Sex: A concept that the Indian Society is deeply uneasy about discussing.
It has always been a taboo subject amongst the respectable community. From where this unease develops, we can only guess. Is it India’s deeply religious and tradition bound history or is it the narrow-mindedness of the conservative society that still continues practices that should have been abolished in the 18th century?
Well, with regard toIndia’s deeply religious and tradition bound history, one must realize that our country is the author to the Kama Sutra, the pioneering work in the art of sexual intercourse. Our stories, our temples and even our Gods were all rather promiscuous. When was that transparency in society lost?
For as long as we can remember,Indiahas remained under the conservative wraps which can be attributed to religion, rigid traditions and beliefs. With the advent of mass media however, sex has been splashed all over television, print and cinema leaving the children of the generation in one sorry state. They do not understand why everyone is obsessed with the idea while their family refuses to discuss it with them. A simple answer to these problems would be Sex Education.
In 2009, the Committee on Petitions headed by Bharatiya Janata Party’s Venkaiah Naidu insisted that sex education was detrimental to India because it promotes promiscuity and India’s “social and cultural ethos are such that sex education has absolutely no place in it.” Of course, inIndia, sex before marriage and outside marriage are beyond unthinkable topics, and the politicians and the society is assured that sex education would just lead to promiscuity.
This seems to be a terrible case of logic gone bad. Adolescence is such a vulnerable age that teenagers should be informed in a mature and open environment about the topic. The sensitivity and curiosity of the age forces the child to turn to his peers, magazines or pornography which could, in fact, mislead him. We all know that knowledge holds the solution to any problem, why should this be any different?
The youth on the other hand is quite open to the idea of discussion and even understand the why their parents are embarrassed to bring up the topic. Gunjan (name changed), a college student says, “They [Parents] think that children will get the wrong notions and want to try out pre-marital sex. Parents are afraid that by discussing sex, they are giving their children the green signal to actually try it. But the truth is that people who have been brought up in a conservative background are more curious about it than those who have been educated about it properly.”
On the bright side, NGO’s and welfare organizations are trying to spread awareness. Private schools are a little more open to allowing these organizations conduct sessions at the high school levels, though not regular ones. Sex Education Programs are vital in a country like ours where early marriages are the norm, and could also spread awareness about HIV AIDs, teenage pregnancy etc.
Our society wants to pretend like the idea of sex has never existed. A more mature thing to do would be to wake up and realize that sex is a universal concept, and there’s simply nothing to be embarrassed about at the end of the day.
Hamsini Hariharan
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