NEWS FLASH: Sex is For the Bedroom ONLY!

Recently an opinion piece appeared on the New York Times Sunday Review Opinion Pages asserting that today's generation of young women and mothers find sex to be passé and basically revolting. The author, Erica Jong, argues that the mothers who made the feminist revolution in the United States failed to pass along the ideals of feminism and free sex to their daughters, resulting in a generation that finds sexual satisfaction less and less motivating. Additionally, she argues that our culture shows "signs that sex has lost its frisson of freedom", possibly because sex and rampant sexuality are no longer restricted or taboo. The author also argues that young women today shun sex and sexuality and hold a "nostalgia for ’50s-era attitudes toward sexuality" and that young female writers are "obsessed with motherhood and monogamy" rather than sex.

Jong alleges that young women today find sex dangerous (which, coincidentally, seems to be in sharp contrast to her previous assertion that sex and passion are more desirable when forbidden). Rather than embrace their sexuality regardless of the consequences as a few women in a rather trashy (but wonderful) HBO sitcom-gone-cinema series did, today's young women refrain from sex, passion, and intimacy for a safer, sexless lifestyle (or at least a lifestyle of less passion).

Jong's worst offense in this piece though is her brazen statement that categorizes today's generation of young mom's as anti-sex and unwilling to be near their partners, let alone have sex with them. Her sweeping statement alleges that women would prefer to sleep with their children and turn their backs on their men as well as "wear one’s baby in a man-distancing sling and breast-feed at all hours so your mate knows your breasts don’t belong to him."

There are a few problems with her statement. First of all, Jong wrongly assumes that the bedroom is the only place for sex! Such thinking is quite archaic and really only points to her own disconnection with the younger generation she chastises in this piece. I'm pretty sure co-sleeping parents are utilizing other spaces in their homes for sex! I, for one, am proud to wear a t-shirt emblazoned with the phrase "co sleepers do it in the kitchen" - much to the dismay of my family.

Additionally, I can name at least a dozen places that are MUCH more fun for sex than the boring old bedroom! Seriously, who can't?

The author's comment regarding baby-wearing and breastfeeding only adds to the already significant evidence of her disconnect with women, families, and a generation younger than her. It's particularly interesting that she notes her idea that breastfeeding "at all hours" (baby-led breastfeeding) sends a message to one's mate that "(your) breasts don’t belong to him." It is particularly fascinating that an ardent feminist such as Jong would consider breasts something that should "belong" to one's mate. Ponder that for awhile.

Jong's statements were really nothing less than a vilification of a parenting style that she, in addition to the concept of sex outside of the bedroom, clearly does not understand. Her comments have little to do with sex and certainly very little relevance to this generation. It is unfortunate that she has used her celebrity and status to berate young parents, and especially young moms, since she seems to have very little knowledge of the parenting styles she tries to reprimand. Perhaps Jong should focus her future opinion pieces on something she has a little bit more knowledge about or, at the very least, enough connection with to adequately compose a few pertinent thoughts.