Girlology: Hang-Ups, Hook-Ups, and Holding Out

As a former teenage girl, I truly feel a little pissed off. I’ve been slighted, big time. If only this book had existed when I was wading my way through the murky waters of teenage hormones, sex, dating, boys and all the highs and lows that happen during that time.

Aesthetically, it’s cute. I mean, hello???? HOT PINK! So, hanging out with your friends in your room, it’s going to be something that would blend in with a lot of the rest of your stuff.

And that’s all well and good. But the information contained within is the most serious and important information a teenage girl could possibly be armed with.

When a friend of mine was heading into the high school years with her teens, all those years of parenting and discipline, well, you hope they’ve remembered something you said. But also, at the very LEAST, sadly, you hope the little suckers get through high school without getting pregnant or having a drug problem. Scary stuff!

Girlology handles every last issue facing teens in a direct, honest manner. It starts out with the “what’s up with my body” type stuff and eventually goes further into those more challenging topics like date rape or about how you can get an STD from oral sex only. Because, really, at the end of the day, even the most open-minded and informed parents can’t give detailed information about how a lot of these issues are medical issues. I mean, I can have a dialogue about STDs with my kids, but I have to admit, I’m going to have to look up the medical information to explain the differences between them. Some of those nuances escape me and I’m not a health teacher or doctor, I don’t have all the jargon down and I don’t pretend to be an expert.

I think one of the strong points of the book is not just basic, thorough information about topics of interest to teens, but the way a series of stories between several high school friends are interspersed throughout the book detailing scenarios like having a boyfriend pressure you into oral sex, or getting drunk at a party, or talking about emergency contraception. Because, quite frankly, reading an informational book about sex isn’t enough to keep a teen interested. They read information all day at school, that’s boring! But reading scenarios written in a fiction teen drama format as is done with Girlology might be enough to hook the reader into learning more.

Additionally, as a parent now, with both daughters AND sons, I appreciate that all the information is there, but these two women (the authors, both doctors…I bow down to them!) take every single opportunity within the book to mention abstinence. I think that isn’t done enough in today’s society. Parents assume their teenagers will be sexually active and forego even mentioning abstinence. No matter what, it’s still an option and it’s the only one that’s 100%. I appreciated that although all methods of birth control (and methods of avoiding STDs) are mentioned, they don’t skip abstinence altogether. I’m not naïve enough to think that simply talking about abstinence means my teenager is going to listen, but you bet your butt I’m going to bring it up! I appreciate that Drs. Holmes and Hutchison found it important enough to point it out often.

From a personal perspective, there were certain scenarios written about during the fictionalized accounts that could most certainly have applied to me. I made some very stupid choices. One of them being, I avoided doctors for a good two years worrying that they would figure out and tell my parents I was sexually active. Dumb. I compromised my health in ways that may have had adverse long-term consequences. I got lucky that nothing risky became a permanent problem. And truly, I think my experiences were probably far less than the average teenager. But I also think it's doesn't take much to stack the odds against yourself and make a stupid decision with lasting conseqences.

I also have a story that is far too personal to share here, but I think if I had read a book like this, or had the correct information, I would have been saved a lot of pain and heartache, but the only thing I had was some of the fairly unreliable information about sex that teens tell each other – it simply wasn’t, and isn’t, enough.

Sex happens. We’re all here because of it. But being armed with the right answers to all the questions can be very empowering for young women. So, while I suppose there may be detractors who criticize the thought of giving a book chock full of stuff about sex to teenage girls, I have to disagree. Knowledge is power, and this book can empower an entirely new generation of girls to have the strength and wisdom to make the right choices that will affect the rest of their lives.

You can read the round up of opinions on Girlology at Parent Bloggers Network.

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