Sexual Slang: The Creation of Barriers Between Generations and Sexes

Sex ed was the class that every middle school student was both excited and nervous about. Sure we talked about the opposite sex and the act of sex, but we used terms that were our own. As twelve year olds we referred to "wieners" and "raincoats" instead of penises and condoms as was required by our sex ed teacher. As a result, the class was full of giggles and awkward silences as both reproductive organs and acts were explained using the correct terminology. And then, like most other sex education classes, there was the infamous question box: an average sized adult shoe box, neatly wrapped with a colorful self adhesive paper, with a perfectly centered slit cut in the top of the box and "QUESTIONS" written in black along one of the sides. The rules of the box were simple: students could ask any question they wanted as long as it contained no slang terms. Any questions with incorrect terminology would be thrown out--and because of this, time and time again our teacher would simply read slips of paper and toss them in the garbage can. After seeing the effect of slang sexual terms on this tiny scale it makes me wonder what effect they have on a larger scale.

The barrier that slang sexual terms placed between my peers' questions and the answer they desired in middle school sex ed was obvious. Our language was not that of our teacher's, so inquiries went without response and curiosity unfed. But was this barrier limited to the classroom? Or could it be expanded into the home or even society? Do the barriers simply exist between generations, or do they exist between genders as well? Are the barriers simply that of the language, or does the language perpetuate barriers of other types?

Generation Gap