Generation Confused, etc.

      In Heather Boerner's article 'Generation Confused' , she discusses the topic of what 'sexual health' really means today and what is the true value of all the technological and pharmacuetical advances we have made in sexual protection.  Sex-positiveness regarding parent to teen relationships generally covers parents dispelling knowledge about physical protection from pregnancy to STD's to their teens.  In 'sexual health', the author is referring what most people consider as physically being safe from the reprecussions of sexual activity.   However, she is trying to push the point that teens have been getting a plethora of mixed messages about attitudes and comfort in their dispositions towards sex.  Teens are bombarded with an association of pharmacueticals with healthy sex, but healthy sex needs to be seen as an emotional entity.  It seems parents rather close their eyes to the complexities and desires of teen sexuality, and while telling them to wait to have sex they still urge them to use protection.  Its as if they are being denied any information on being in an intimate sexual relationship if they do not wait to have sex.  It's as if it's easier for parents to only talk about the medical side of sex in a way of showing their responsibility towards their teens actions, when really what is important is how they understand sex in an emotional, passionate, yet serious way.

 The kind of things that would be healthy for teens to explore is valuing the other person in the relationship, and to understand it is a mutual exchange.   In the position of boys, the author brings up the idea of boys being equally responsible in sex, in providing protection, or even Plan B for instance.   I think that with  the advent of things like Plan B and newer types of birth control, it doesn't mean that responsibility towards your partner should be any less. 

      'Wet Dreams' from boysunderattack.com was an article meant to be read by young boys as a way of explaining the phenonmenon of wet dreams to young boys.  It goes through the reason for wet dreams, and often how they are concocted in the mind.  Alot of this article contained accounts from boys themselves and what they dreamt about, which often included dreams about family members, men, or boys their age.  The article explained how it is common for this to happen, and that is does not exactly equate the boy to being gay.  In a strange way, the article almost leaned too far, as to say that  boys should really not worry about being gay, as if it's a very unnatural and worrisome thing.  The whole point of the article seemed to be about making sure that boys masculinity would still stay intact even if they had dreams about other men and to not act on dreams or decide that you are gay.  In the end of the article, the congratulate you if you have had your first dream, equating it to the passage into manhood.  Overall, I think this article was confusing and to biased and laid out too many confusing ideas about something natural that happens to boys.

Hopfefully boys don't have to always go on the internet to learn about things like this, and could ideally be taught from parents who would be comfortable enough in talking to them about it.  To me, sexual health for boys needs to be more cultivated from open, non-embarrassed parents instead of the media.