The onset of adolescence posed no new problems. I
knew about menstruation before its arrival and
Mother and I had purchased the necessities and
put them in the cupboard. This along with my
first bra and girdle were family matters of
importance.
Before either my twin or myself experienced
menses we saw a fairly good movie in school which
explained some of the things. Then after dinner
that night Mom and Dad talked to us about what we
had seen making sure we understood it and would
not be afraid or worried when it happened to us.
That evening I felt so good because I knew my
parents were concerned about me.
I think a gentle attitude toward sex was
instilled in me by my parents, probably because
both of them were very physical in showing their
affection for each other, me, and other family
members. There was always a substantial amount of
literature concerning the subjects around the
home and most of it was in language elementary
enough for a child of seven or eight years.
My family is a person-centered family. My mother
would always say to me, 'You are not the only one
in the family. There are four others.' My parents
taught me very early the attitudes of acceptance,
respect, and desire for other people.
Preadolescents and Incestuous Relationships With Siblings and Parents
Prohibition against incest characterizes every human society. Both
partners in a marriage are forbidden to form sexual liaisons with their
own offspring. An exception is represented by the very rare cases in
which a society expects a few individuals of special rank to cohabit
with their immediate descendants. The Azande of Africa, for example,
insist that the highest chiefs enter into sexual partnerships with
their own daughters. In no society, however, are such matings permitted
to the general population.
Though incest is prohibited it does occur. Incest between father
and daughter occurs in the United States. In years past we have not
recognized the extent of daughter-father occurrences because of our belief
that many of such accounts were fantasy. (Litin, 1965). In the
following incestuous encounter of a daughter and her father, daughter-
father roles became confused because of an unusual sleeping arrangement,
father's drunken condition, and daughter's favorable response to
the sensual experience.
There was only one bed in our hotel room, a double
one which I shared with my father that
night. As it turned out, my father came back
very late that night, after drinking quite
heavily. I had never seen him drunk before. He
got ready for bed and warned me before he got in
that he was used to sleeping with mother and
that he hoped he would not bother me.
He started to make love to me, not knowing what he was
doing. I did, however, but liked the sensation
and I let it continue for awhile-it seemed like
hours, but it was only a matter of minutes. One
way that it affected me was to cause me to wish
again to have the same sensations I had that
night which led me to masturbation.
In the following cases the incestuous relationship is being described
by the social worker in the first and by a participant in the
second. In only one case coitus attempted. As is apparent in these
cases, incestuous relationships run the gamut from relatively innocent
sex play to rape.