The Evolution of Sex

The Evolution of Sex

Take the 1960s notion of free love, combine with today's sexually active teenagers who expect no emotional commitment, and you have the modern definition for “hook up.” The term evolved just as many ideas about sex have in this last century. Hooking up is no longer just kissing, it involves oral sex and also intercourse, it is all about the casual sex.

The practice of casual sex is more popular among American teenagers; however, the feelings of independence and empowerment obtained by it are not the only consequences. Having multiple random partners can result in sexually transmitted diseases (STD), HIV, unwanted pregnancies and other physical risks. Moreover, depression and intimacy problems can bear psychological problems and harm a practitioner more than believed.

“(Casual sex) does make me feel empowered...and it can be quite a lot of fun. But you have to go into it with your head fully wrapped around the idea that nothing will result from it, that it doesn’t mean anything besides two people giving into their physical desires,” said 19-year-old, Boston student, Danielle.

Like Danielle, many young adults, and teenagers, have sex without attachment. For example, more than half of 11th-graders surveyed by the Bowling Green State University, in Ohio, said they have had intercourse, and of them a 60 percent did it with an acquaintance, they survey said. That number may have been higher if the survey had included oral sex, said the university.

For many teenagers having sex with acquaintances it is their first experience. The reasons why they rush into sex may vary, but include peer pressure and a desire to live the experience at once. A recent SexSmarts survey, by the Kaiser Family Foundation and...

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...ill one’s sexual desires while hindering sentiments, said the SexEtc Web site.

Teenagers and young adults need to be taught that having sex is not just another fact of life and that it has a meaning, and it has consequences. Whether a young person decides to have sex or wait until marriage, parents or guardians need to respect their decisions and keep an open door policy so that they can feel safe to ask questions and make thought out, balanced, decisions.

"When you reach a certain age of maturity you can decide if you’re emotionally capable of handling the consequences," said Danielle. "My parents gave us a lot of freedom and I am very thankful it because we were able to talk like adults when I was a teenager and they answered my questions head-on, that’s the only way to make sure that your children don’t turn elsewhere for their personal sexual education."