We spend so much time bemoaning how society sexualizes our children at far too young an age, but are we not doing it ourselves if we are covering up, keeping our bodies private and advising them to do the same at an age when they are still years and years away from the onset of puberty and sexual maturation?
Because isn’t fear and paranoia about sexuality—ours and theirs—really the only reason to suddenly start denying them the casual intimacy that they have taken for granted the whole span of their short and tender lives? Think about it. It’s not for hygienic or health reasons that that we start to turn away when we slip on our clothes or shake our heads no when they try and pull us into the bath with a mischievous smile.
I say that it is fear and paranoia about sexuality that causes us to put up walls, but that’s harsh, of course. I should say concerns and I should clarify that I have them too. We all do—it’s impossible not to.
It’s impossible not to hear stories about child predators and then look at your child and think, How? and Why? and That’s the sickest thing ever! and finally, perhaps subconsciously, I need to protect them. I need to cover them up. I should cover us both up. Now.
But I won’t do that, not yet. Because I enjoy our baths together. Graham enjoys our baths together. Graham obviously remembers nursing and remembers it fondly. And that’s all there is to it. At this stage I firmly believe that any discomfort I feel is my problem and my problem alone.
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