Personal Narrative: My Experience With Sexual Norm

Innocence is Bliss:

My Experience with Sexual Norms My mother was forty-seven when I was born: despite being raised in a time where society did not accept everyone, she is remarkably tolerant. It was not until she was twenty-four when in 1973, homosexuality was no longer classified as a mental disorder (Conley 304). Shortly after, she watched the AIDS epidemic unfold. The masses assumed this was a “gay disease”, since celebrities Rock Hudson, Freddie Mercury, and Liberace succumbed due to complications of AIDS. All of these celebrities were surrounded in strong speculations of homosexuality, the sexuality of those who are attracted to the same sex (Conley 302). The stigma and panic behind this disease breathed life into rumors this disease

This sexual norm, primarily common amongst those who have never engaged in the act of sex, was exaggerated by the media. To clarify, the media covers a broad spectrum of communication to the masses, including television, radio broadcasts, and the internet to name a few (Conley 94). Along with my first sexual norm I developed through my youth, this one was also false. The average time of intercourse amongst middle-class Americans is around fifteen minutes (Conley 301). The media has attributed to this cultural mythology, a fictitious overgeneralization of a group of people. The myth being, “in order for men to be decent lovers, they must be able to last longer”. “Last longer” is referring to a man’s individual capability to prolong his ejaculation thus leading to longer lasting intercourse. My incorrect interpretation of this norm was not to be blamed on my lack of deductive reasoning; the propaganda in the media and those with enough money and power to select which cultural mythologies are highlighted in the media created this fictitious concept in my brain. If I would have looked at sex the way a sociologist would with a sociological imagination, I would have noticed what I thought was normal, was only a façade (Conley 301). A sociological imagination, the ability to “make the familiar strange” or analysis and question

Nurture dictates the influences of our parents and/or guardians remain favorable in our futures, oftentimes persevering the cycle with our own children (Conley 126). It took physical experience to discover the truth behind a cultural mythology I previously deemed factual. Occasionally, a cultural norm cannot be proved as fact nor fiction; it can only be answered through solid argumentation. If I had the ability to do it all over again, I am not sure I would take it. The ignorance and innocence of my childhood brings serenity to me whenever I recall it: I would not give that feeling up for