There once was a farmer who was raising three daughters on his own. He was very concerned about their well-being and always did his best to watch out for them. As they entered their late teens, the girls began to date. One night, all three of his girls went out on dates for the first time. The farmer greeted each suitor at the door holding his shotgun to make sure the young men knew who was boss.

The doorbell rang, and the first of the boys arrived. The farmer answered the door and the lad said,

“Hi, my name’s Joe,
I’m here to see Flo.
We’re going to the show.
Is she ready to go?”

The farmer looked him over and sent the two kids on their way. The next lad arrived and said,

“My name’s Eddie.
I’m here to see Betty.
We’re gonna get some spaghetti.
Do you know if she’s ready?”

The farmer felt that this one was okay, too, so off the two kids went.

The final young man arrived, and the farmer opened the door. The boy began,

“Hi, my name’s Chuck.”

The farmer shot him.

Some issues are loaded . . . but other issues are explosive. The issue of s-e-x is as explosive as they come, especially when applied to interfaith marriages.

The Naughty Bits

Sex. Just say the word and people sit up a little straighter and start paying attention. Sex sells everything from soap to snack foods, cars to cappuccino. Let us not forget the obvious links to alcohol, cigarettes, and perfume—virtually every consumer good is sold through sex appeal. I’m sure that, right now, some overpaid suit on Madison Avenue is working on a way to sell dog food with sex.

Movies and TV shows are rife with sexual innuendoes. There’s even a laugh track to make sure we don’t miss the juicy parts. The ratings system, designed to help adults screen their children’s viewing habits, ironically makes it easier for kids to find the ribald shows—even if they don’t get the jokes yet.

Increasingly, however, they do get the jokes . . . and at a younger and younger age. You’d think this would make it easier for parents to accept their children’s sexuality, but paradoxically, it can often have just the opposite effect. The nagging little issue that bothered us when the children were teens can become a screamingly big issue when they mature. These sensitive issues can be even more explosive in mixed matches.

on average, people around the world first engage in intercourse at 17.6 years of age. Americans, in contrast, start earlier, at 16.2 years of age.

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