How Sex Can Affect Your Self-Image

Okay, if you’ve taken health class or sex ed, I’m pretty certain you’ve heard numerous  times that sex can affect the way you view yourself. Something I realized, though, is that nobody really talks about why sex has the impact on a relationship it does. Most adults never tell kids what sex really means-for both gay and straight couples.

Before I start getting into my own personal beliefs, I would like to share some really interesting statistics I found online about teenage high school students:

– Over 50% of teens have never had sex

– About 66% of teens haven’t had sex in the last three months

– Almost 10% of teens didn’t really want to have sex the first time they did

– About 47% of teens have had oral sex

Now, here’s the thing teens don’t really see about sex: you are sharing a part of yourself that (hopefully) most people do not get to see. That’s a pretty big deal, especially in high school. There is no possible way you can have sex for the first time and not have it affect you. That is why, when making the decision to become sexually active, a person can’t rely on what somebody else wants, you  have to look out for your best interest, because you deserve the best.

Sharing that part of yourself can be a frightening experience if not done when you’re ready. In fact, one of the many ways sex can affect you is by hurting your self image. If whoever you’re with decides to leave, they have taken that memory which nobody else gets to have. And, nobody else is stuck with the effects of your choices besides you when it comes to sex. That’s pretty scary once you think about it.

Sex is so complicated, and I think sometimes teenagers forget that we don’t have to deal with consequences of things like this. We don’t have to deal with getting left (which yes, does happen), used, or hurt. We don’t have to deal with pregnancy and STD scares. We have time to grow up, we have time to wait to experience these things. We have the choice to wait until we are ready, and until we are ready to prepare for the unexpected. Even if you are currently sexually active and want to choose not to be, you still have the option to not worry. That’s the great thing about life-it’s yours. And that’s what really matters.