The XX Factor: Slate women blog about politics, etc...

What if it's a boy?

Given that this is a women’s blog, I can’t help but point out that the last couple posts on preteen sex haven’t been gender neutral – they’ve focused primarily on girls engaging in “risky” behavior. Torie, though you start out discussing any person 13 or younger fooling around, you go on to specify that it’s disturbing when “a 13, 12, or 11 year old girl” has sex. And Melinda, in your vivid anecdote about your friend who caught two kids making out and then had to call the parents, you mention what it was like for your friend to rat out the girl, but not the boy.

Is this because we find it ickier when girls are sexually precocious than when boys are? That the thought of reporting a 12-year-old girl to her parents/guardian/the cops is a no-brainer, but that reporting a boy is a bit murkier? Or am I way off?

Personally, I don’t think it’s a good idea to call the cops or a kid’s parents. Maybe a phone call’s in order if the kid shows lack of judgment in general, or if the kid’s making out as a way to act out. But from my perspective early sex is not necessarily dangerous sex.