Wednesday, June 11, 2008

IT

I remember an awkward experience
the evening before my wedding day
my mother quietly asked if I,
soon to be married, knew about IT?
I guessed she meant the birds and the bees
or the S word not spoken aloud in her day
quickly assuring her that I knew, she left
relieved that her parental duty was done

Actually I knew very little about anything
only the brief facts explained in textbooks
or special segregated lectures in school
with embarrassing anatomical diagrams
Being an only child of a widowed mother
I wasn’t acquainted with the male anatomy
so my studies in art museums of nude statues
met two needs––scholastic and IT information

When I’d started my menstral periods
I frantically thought I was sick or dying
my mother hadn’t thought to prepare me
because menstration was connected to IT
I’d thought and wondered a lot about the subject
frequently discussed among my friends and
laughed about at late night slumber parties,
all of us were curious and mystified

Did our parents really do IT
we guessed so, because we were all born
but did they only do IT once or twice
in a lifetime just to have another baby?
What a truly intriguing topic,
someone always had some new tidbit
for our growing collection of erroneous
facts fed by our wild imaginations 

Boys in high school bragged about IT,
while girls wondered why embarrassed parents
worried about our dating relationships
but didn't speak of the facts of life
Nowadays our society is more open––too open,
as viagra ads fill the newscasts and scantily clad
bedroom scenes leave little to the imagination
we’re overloaded, tired of hearing about IT

4 comments:

  1. This is such a great post, Lin. I loved reading about IT.

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  2. If we can only talk about IT comfortably, like food, we can talk about dangers of IT like eating bad food killing you eventually,or nice and appropriate part of IT, as long as IT stays hidden will be used and abused by big companies to make more money and intrigue young people with the most natural thing and the oldest act of most every being in the world. If we can talk about it we can respect it and raise healthy children with out fear of IT who wont be sold to drug companies, in the name of doing IT.
    mom you are getting pretty bold here.. I loved this one.

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  3. I too am tired of hearing about IT all the time: commercials for feminine products, pills for guys, cleavage used to try and sell everything from boats to soft drinks, and television shows where couples have IT then decide to try and get to know each other.

    I'm the wrong generation I guess. I think there are a few things that should remain a bit private.

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  4. I'll never forget the day that my mom decided she needed to give me the big "S" talk about "IT". She told me that sometimes she and daddy liked to take showers together. End of discussion. That was the sum and total of my sex education outside the classroom. And, somehow, she was always so proud that she taught me and prepared me for my wedding night. Oh...she did mention that she didn't understand why men were so proud of something so ugly. I thought it was an odd thing to say.

    And then along came my daughter. I didn't tell her much either, I guess. Well, I did. But, Wayne and I thought we were modern and sophisticated about the whole thing. so we told our kids when they were so young they didn't have a clue what we were talking about. And since we'd talked openly when they were toddlers, I guess we didn't feel the need to do a follow up discussion when they were at an age to catch the drift of the conversation. Wayne was/is a child phychologist and the professional thought of the time was that you could talk freely with your children from the time they were tiny and they would absorb what they were ready for and sluff off the rest. I'm pretty sure opinions have altered on that. Wayne left all "IT" duties to me after the kids reached 7... and I can tell you that they "sluffed" off just about everything. But, Chandi and my boys have always been comfortable talking to me about "IT" since they grew into adulthood. And, my mom and I finally got to the point where we didn't feel awkward talking about birds, bees, and how babies are made.

    I agree completely! I DO wish they'd keep some of the intimate details of other peoples sexual habits and/or difficulties off the air waves. I've never found it appealing to watch other people gyrate and copulate. And there are precious few women who have really pretty cleavage so I don't know why in the heck so many want to show off their lack of, wrinkled, over stuffed, or pendulous udders. Did I really say that? oops! I'm sort of sorry.

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