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I didn’t know bodies could do that
My unexpected sex education
In fifth-grade, my best friend shared some scandalous news. It involved a book she found under her parents’ bed.
Naturally, I had to see this book for myself. The title was something like, “101 Positions.” You can probably guess what it contained.
I didn’t know bodies could do that, I remember thinking, half in fascination and half in horror, as we leafed through the pages. At the same time, I kept looking over my shoulder, mortified at the possibility of her parents, older stepsister, or God himself creeping up behind us.
I got another lesson in human anatomy while waiting for my dad in his fishing cabin. He occasionally let the teenage sons of family friends use the cabin, and the table was stacked with issues of Penthouse—which I took the opportunity to explore, of course, again with a combination of horror and fascination.
When I was in this general age range—10 to 12—I watched lots of movies I probably shouldn’t have, including Silence of the Lambs, Body Double, and all sorts of super violent action and horror movies—usually at the houses of friends whose TV-watching activities were less supervised than mine.
So, did I become a sex fiend, violent psychopath, or serial killer? Well, I think we can safely say…