"Harmful to Minors" by Judith Levine

[Scott]

Have any of you read "Harmful to Minors: The Perils of Protecting Children from Sex" by Judith Levine?

I just found out about this book. It seems very interesting to me. I'm going to request it from the library today.

Here are two descriptions:

"In America today, it is nearly impossible to publish a book that says children and teenagers can have sexual pleasure and be safe too," writes journalist Levine (My Enemy, My Love). Levine has somehow pulled that off. Western European countries assume that "sexual expression is a healthy and happy part of growing up"; thus Levine argues that sex is not necessarily bad for minors, and that puritanical attitudes often backfire. According to her, as the age of sexual initiation drops in America, the age of consent is rising. She observes that most so-called pedophiles are attracted to teenagers rather than kids an important subtlety recently aired in the media. (Still, her call for common sense on pedophilia is marred by an inadequate acknowledgment of the extent of online child porn, as documented in Philip Jenkins's recent Beyond Tolerance.) She notes the disturbing trend toward pathologizing young children's eroticized play and criticizes mainstream America for letting the Christian right steer sex education toward an emphasis on abstinence. Compounding that, she says, the right wing has expunged abortion discussions. A Ms. and Nerve.com contributor, Levine argues, contra Mary Pipher (Reviving Ophelia), that love may ruin teenage girls more than sex. At one point, Levine cogently contends that the term "normal" is "subjective and protean"; she prefers "normative," which means "what most people do." It's a good start to confronting some vital questions.

Journalist and free-speech activist Levine (My Enemy, My Love: Women, Men, and the Dilemmas of Gender) here argues that trying to protect young people from sex can actually exacerbate or even create the much-feared sexual danger. Her well-documented horror stories of zealotry and incompetence are chilling; Levine is particularly good at showing that abstinence-based sex education leaves many teens without the information they need to make intelligent choices. Misrepresentations of fact, unfounded assumptions, the runaway media hype offered by so-called experts, conservative agendas, and simple conformity, she writes, largely determine our approaches to censorship, "the pedophile panic," youthful sexual behavior, sex education, abortion, and the suppression of information about sexual pleasure. These factors, she holds, predispose young people to have bad sex with unwanted outcomes. Instead of overreaction and overprotection, adults need to saturate their children's world with accurate, realistic information and images of love and sex, including sexual pleasure. Her book, which provoked considerable controversy even before its publication, provides no easy answers to a complex question but is highly recommended as a wake-up call.

What do you think?

[Tracey Neal]

Egh! this is a touchy subject is it not? Umm and were does one start, haha.
I guess with (my) own views..I absolutely don't agree with most of her opinions, I think children now days are already growing up too fast. Now these are just my opinions everyone, but to me a 10 year old knows as much as a 15 year old. Sex is everywhere, so I think its really hard unless your raising your kids away from society, to keep them from seeing stuff. Most pre-teens and teenagers are exposed to sexual situations just by watching tv, listening to music, I mean come on..Jamie Lynn Spears is pregnant and she is just 16! Shes one of Nickelodeon's biggest money generators! Girls all over are watching her! Its in the schools..in books..on the internet, so like I stated earlier unless your raising your kids on a remote island..or keeping them at home..homeschooling and all that, its hard not to keep them from learning. And kids in church..or Christian kids are no exception. Its going on there too.
Some kids might pretend or lie to their parents about knowing, but most already know.


("Levine is particularly good at showing that abstinence-based sex education leaves many teens without the information they need to make intelligent choices." )-

And her remark here I disagree with, even kids that are practicing (abstinence) knows about sex. And whether they know more or less about sex than another teen doesn't mean their not intelligent enough to make good choices, I mean you are going to have bad situations in all areas of life...thats just life. One point she mentioned made sense..(that sometimes its love that hurts young girls rather than sex). Ok, yeah I see that...but that can happen at any age in your life. Thats love..doesn't mean I'm going to teach my kids more about sex though. You can get your heartbroken regardless if your having sex or not. Maybe teach more about love?? I don't think parents should be exposing their kids to (more) sex like she suggests. I myself I'm pretty open minded. But she to (me) has a twisted outlook on the approach to kids and sex. Besides I feel they learn enough on their own. I say be there for them when they need you. But she also says this-
("adults need to saturate their children's world with accurate, realistic information and images of love and sex, including sexual pleasure.")

That just seems f**ked up to me. But to each their own. But as open minded as I tend to be, I won't be sitting down chilling with my kids showing them images of sexual pleasure Nooo thank you. I'll just take the old fashion route and I don't consider it Christian either, like she is trying to insinuate. Birds and bees have been around a lonngggg time Teaching them morals and how to respect themselves and how to cope with heartache and first loves will be my main concern. And these are just my opinions everyone