Infant and Child Sexuality: A Sociological Perspective - Ipce

ing. This pattern continued on to junior high
school.
The following three cases deal with the preadolescent coming to the
realization that the parents have a life of their own as a married couple
apart from their roles with the child in the family. This would
seem to be an important cognitive sexual experience for the preadolescent.
I think this occurred when I was in fifth or
sixth grade. I realized that they probably
didn’t take naps together on Saturday and Sunday
afternoons just because they were tired, and
besides they always locked the door and were
displeased if disturbed. At night, when we all
went to bed about the same time, I remember
hearing their voices (not words) and they
sounded different than they usually did when
they talked.
As I remember, I first became aware of this
exclusive membership when I was eight or nine
and walked into the kitchen finding my parents
in each other’s arms. I remember wondering about
this because I had never associated my parents
with one another as being in love.
The birth of a baby sister in my family made me
aware that there was a relationship between my
father and mother that I was not a part of. The
fact that they maintained a separate bedroom was
another indication that a different relationship
existed. The accidental discovery of a contraceptive,
at about the age of twelve, also
contributed to my awareness.
The following cases deal with sex education--both informal and formal--in
which preadolescents and their parents are involved. First are
some cases in which the encounter was viewed by the preadolescent as
unsatisfactory.
We went grocery shopping and passed boxes of
sanitary napkins. I (a girl) used to wonder what
they were for. She told me that I wasn’t old
enough to know. I was in third or fourth grade
at the time.
When I began menstruating, I cried hysterically,
not so much at the sight of the blood,
but at the prospect of having to tell my mother.
At age nine my own sexuality became an increased
concern. I came upon my mother changing her tampax.
The blood in the little pad worried me, and
I asked her about it. She responded by saying I
would learn soon enough what it was and not to
worry about it.
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