Oprah and sex

[kdiddy.livejournal.com]

Love her or hate her, Oprah does at times raise some interesting subjects. On today's show, the subject was female sexuality and how women from different generations view each other. The general concensus seemed to be that "older" women (in their 40s and 50s) view "younger" women (in their 20s and 30s) as taking the meaning of sexual revolution and twisting it. The older women who contributed to the program do not think that younger women are sexually liberated, but are just running amok. Premature sexual behavior was left on the back burner, since that's a huge, whole other issue. But some of the issues that were discussed more in-depth were sexual experimentation (with multiple partners, partners of the same sex, etc.), recreational sex, and communication between mothers and daughters.
I wanted to know if we have members here on vaginapagina who are in their 40s and 50s and how they feel about us 20- and 30-somethings. Vice versa, as well, of course.

Comments

[teal-cuttlefish.livejournal.com]

I'm in my 40s.

My main reactions are:

Are you fully aware of what you are doing and the possible outcomes?
Is it safe, sane, and consensual?

Then have fun!

I have a 9 year old daughter. We're already talking about sex now, so that she will hopefully be able to come to me later when she needs more information.

[infiniteblue25.livejournal.com]

Im so glad you brought this up. I have so many friends hose mothers are still soooo "down there" about sex and vaginas. i feel sorry for them, my mom is 50 and since I was 4 we have had a pretty open dialogue about sex I remember her letting me look at a book of positions when I was in first grade because i asked about pregnant women and sex. I remember her friend who was there going "omg! dont let her look at that"! and my mom said and why not? there absolutely nothing wrong it, sex its natural! you ask me if you want anything explained to you ok? I looked with open interest but no questions because everything looked pretty self explanatory. My mom is a feminist and a (recently realized)lesbian, im so glad I got her instead of someone who blushed at the word vagina.

[princessjmu.livejournal.com]

your mom is the kind of mom i want to be she's awesome. I think that it's very important to be open about sex with children so that they know they can trust you to answer their questions. My mom has never been open about sex with me and even though i am now 17 she still doesn't talk about it with me. =( But she's almost 40 and i realize when she was younger that was a taboo subject. So i forgive her.

[infiniteblue25.livejournal.com]

yeah Im glad I got her. She still had problems with me having sex at 15 but mainly because she found out through someone else. She was pretty rigid about birth control... I put myself on the pill when I was fifteen but after getting headaches I stopped them. My mom lined me and my cousin (who lived with me ) up every three months and gave us depo shots... oh yeah shes a nurse too.. so i get to ask her all kinds of questions and she can give me a really good answer or she can ask a doctor about it... we are both into alternative medicine too so thats cool, sorry i ramble.

[iliad-communes.livejournal.com]

My family isn't very open about sex. My mom wanted me to marry as a virgin. Going to the gynecologist for "legitimate" reasons like debilitating cramps was really hard for her to accept -- apparently, she'd rather I spend at least one day a month puking from the pain than take birth control. It was a pretty serious fight. She still doesn't like me going to the doc for UTIs. Needless to say, I'm still not out to either of my parents as a bisexual, nor do they tend to have any idea about my relationship status at any given point.

So she thinks I'm slutty and I think she's stupid.

[alitaorg.livejournal.com]

i really, really hate the lack of knowledge and control in today's generation, but i think that parents are equally to blame. in a world where sex is in movies, tv, and all sorts of ads, so many parents are still treating it as a completely taboo subject. how are children supposed to learn if their parents don't teach them? it takes a long time, i'll tell you that. plus this whole thing with parents expecting schools to teach sex ed is ridiculous. you can't be open and honest enough with your child to tell them about how they came about? geez.

i'm 22, and put myself in a lot of danger in late high school and college because i really didn't know better and was afraid to ask. i kick myself now, of course, but for every me there are millions of girls who were my age and who are going into sex completely alone. that's the big problem, i think.

[ilovemycosmo.livejournal.com]

i saw this episode today and found myself flipping out over some of the dumb stuff that was said by who i thought was the amazingly cool hilda hutcherson. i loved her book. but i thought she did a touch on a great point about young women having alot of sex and yet still being very uncomfortable with their bodies.

[puttysan.livejournal.com]

My mother, who is 47, thinks that I, 22, am missing out on a lot of fun. I tend to be rather selective about my partners and activities, and she understands that today is a lot different than the 70s when she was my age, but she still thinks I should be out having more fun than being inside doing schoolwork. :) Sometimes my mom is a little TOO open about sex.

[harpseal.livejournal.com]

Your mom sounds like my Boyfriends parents. His mom is nurse and she make sure he knows about all the female stuff, but she also buys him books about "erotic massage" and how to be a wonderful lover. She reminds him almost daily not to rape me, and use protection. He find all this VERY annoying and just wishes his mom would let it go allready.

His father however, dosne't like the fact that he is only seeing me, and i'm fat. He wants his son to be out with a diffrent blond haired bimbo every week. MY boyfriend don't like that eaither becsue he is a very picky person when it comes to relationships and it takes brains to keep him interested. His dad is a dick :(

anyway sorry for the rant.

[buckylea.livejournal.com]

i'm 21, and my mum has always been pretty cool when i asked questions and stuff. like today we were talking about papsmears and she's pretty open about it.
she thinks premarital sex isn't good but i agree on that issue so that's fine. but. she doesn't know that i have done other stuff with boys, and i don't think she would be very happy if she did know. that kind of stuff does not get discussed at all in my household. in a way it sucks because i am pretty close to my mum and i don't want to have to keep things from her, but at the same time i know it's just something i have to do. we are a part of totally different generations and i don't want her to be upset with the choices i have made. i don't think she needs to know EVERYTHING, as long as i am safe and happy.

hmmm. this didn't really answer your question. hah. sorry...

[begraven.livejournal.com]

My mother was awful about sex. When she found out that I had lost my virginity, she told me that she would NOT put me on the pill and if I got pregnant she'd make me have an abortion! I was 13 when I lost my virginity. I always did things so early `;~)

She hasn't relaxed much about the subject yet and I'm now 29 with kids of my own. I use my mother as an example of how not to be. I refuse to raise my children with the sexual hangups and ideas that my mother tried to force on me.

I have two teenage stepdaughters that I talk to alot about sexuality. I"m a very sexual person and I've never hidden it from anyone. Not that I have sex in front of them or anything LOL.

But I've asked them if they want to be on the pill and talked to them about the pros & cons. Helped the oldest (now 18) figure what kind to get and where. We discuss sexual positions, what orgasms feel like, vibrators, how to masterbate, how to make sure the sex is good for you too, oral and anal sex, and of course diseases adn protection. But I've always stressed sexual responsibility, the different types of sex (fucking, making love, and casual sex) and most importantly the reasons why younger girls have sex. And the ways to get those things without resulting to sex...

[blackberrysoda.livejournal.com]

In my case, my mom and dad are both open to me about sex. My mom cracks sex jokes or she'll talk to me if i have a question, but that started when i lost my virginity to my Fiance. and same with my dad. But i've always known that i can be open to them, they are old fashion in many ways but they try to keep an open mind..but it's opened up a lot more since i turned 21 last year. :)
i hope this made sense!