Danny says that there are key things that we have to teach boys about themselves before we even start on other genders. What do you think? What would you say to your child self?
This is a comment by Danny on the post “The Healthy Sex Talk: Teaching Kids Consent, Ages 1-21“.
Danny said:
6. Mentor teenage and college-aged boys and young men
This is a huge one even though it comes relatively later on in life. Before going on about “respect women” and so forth something needs to come before it. Boys/men need to be able to respect and appreciate their own bodies and their own feelings when it comes to sexuality.
Abandon the idea that a guy’s manhood is measured by how active his sex life is.
Abandon the idea that a guy has to be straight to be considered a man.
Abandon the idea that a guy has to have a specific genital configuration in to be considered a man.
Etc.
Then and ONLY then can we move on to intergender relations.
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Absolutely!
You can’t respect others until you have genuine respect for yourself.
If a boy doesn’t respect himself then he can be taught a series of rules around sex that might keep him out of trouble, but he won’t “get it.” He’ll be one of those guys that makes sure he gets a yes, without really understanding what that means, and without being able to instinctively tell weather his behaviour is OK.