For years I have recommended parents provide their teen boys (the bonafide straight ones, of course) with copies of nudie mags as an alternative to Internet porn. As a certified feminist, my BA is in Women Studies, this advice has understandably given me pause. I don’t like the sexualization of women. Not one bit.
But you know what I hate?
I hate it that porn is now a part of childhood. Hate. It.
I hate it that boys and girls think that they know how to have sex from watching Internet porn. I hate it that the average age of exposure is 11 – it’s probably younger. I hate it that it fucks up their developing sexuality. I really hate the idea of a kid’s first sexual encounter being more disappointing than it needs to because they thought it was going to be like porn.
I really, really, really hate it that most parents think their child will some how not see it. Ha. That smart phone you think your child “needs”? It’s a computer. With the Internet. The WHOLE Internet. How handy! Your sweet kiddo can see any and everything at any time of the day or night.
My Kid Doesn’t Look At Porn
Oh! That’s right! Not YOUR kid. Here’s the deal. EVERYONE thinks this and it’s always someone’s kid. Pull your head out of your ass and figure out how to enable parental controls and monitoring software on your child’s phone. Or, better yet. Don’t give them one until they are old enough to handle it appropriately. Circle is easy to install and works really well.
Playboy Magazine is a Good Alternative
Why do I love this? First of all, many boys (and some girls!) like to look at images of naked or semi-naked women. Always have. Always will. So why not steer them to a magazine that will give them what they want and provide some pretty darned top notch articles as well? Their articles really are good – I practice what I preach!
I checked with my boy sexuality expert, Jo Langford about this and he says that giving a kid a magazine will most likely not encourage him to seek out more or harder core porn.
Think about it. It’s private to access, it’s relatively tame and they can get their rocks off without being exposed to some seriously scary shit.
You can subscribe to the magazine here.
