Are babies sexual? What started out as a seemingly ludicrous comment by an American politician, Rep. Michael Burgess—about masturbating fetuses—may not be so laughable after all.
An article in Salon cites a controversial 1985 speech by sex educator Mary Calderone which sought to provide evidence of erections in fetuses.
To our conservative minds, all manner of sexuality comes later. Much later. We like to believe that babies, and indeed little kids, are white slates of innocence. And that the onset of puberty alone is the game-changer.
If Burgess is to be believed, babies aren't simply sexual beings in the utero, they are active sexual beings, who willingly arouse themselves early on.
“Watch a sonogram of a 15-week baby, and they have movements that are purposeful,” said the former obstetrician and gynecologist. “If they’re a male baby, they may have their hand between their legs. If they feel pleasure, why is it so hard to believe that they could feel pain?”
Though the media and many a comedian had a field day with Burgess' soundbites, could he be onto something there?
For many centuries, argues the article in Salon, people have worried that sex ed would encourage children to indulge a premature interest in sex, but what if that interest were there all along?
If Calderone is to be believed, then children actually “discover their sexuality no later than kindergarten." Critics of this argument worry that such thinking can only encourage pedophiles to exploit said feelings.
Until we face up to the fact that kids are sexual beings, Calderone claims, America will "never have real sex education." So maybe this sex ed book for kindergarteners is right on track, then.
Do you agree?
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