Boys are Just Innocent Pawns Like Adam - Duped by a Snake and a Cunt?

This week, through an anonymous tip, the Turkish father and grandfather of a teenage girl were arrested for burying her alive because she was talking to boys. The family termed it an 'honor' killing. It turns out that around 200 murders a year in Turkey alone are honor killings - nearly half of all Turkey's annual murders.

The religious myth in play here is that sex, and even talking to boys, is bad, dirty, shameful, and wrong for a girl to do. It further contends that "bad thoughts and actions of boys and men" are caused by pussy. The boys are just innocent pawns - just like Adam, who was duped by a snake and a cunt.

One of my close friends grew up in Pakistan. From an early age, she was sexual, mouthy, and provocative. She nearly lost her life on several occasions because of her "evil" ways. She was even given a terrifying exorcism at age 14 in an attempt to rid her of her sexual demons.

She is lucky to have escaped Pakistan with her life.

We believe sexual women are evil because the bodily sensations we feel can be unwieldy and scary - especially for people with strong religious beliefs. In fact, it's not the "evil woman" who causes the sensations, but rather the limbic system - the emotional center of our brain.

I was in the middle of writing this blog when I felt the effect of emotional disregulation first hand. I was waiting in the lobby for a pre-production meeting about a commercial that I'm directing. A hollywood starlet stood near me. Her mere presence discombobulated my nervous system for nearly 5 minutes as my limbic system fired all kinds of emotional chemistry. I could barely think as I watched my brain with bemusement, appreciating it for it's simple yet profound, urgent program - "have sex with her NOW!"

This experience is awesome because it underscores how people erroneously blame and shame women when the body switches into an alert mode of stress that we call arousal. Consciously, we have no idea why this is happening. In seeking some kind of explanation, we project, seeing the female as a malevolent, destructive force that must be controlled, contained, or killed.

Fortunately, we have a chance to replace our superstitious understandings with research and science. We now know that sex emerges out of the unconscious, emotional centers of the brain.

Before there was language or religion, there was sex. Teenagers naturally rehearse the ancient mating ritual until they finally have sex, which is the key to the continuation of life.

It's time we update our myths and bring teen sexuality into the conscious mind through discussion, education, research, and reality.

Sex is life, and that is an honor.

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