Stay In Your Lane

Dr. Janet Taylor

Lately I've been getting tons of letters from members about boys, kissing and umm... sex. They all touch on the same thing - what is love? And what do I do when my boyfriend (or some guy) is pushing me to have sex? Now, maybe because I was born centuries ago, the letters have surprised me. Cuz with girl-power and everything, I thought that girls would be harder with the fellas. You know, readin' them the riot act, not being pushed around or pressured and basically telling them where to go.

Well, chicks, are you? Do you ladies realize that what you do with your bodies and when you do it should be up to you? The push that these guys are giving is old (even I remember how it was.) Every school had the "fast girls" but "cool guys." The rumors would fly and you never really knew what was going on. Later I found out that nobody was getting much action, the boys just liked to talk.

Fast forward to now - sex is everywhere. It seems like "everybody's doing it, like on the discovery channel." Ha-Ha. You know what, it's not funny. It's not funny because for the first time, the nation's highest rate of rape is among teens. In 1998, there were almost 350,000 reported rapes and sexual assaults of victims 12 and older. That is more than double the rate for people 25 and older.

Girl-power then is not about how many tattoos or belly rings you have - or what cute guy you like and likes you. Girl-power is about understanding yourself and loving yourself, working hard at whatever you do and being able to SAY NO. In other words, stay in your own lane. You know when you're driving, you can't drift around. You have to be focused and know the rules.

What are your rules for staying in your lane? If you don't have enough maybe you need some. Check these out. E-mail me with any others you think should be there. Happy driving!