THE OTHER ROOM
The media is aflame with this expression. Many have written so much about it and against it.
I got my own perspective about it and decided to share with you all.
I was reading a Facebook post on this issue by Rosy, my inspiring friend. Then someone commented, ‘Why didn’t he say bedroom?’ Instantly the idea for this piece came.
A lot of us have ‘the other room syndrome.’ When issues relating to males and females are being discussed, some people act even holier than the Holy Ghost.
Let us for the purpose of this write-up assume that THE OTHER ROOM refers to THE BEDROOM.
My pastor Reverend Sam Adeyemi takes a whole month each year to discuss the ‘much revered’ topic of sex. And each time he does that, some sanctimonious people murmur endlessly. They wonder why he should ‘dishonour’ the holy altar of God by discussing sex on a Sunday morning.
It doesn’t matter if they have just jumped out of the bed of adultery or fornication. They think it’s not a matter to be discussed openly and consider it a mortal sin to talk about it to their children.
The problem is that if you don’t discuss it, especially with the younger generation, they will HEAR ABOUT it from the WRONG PLACES.
Billboards scream about it
The Internet celebrates it
Their adventurous classmates discuss it.
So what’s the secrecy about?
We must have heard the age old story of a young girl who asked her mother what sex means. Her mother was angry that she mentioned such a foul word and beat her up, telling her never to say it again. Out of curiosity, the girl asked her older cousin who gave her ‘practical lessons.’
Some of these children know more about this subject matter than we realise. A lady told a story of how her five year old daughter came home from watching a film in their neighbour’s house. And she asked what the film was about. The young girl hissed angrily and said, ‘It’s one useless woman who went to sleep with another woman’s husband.’
‘Eh! Sleep! What do you mean?’ The shocked mother asked.
And the little girl went into graphic details to show her mother that she knew that there is ‘a sleep beyond sleep.’
At that point, her mother told her everything and let her know the implications of having sex before marriage.
This generation is quite permissive compared to the older generation but there are still a few people who are ashamed to talk about sex.
God is not shocked about our sexuality. All he wants is that it is put in proper perspective: Zip up before marriage and have it to the fullest when you ‘collect the NAFDAC number’ after marriage.
So let’s stop all this sneaking around. Tell the future leaders how to handle the sexual drive and don’t let them explore on their own.
My final advice:
Don’t call it the OTHER ROOM. Tell them the dangers of entering THE BEDROOM too early for illicit sexual activities so that the girls do not enter THE LABOUR ROOM too early and the boys do not go to the PRISON ROOM because of inappropriate sexual behaviour!