Ants in the Pants

My mom and I were talking on the phone when she told me about how bothered my sister was over an SMS my sister read in my niece's phone. If you're weirded out as to why my sister was snooping around her daugher's phone, you have to understand that we come from a very paranoid and neurotic family. My mother could have been a Stasi spy, I swear.

"She read that Christen was texting a male classmate about the love scene in the Twilight movie!"

"So what ma, that is no big deal."

"No big deal?!"

I have to say though that my views on sexuality is very liberal for Filipino standards, they always have been.

"I guess I'm too German already," I said as an explanation. "Kids as early as 12 get to see sex scenes in movies at school."

"But she's only 10!"

"But see, that's the reason why they lose ther virginity at age 12!"

I remember thinking back to the time when I promised myself that this would never happen to my child. I still find the thought disturbing, but now I am a bit more...open-minded.

"Well that's not true for everybody here. That still depends on upbringing. Thomas did not lose his virginity at age 12. In fact, he was a late-bloomer. Besides, what's better, sex at 12, or teenaged pregnancy?"

My mom was silent, because I hit a nerve. "She just doesn't want her daughter to end up like her, you know."

That's what I find ridiculous about the hypocrisy going on. My sister throws a fit when a commercial even shows a whiff of immorality when her life is as unorthodox as it comes. I understand where she's coming from though. I guess my family is not yet ready for sex-ed.

Another friend of mine, also a Filipina, is incredulous that her 15-year old stepdaughter is desperate to lose her virginity. Their relationship resembles the mom and daughter in Forty Year-old Virgin. "Hello, that's normal! She's fifteen! Don't you remember the time when you just wanted to get it over with? I certainly do."

The German lassez-faire approach to teen sexuality appeals to me because I believe that teens are gonna fool around, there's nothing I can do to stop it, and I'd rather that they'd do it in a way that is safe for everybody involved.

Get back to me in 13 years though.