Magazine pictures of naked women

You are looking for something in your son’s room that he borrowed from you. You open a drawer and discover a magazine with pictures of naked women.

Before deciding what you want to do, first - check out your feelings. Parents who have experienced this situation report different feeling which include shock, anger, disgust, anxiety, amusement.

Here is INFORMATION that may be helpful.

Lots of young men and many young women look at material that is sexually explicit. Teens look at this material out of curiosity, to learn about sexual activities and to learn about the bodies of the opposite sex. In some cases, teens use this material for sexual arousal. Looking at magazine pictures for these reasons does not appear to affect the ability to have positive sexual relationships in children who have been taught about healthy sexuality.

To help you decide what you might want to do here are some SUGGESTIONS.

You might decide not to do anything because you feel that your son has a respect for women and a healthy attitude toward sexuality.

You might decide to talk to your son. “I came across a magazine in your drawer when I was looking for that T-shirt that you borrowed. I know that lots of people look at this stuff for all kinds of reasons. I just need to be sure that you understand why some people find this material offensive. Can we talk?”

You might want to make sure that your son understands that this material is made for money. Special lighting, makeup and plastic surgery is used to create images that are not typical of most human bodies.

QUESTIONS you might want to think about might include:

• Am I comfortable with the idea that my son gets sexual pleasure from looking at sexually oriented magazines?
• Why else would he have these pictures?
• Does this mean that he is more likely to get unrealistic ideas about women and sex?
• Will my son become obsessed with this material?