Sex. It’s funny how such a small word has such a big meaning to most people.
When I was growing up it seemed that sex was everywhere, particularly on television. I remember watching shows where high school and college students were having sex like it was nothing, just something to do on a Saturday night.
I remember watching these shows and not feeling much of anything, because sex hadn’t affected my life. Yet.
As I grew older, most of my friends were in relationships and had already lost their virginity. At this point I had barely kissed a guy, let alone had sex.
Even so, I never felt like this was a big deal. They had made their own decisions. Being a virgin never gave me sleepless nights. In fact, I slept a lot better back in those days.
I remember my friends being terrified when their period was four days late. I remember listening to them all gush about their boyfriends or “boy of the week.” I even remember hearing someo of them say that “sex isn’t a big deal, honestly.just get it over with.”
But it wasn’t something I wanted to “just get over.”
Nor was it something I wanted to fear. I was raised Catholic, so the overall teaching was to wait for marriage or go to hell.
In my religion and health classes they preached scare tactics. We learned of “the dangers of STDs” and “burning in the fires of hell.”
I never really put much stock in that.
Even with all this negative energy towards sex, it’s amazing how I came to have such a positive opinion about it. I knew it was something I had to come to terms with myself. I also knew that I wanted it to be with someone I truly loved.
The way I think about it, I wasn’t “saving myself” or “waiting for marriage,” I was just waiting. The fact that I didn’t have my first relationship until now, in my junior year of college, probably has a lot to do with it too.
Now that I am in a serious and loving relationship, I still view sex the same way. I believe that sex is about the joining of two people in love. It’s about love, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it should wait until marriage. Most importantly, I believe that if you are going to have sex you should be smart about it and use protection.
The point is that sex is a big deal. It isn’t wrong or taboo. It’s a natural part of life and it is something that everyone has to come to terms with in their own way.
