Children drew pictures showing that they were born in a baby carriage,
glass case, under a stone, in a cabbage patch, or on a far off
planet. One child who drew an outdoor scene said of it, "Before I was
born I think I was a seed.
And after I was born my father was at a ball
game. And in the middle of the game my father came to the hospital and
I was there." Many children today show hospitals and nurses and doctors
in their pictures.
Often the mother's trip to the hospital was described
as going to have an operation and get shots.
The significant
point is that, despite all the limitations of knowledge, each child had
given thought to the subject and was willing to express himself.
The
pictures show that the inadequate answers given to questions about origins
of babies and sexual anatomy and physiology today, as earlier, often
result in misconceptions. The following two cases show why this is
likely to be true.
As about age six I was quite inquisitive as to why
my parents had not had any babies before me. Questioning
them on this point, I was informed that my
father had been away from my mother in the service,
and of course they couldn't have any babies
then. Puzzled, I asked why not, but my only answer
was an indulgent smile and a knowing glance
between them.
The first question I remember asking about birth
concerned my grandmother, a widow. I wondered at
about age five, why grandma did not have any more
babies. It was my mother who answered me.
She
explained that a woman could not have a baby without
a husband. But still I wondered how a woman
got a baby. Her answer, which seemed quite adequate
for me at that time, was that the husband
and wife asked God for a baby.
There was no mention
of sexual intercourse, so I remained totally
unaware of the man's role in bringing babies into
the world.
An occasional, but only an occasional, young person today remembers
having received a good grounding in sex from his parents during
the childhood period.
I was never told any of the popular myths such as
the stork brings babies or that you buy them in a
hospital. I thought it was strange that other
mothers made up stories, and I think I felt more
grown up because my mother told me the truth.
I
had one playmate that thought you bought babies at
the hospital and I really thought he was dumb.
The first time I remember my mother explaining
anything to me I was no more than four or five
years old, possibly right before or after my first
brother was born.
The details are very vague now,
but I do remember her talking about the "egg" from
the mother and the "sperm" from the father and
that there was a "place in mommy's body where
daddy's penis fitted into place" and that was how
the sperm and egg came together.
Throughout my
childhood all the body parts including the sexual
organs and all the body functions were never
referred to by substitute "baby talk" names.