It's Thursday!--Let's talk about sex.

Okay, so some of you might be scared of that topic. And some of you might be excited. Me? I'm excited. But, that's only because I'm hiding behind a computer and can be relatively anonymous while talking about this subject. I also don't have to face a physical audience, so that helps. Trust me, if I were talking about sex in real life, face-to-face, I'd be beat red by now. Alas, that's the magic of the internet, though. We can say things we'd normally be too afraid to say in real life.

Anyway, as a young person in today's society, I've noticed that the media throws around a LOT of conflicting messages about sex. Is it good? Is it bad? How young is TOO young? It has consequences, it can get you pregnant and alter your life. You can end up with STDs. But, really, it's a beautiful, beautiful thing, a natural part of life. Should you wait until you're married? Or is that too 1950s of me? Yes, so many questions, and no right answers. But, there's always ONE thing that every TV show, every movie, every romance book agrees on about sex: you must be hot to do it.

Think about it: When is the last time you saw fat people making out in a movie or TV show? And not just in a funny way, but in a serious, "this is sexy" kind of a way? When was the last time you read a romance novel that had described its male character as a balding, middle-aged man, with a huge nose? I've never come across it. And if you have, kudos, my friend, but you have to admit that was probably a one in a million kind of a book/movie.

I know that we all want fantasy nowadays. We don't want an "ugly" character in a romance. It's just a turnoff, right? But my problem is that nobody in real life looks like Angelina Jolie or Brad Pitt. We just don't. The average guy going to a movie to see Angelina Jolie is probably going to be a little balding and maybe have a bit of a beer belly. It's just NORMAL. Also, this average-looking guy probably has a wife or girlfriend and has an active sex life. So, why don't movies/shows get made about the AVERAGE guy? Why is it so "disgusting" to see overweight people make out on screen, when obviously it happens in real life? What is our obsession with optimizing looks in order to portray a "beautiful" love story? Especially since beauty is in the eye of the beholder?