Lilith
11-13-2002, 07:58 AM
C. Shamsher
Chandigarh, November 11: IF the responses of sex experts are to be believed, there is little that distinguishes the size of the human male sexual organ and that of an elephant’s. As for queries on the female anatomy, the less asked the better. Unless, you don’t mind staring into blank eyes for answers.
Ask Dr Parkash Kothari and he’ll tell you that sex can be a real pain. Discussing sex, that is, if the experts and counsellors happen to be like the ones who attended the Asia Region Consultation on Adolescence and Life Skills organised by Commonwealth Youth Programme, Punjab Engineering College.
The subject was ‘Adolescent Sexuality’. And the experts were clearly at sea. Basic questions about sexuality posed by Dr Prakash Kothari, a leading sexologist of India, met with some throat-clearing, under-confident responses and unmistakable embarrassment.
The doctor posed two basic questions: What should be the size of the human organs — male and female? And what is orgasm? Those who spoke up to answer were way off the mark.
Talking to mediapersons later, Dr Kothari said that a majority of adolescents face questions related to the size of their organ, guilt related to unnatural sexual activity and other such problems. ‘‘Now, if experts themselves have little knowledge about it, what will they teach these adolescents? How will they help them?’’ he asked. ‘‘You could yourself see, the lack of confidence with which these experts were answering the questions,’’ said Dr Kothari.
The importance of experts, who know it all, cannot be stressed enough, said the doctor as he furnished some statistics to prove his point. A survey conducted by the Family Planning Association of India revealed that 75 per cent of the respondents did not have correct information regarding their sexuality, said Dr Kothari. And half of the respondents did not have any idea about the transmission of HIV, he added.
To top it, for a country of 100 crore people, there is only one Department of Sexual Medicines at GS Medical College, Mumbai, which was started in 1980, rued the doctor. Each year, some 50,000 people come to this department with several types of problems, he added.
Looking at the present scenario, Dr Kothari said in 1994 he submitted a draft proposal to the then president of India, Dr S.D. Sharma. However, since then the government has changed, and still there has been no word on that issue, he said. Arguing for a change in the middle and high school books where reproductive system is taught, the doctor said teaching should be in explicit details without any hesitation. In fact, since a lot of hormonal changes take place in children of this age, their personnel problems should also be addressed, he said.
Also, homosexuality should be considered a need and not a problem, maintained Dr Kothari adding, ‘‘One has to be non-judgmental about it.’’
Let’s talk about sex
As per Dr Prakash Kothari, researches conducted on sex revealed some startling facts:
16 per cent of males and 51 per cent females (unmarried) do not even know what masturbation is.
Less than 25 per cent of those questioned have correct information about any sexual activity.
78 per cent of teen pregnancies are unplanned.
100 per cent of the people have no idea how to perform first sexual intercourse or what orgasm is.
Chandigarh, November 11: IF the responses of sex experts are to be believed, there is little that distinguishes the size of the human male sexual organ and that of an elephant’s. As for queries on the female anatomy, the less asked the better. Unless, you don’t mind staring into blank eyes for answers.
Ask Dr Parkash Kothari and he’ll tell you that sex can be a real pain. Discussing sex, that is, if the experts and counsellors happen to be like the ones who attended the Asia Region Consultation on Adolescence and Life Skills organised by Commonwealth Youth Programme, Punjab Engineering College.
The subject was ‘Adolescent Sexuality’. And the experts were clearly at sea. Basic questions about sexuality posed by Dr Prakash Kothari, a leading sexologist of India, met with some throat-clearing, under-confident responses and unmistakable embarrassment.
The doctor posed two basic questions: What should be the size of the human organs — male and female? And what is orgasm? Those who spoke up to answer were way off the mark.
Talking to mediapersons later, Dr Kothari said that a majority of adolescents face questions related to the size of their organ, guilt related to unnatural sexual activity and other such problems. ‘‘Now, if experts themselves have little knowledge about it, what will they teach these adolescents? How will they help them?’’ he asked. ‘‘You could yourself see, the lack of confidence with which these experts were answering the questions,’’ said Dr Kothari.
The importance of experts, who know it all, cannot be stressed enough, said the doctor as he furnished some statistics to prove his point. A survey conducted by the Family Planning Association of India revealed that 75 per cent of the respondents did not have correct information regarding their sexuality, said Dr Kothari. And half of the respondents did not have any idea about the transmission of HIV, he added.
To top it, for a country of 100 crore people, there is only one Department of Sexual Medicines at GS Medical College, Mumbai, which was started in 1980, rued the doctor. Each year, some 50,000 people come to this department with several types of problems, he added.
Looking at the present scenario, Dr Kothari said in 1994 he submitted a draft proposal to the then president of India, Dr S.D. Sharma. However, since then the government has changed, and still there has been no word on that issue, he said. Arguing for a change in the middle and high school books where reproductive system is taught, the doctor said teaching should be in explicit details without any hesitation. In fact, since a lot of hormonal changes take place in children of this age, their personnel problems should also be addressed, he said.
Also, homosexuality should be considered a need and not a problem, maintained Dr Kothari adding, ‘‘One has to be non-judgmental about it.’’
Let’s talk about sex
As per Dr Prakash Kothari, researches conducted on sex revealed some startling facts:
16 per cent of males and 51 per cent females (unmarried) do not even know what masturbation is.
Less than 25 per cent of those questioned have correct information about any sexual activity.
78 per cent of teen pregnancies are unplanned.
100 per cent of the people have no idea how to perform first sexual intercourse or what orgasm is.