisitive. I kept on wondering where babies came from and no-one ever told me the truth. Whenever I asked my mother, she would tell me that babies were a gift from the hospital though I was never contented with her answers. I decided to ask my aunt about this mystery that had been bothering me. To my satisfaction, she told me that babies are not gifts but come about through the process of delivery. She explained to me that there has to be an intercourse between a man and a woman before a baby is formed. She was so open with me that she did not mind about my age.
As I was growing up, my mother taught me about cultural values, beliefs and attitudes associated with sexuality. I remember I learnt that a respectable lady should not have sexual intercourse with a man before marriage. In as much as a lady interacts with people of the opposite sex, she should avoid any sexual contact with them. I also leant that a lady should behave in a respectable manner whenever she is with people of the opposite sex. This includes how she dresses and handles herself. My aunt always told me to take care of myself because there are men who can ruin my life.
I got scared of men because I knew my life would be destroyed if I associated with them. I developed a negative attitude towards men although this was short lived as I realized I was wrong. I realized that of the opposite sex are also our brothers, fathers, uncles, cousins and even friends. The fundamental factor is how a lady behaves in their presence. With the knowledge that my aunt told me about babies, I always knew that sexual behavior is bad because I would get pregnant if I was reckless with my sexual behavior. I received formal education about sexuality when I was in school. In class we were taught that sexual behavior could result in pregnancies, sexually transmitted diseases and even HIV/AIDs. We were taught that people who could not abstain from sex should always use protection in order to avoid sexually transmitted diseases. As an individual, I learnt how to prevent myself from indulging in sexual behaviors. I laid down my own principles on how I would put off men who were after sexual satisfaction. I still follow some of the values, attitude and behaviors I learnt as I was growing up. What I still follow is the idea of abstaining from sexual behavior until the time I will get married. What has changed about my sexual beliefs is that I interact a lot with people of the opposite sex although I always stick to my principles. No matter how much I interact with men, I always know my boundaries so as to avoid engaging myself in any kind of sexual behavior.
My current philosophy of sex and sexuality is that I should not involve myself in any sexual behavior before I get married. In my culture, women are respect and I would not want to lower my dignity by having sex before marriage. I believe that sex is only meant for the married, and not people who are just in boyfriend- girlfriend relationships. I also believe that when people are still in relationships, it is difficult to predict if they will get married. This is because relationships before marriage are always bound to break up and one may have to move through several relationships for them to get the right person. In such a scenario, if a lady had sex with several men, then she would lose her dignity. This philosophy may influence my future work positively because no man at my work place will take advantage of me. I will make my principles clear to any man who makes sexual advances to me. With my principles, I might get respect from my workmates because I will not be sleeping with every Tom, Dick and Hurry.
Conclusion
In my sexual education, I learnt that men are more sexually active compared to women because men are easily lured by sex. I also learnt that a woman can stay for a very longer time without having sex. For men, it is difficult for them to contain themselves for a very long time, but this does not mean that men are not in a position to abstain from sex, at least until marriage.
Reference
Strong, B., DeVault, C., Sayad, B.W., & Yarber, W.L. (2005). Human sexuality: Diversity in contemporary America (5th Ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.