Talking About Taboos
A November edition of The Economist reported on an event that US Christians are using to help youth abstain from sex until marriage.
'Some 40 couples showed up at a country club in the tiny Ohio town of Van Wert on November 11- not boyfriend and girlfriend but fathers and their school-aged daughters...dressed up in glittery gowns and heels. ...Fathers and daughters sign pledges to help keep the girls chaste before marriage...Then the father gives the daughter a ring, to be worn on her fourth finger until it is replaced by a wedding band. Hugs ensue, then a prayer, and then fathers and daughters take to the floor to the strains of 'Have I Told You Lately That I Love You.''
The first 'purity ball' started seven years ago in Colorado Springs. That event is now held in a five-star hotel with over 200 people in attendance. The article questioned why there weren't any events for boys, ending with the observation that 'otherwise the chaste will be constantly chased.'
Sex is still a fairly taboo topic in Cambodia. My vocab related to this topic is very limited. They didn't squeeze in a chapter about sex in my uni text book between Sokh Goes To The Market and Transport In Phnom Penh. So I've been wondering for some time about how to talk about it with the youth at the dorm. In recent weeks a surprising solution has come about. The answer is in a passionate first-year nursing student.
One of the girls in studying Public Health as one of her compulsory first-year subjects. Right now it is all about sex. I'm not sure how developed the sex-ed program is in high school state schools but this first-year student uni seems to be learning a lot! She's interested in her lessons and really wants to share her knowledge. She speaks passionately about STD's, AIDS, childbirth, contraception and unwanted pregnancies. She shows diagrams about correct and incorrect condom usage. She retells stories that the lecturer has told the class, including at what points he was serious, when he blushed (I thought it was only white people who blushed?!) and when he couldn't help but giggle.
It's all nice work for a first-year student...and cheaper than a purity ball.
'Some 40 couples showed up at a country club in the tiny Ohio town of Van Wert on November 11- not boyfriend and girlfriend but fathers and their school-aged daughters...dressed up in glittery gowns and heels. ...Fathers and daughters sign pledges to help keep the girls chaste before marriage...Then the father gives the daughter a ring, to be worn on her fourth finger until it is replaced by a wedding band. Hugs ensue, then a prayer, and then fathers and daughters take to the floor to the strains of 'Have I Told You Lately That I Love You.''
The first 'purity ball' started seven years ago in Colorado Springs. That event is now held in a five-star hotel with over 200 people in attendance. The article questioned why there weren't any events for boys, ending with the observation that 'otherwise the chaste will be constantly chased.'
Sex is still a fairly taboo topic in Cambodia. My vocab related to this topic is very limited. They didn't squeeze in a chapter about sex in my uni text book between Sokh Goes To The Market and Transport In Phnom Penh. So I've been wondering for some time about how to talk about it with the youth at the dorm. In recent weeks a surprising solution has come about. The answer is in a passionate first-year nursing student.
One of the girls in studying Public Health as one of her compulsory first-year subjects. Right now it is all about sex. I'm not sure how developed the sex-ed program is in high school state schools but this first-year student uni seems to be learning a lot! She's interested in her lessons and really wants to share her knowledge. She speaks passionately about STD's, AIDS, childbirth, contraception and unwanted pregnancies. She shows diagrams about correct and incorrect condom usage. She retells stories that the lecturer has told the class, including at what points he was serious, when he blushed (I thought it was only white people who blushed?!) and when he couldn't help but giggle.
It's all nice work for a first-year student...and cheaper than a purity ball.
posted by pip @ 5:37 pm
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