It's hard to be a....

If you've read either of my books for parents, you know that I suggest parents use "teachable moments" to bring up sexuality issues with children and to introduce their own family values.

Tonight, my twelve year old son and I were in the car, listening to "Marketplace" on NPR. First, they covered today's Supreme Court decision to require law schools to allow military recruiters on campus if they wanted to receive any federal funding, regardless of their opposition to the "don't ask, don't tell policy." The interviewer said the story was about "homosexuals in uniform" and "avowed homosexuals." Greg had no idea that they meant soldiers (and I had images of gay pride parades) and we talked about whether there were "avowed heterosexuals." The next story was on the Governor of South Dakota signing the abortion ban (see story below.)

And then there was the story about last night's Oscar for best song, "It's hard to be a pimp." As the catchy song played in the background, I asked Greg if he knew what a pimp was. He did. And then I talked about my concern about hip hop's misogynist lyrics and how sex workers were often abused by the men refered to in the song.

As we got out of the car, I realized we were both humming the tune. "Honey," I said. "I really don't want those lyrics in our heads." We decided to change the words into an animal rights refrain, "It's hard to be a chimp."

Parents some times tell me they have a hard time finding teachable moments; next time, I'll tell them to listen to NPR.