Season 2 of Stranger Things just debuted on Netflix. I haven’t had the time to watch it yet, but as I sat down to add the next entry into my Power Point Series, I was reminded of the Upside Down.
For the uninitiated, it’s basically a world underneath the one we live in. What is in the Upside has a sort of distorted reflection in the world of the Upside Down. It’s a scary place and it reminded me of one of the nuggets of wisdom I passed onto my kids, because this one is particularly scary, and many people never give it a second thought.
Anything you can get down here can, you can get up here. (Imagine a circle around the genital area, followed by a circle around the mouth area.)
The dangers of unprotected sex are well documented and widely known, particularly when it comes to sexually transmitted infections (STI). What is often left out of the discussion is the possibility of contracting an STI from oral sex. Yep, you can get cauliflower on your junk, and in your mouth. No amount of cheese sauce can make that thought appetizing.
There has been a lot of focus on the value of abstinence, as it relates to coitus. Unfortunately, there has been little to no attention given to the risks of oral sex. Many teens that want to remain virgins until they are married don’t consider a little oral contact with the land down under to be sex. Since you can’t get pregnant from it, it doesn’t count, right? And that is true, you can’t get pregnant that way, but you can contract a serious infection with life altering repercussions.
There are ways to diminish the risks associated with oral sex. I made sure to discuss those with the kids as well, but let’s face it, who really, aside from someone in the sex industry, thinks about the need to glove up before heading to the Upside Down? Hopefully, now those versed in the Power Point will.
So, dear reader, beware the Upside Down.
Shannon R. Brown 