Facing "The Talk"

Conversations with My Four Daughters About Sex

Wendy Elizabeth Chapin

• Publisher: IVP
• Year: 2015
• Print ISBN: 9780830843220
• eBook ISBN: 9780830899104

What are we teaching our daughters about sex?Our girls are bombarded with sexual messages—at school, through social media, in movies, songs and advertising, and so on. How are we helping them process these messages? At what age should we start talking about sex? How do we protect them in this world of sexting and date rape? Most importantly, how do we empower them to make wise choices about their bodies and learn to take care of themselves in a world that can feel very unsafe? Elizabeth Chapin writes: "The data is pretty consistent—most girls aren?t waiting until marriage to have sex. Many aren't even waiting until adulthood! Unfortunately, too many parents don't explicitly talk about sex. Perhaps we're afraid our kids won't listen. Or we won't know what to say. Maybe we're ashamed of something in our past. Or we're paralyzed by our own brokenness because of something terrible that's happened to us. For some of us, our parents never talked about sex and we made all the right choices, so we expect the same outcome for our own girls. Unfortunately, our silence often does more harm than good."This book is designed to inspire and encourage you to have conversations about sex with your girls that will prepare them to make healthy, wise and informed choices. This is not your typical "how to" parenting book. Elizabeth Chapin is a professor and a mom of four who is open about all her missteps as a parent. She shows us how she has been able to offer her girls something more than a set of rules about sex—instead offering them an alternative imagination, a reframing of what Western media culture defines sex to be. If you, like Elizabeth, want to invite your daughters into the bigger story of God's creative goodness in the world, then you will find a refreshing perspective in these pages.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• 1 Learning to Talk
• 2 The How-To Sex Talk
• 3 Talking Topics: Ages Nine to Twelve
• 4 Where Did My Little Girl Go?
• 5 Back Story
• 6 The How-Not-To Sex Talk
• 7 Talking Topics: Ages Thirteen to Seventeen
• 8 Fear Factor
• 9 Overcoming Fear and Shame
• Acknowledgments
• Appendix A: Resources for The Talks
• Appendix B: Sexual Abuse and Violence Against Women
• Appendix C: Talking Topics
• Notes
• Praise for Facing “The Talk”
• About the Author
• Crescendo
• More Titles from InterVarsity Press
• Copyright