The Artful Provocateur

Growing up, there were topics we never discussed in my household. I remember being 12 years old and asking my mom about my body and sex. Wide-eyed, she turned to me and said, “Ladies don’t discuss things like that”. In hindsight, I recognize that as a problem, but I can't blame her. She was a child of the 50s, growing up in an era where the notion of women discussing sex openly, or even parts of their bodies, was unheard of. My great-grandmother never spoke about it with my grandmother, who in turn never spoke about it with my mother. The four of us are multiple generations of women, yet we share the same societal influence.  Early on, the world had a way of letting me know that women weren’t supposed to be "too sexual". We weren't supposed to discuss sex, or even our bodies, and those who did earned a dose of shame. In grade school, I took issue with boys engaging in said behavior and getting a pass for simply being boys. Yet a teacher hissed at me for usi...