Sixteen: Sex Talk

Executive Produced by Rory Kennedy and Liz Garbus
Produced and Directed by Liz Mermin and Alison Ellwood

Maybe it's a myth to say that sex used to be simpler or teenagers more innocent; but there's no denying that the sexual options available to girls today are complicated, and the stakes are high. They can fool around with a different person every weekend or they can save themselves for marriage; they can get all their sex education off the internet, and they can share their experiences with thousands of other kids on-line; they can have a boyfriend, a girlfriend, both, or neither; they worry about pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases, and there are as many different justifications for not having sex as there are ways to have it. Whatever decisions a girl makes, two things remain true. No matter what you do, people will judge you; and the last people you want to talk about sex with are your parents. Sex Talk looks at the one issue facing teens all over the county. From a young lesbian in suburban New Jersey, whose mother reluctantly accepts her going to the prom with her girlfriend, to a group of young women in North Carolina worried about their reputations, to a circle of Catholic school club queens in Miami living the "glamorous life", this hour explores how teens and their parents balance the need for responsibility with the desire for experimentation and fun. The girls talk about what they do and what they don't do, and why; about what they think other teens are doing; about their boundaries, regrets, fears, and hopes. Talking with parents, boyfriends, and friends who are boys, we discover a real gap between what people imagine the girls are doing and what they're actually up to. Sometimes the realities are better, sometimes worseÑthere are many different ways of being a teen. Surprising, touching, and disturbing by turn, Sex Talk offers an honest look at teenage girls' sex lives through articulate and intelligent young women who are picking their way through this difficult terrain in the best way they can.