Heterosexuality: The First Experience

In my early years, when I first joined the school, the close friendship of two girls was termed “weird.” Departing from the social-sexual norm, and often enjoying each other’s company, they gave the students something to speak about and content to fill many rumors. When I left the school compound and went home, yearning to understand why the close company of the two girls was looked at as strange, trembling with shyness, I asked my mum for an explanation (I found it easier to talk to her instead of my dad). To my curious question, she responded.

In our society, to paraphrase her words, relations are perceived as normal, if they are between males and females. Honestly, the relationship of your two classmates can be devoid of any mischief, as is feared, but since this is the lens through which society views sexual relations, it is difficult for their company to pass unnoticed. For instance, to help you understand better, she added, look at our family—it is formed by your dad and I, male and female. This relation is what the society, from antiquity, considers normal.

After receiving this information, new and insightful as it was, I felt relaxed. Hitherto, I had been perplexed by the rumors which floated quite freely within the school. I did not understand why many classmates found this particular relationship strange. Nevertheless, after conversing with my mum, everything became clear. Being a Christian, my mum concluded with the assertion that this was considered acceptable, at least by the vast majority, because thus it was since the beginning. That is to say, since creation. With this information, from an early age, I understood the social-sexual norm.