It’s Time to Accept Teens’ Sexuality

Regarding Michael Quintanilla’s article “Hungry for Love” (June 23): If young women are taking the initiative sexually, then they are to be praised.

The traditional sexual roles were demeaning to both men and women. For men, having to be the sole initiator of sex meant that they were encouraged to be aggressors. For women, it meant that they were forbidden to honestly express their sexuality. Mindless mating rituals, hypocrisy, teasing and sexual assaults were the inevitable results of the “old morality.”

The only objection I have to the article is the stereotyped view of male and female sexuality, the myth that men want sex (as if that is bad) while women want “affection” and not sex. As we all know, both men and women want and need both sex and affection. Those people who claim otherwise are simply demonstrating their refusal to perceive men and women as complete human beings.

JOSEPH MIRANDA

Palmdale