Do young people have enough information about sex? Are their practices guided by proper knowledge? Is human sexuality still surrounded by old myths?

We have to talk about sex. We have to acknowledge all of our doubts and try to clear them up. In order to explore, certain basic information is needed: we must put an end to all surrounding myths, and being informed is always a good thing.

For a proper approach to this issue, Opinión Sur Joven interviewed an expert. Who would a young person resort to when in doubt? That’s how we came up with the name of the most famous Argentine sexologist in the media, MD and psychiatrist Juan Carlos Kusnetzoff. “Doctor K”, as he’s called in an Argentine radio show where he answers questions made by the audience, welcomed Opinión Sur Joven at his own office. The conversation originated questions, doubts, anecdotes and information. Because that’s what we were there for: to talk about sex.

Myths and truths

“Out of five consultations, three are held through the radio and two in my office or the hospital”, says Kusnetzoff. As a well-known specialist in this field, he decided to make media appearances to clear doubts and explain different concepts. Today he’s a popular figure in Argentina and is frequently invited by the media to provide information on sexuality.

- What issues are you most asked about?
- People ask me about both male and female problems. Men ask me about erection and ejaculation problems. Women mostly ask me about problems with sexual desire, vaginismus and painful penetration. Sometimes they come with their couples, but consultation is generally individual.

- How many of those patients are young people?
- It depends on the problem. 80% of premature ejaculation consultations are made by young people. Erection dysfunction is more common among older men.

- What are today’s taboos and myths regarding sex?
- Today there aren’t as many as there used to be. Thirty-five years ago, when I started my career, everything was a taboo, everything was weird. Everybody knew there were problems, but very few people dared to talk about them. Today we’re in a totally opposite position. The media, especially television, have contributed to open the population’s minds. Some groups are still epidemiologically difficult to treat, and drugstores are the first ones to take advantage of it because they sell products upon patients’ demands.

- How real is young people’s habit of consuming Viagra?
- It may be true, but in Argentina we still have no statistics on young people using this drug. When the media say “young people are using Viagra”, they’re contributing to its use.

- Would you recommend not to use it?
- Of course. But the thing is that, if a young man uses it and improves his performance, that’s because he had a problem and wasn’t aware of it. In that case, the medication is a diagnostic proof. The drug doesn’t work if there isn’t a problem.

- What is the most common sexual myth nowadays?
- I find men’s consultations on the size of their penises really annoying. They say their penises are too small when flaccid, so they avoid locker rooms. It’s not like you go to a gym to see what hides behind the others’ towels. Many young people suffer because of this. I feel sorry for their being afraid of going into a locker room, but that doesn’t really worry me. The problem is that some professionals take advantage of those people’s suffering and put ads on papers promoting penis enlargement. They enlarge nothing. The surgery cuts the suspensory ligament, and at first sight your penis looks longer, but then you can never recover the angle again. So it looks longer when flaccid. There can be problems later, because the ligament is there to allow certain functional articulation.

- Another recurring issue among young people is sexual debut. How’s virginity seen today?
- That’s another sexuality myth. Today virginity isn’t seen as in the Middle Ages, when families would gather to show the blood-stained sheet. Girls and boys start sexual practices at 15, girls ride horses and bikes and a broken hymen is no big deal.

- Some groups of people with certain beliefs or religions don’t want to have sexual intercourse with penetration until marriage.
- It’s okay if they believe that. Generally, a significant number of those people resort to a clinical sexologist later, because the experience of several years of a relationship without penetration exposes the couple to inexperience and causes problems (such as orgasm and ejaculation disorders).

About men and women

“Many women believe sex life has to do with love. Combining both would be ideal”, Kusnetzoff observes. However, he points out that “mature feelings still aren’t developed at 15, the average age at which the Argentine youth have their first sexual encounter. At 25 or 30, those young people have already had enough sexual experiences”.

- So wouldn’t there be an erotic tendency in men and a tender tendency in women, as described by Sigmund Freud in “The Most Prevalent Form of Degradation in Erotic Life”?
- Who do men have sex with? Women. Therefore, those women go through the same as those men. Freud also said that the women who had clitoral orgasms and not through penetration were immature. That’s nonsense. Today we know the clitoris is the only organ meant for pleasure. The penis is meant for pleasure, urine and semen. The vagina has no nerve endings; everything a woman “feels” is “borrowed” to the clitoris.

- Are bisexual experiences more accepted today?
-Yes, no doubt about it. As well as threesomes and swingers. There are special places for them.

- Is it true that there has to be a sexual orientation definition at a certain age?
-No. What does definition mean? There’s a voluntary choice to a certain point. There are cultural, generational and sectoral matters involved. I think the sexual bonds definition can be easily solved: we can talk about who we sleep with, who we flirt with, but we don’t have to talk about our particular practices.

- If a married man who gets involved in heterosexual practices has some sort of contact with a transvestite, can he be considered homosexual?
- That’s a myth. If a man is in a relationship with a woman and the last two times they had sex he wasn’t able to have an erection, is he impotent? No, because the problem has to be recurrent and persistent. We should analyze how long he’s had that problem and how often he has sexual intercourse. So, if a married man who has sex with his wife decides one day to go out and have fun, and finds a transvestite and has sex with him, is he homosexual for that? No, the same general rule applies for him: said behavior has to be recurrent and persistent.

- It sounds logical, but analyzing it from a “general rule” can’t be the same as doing it from a personal experience, can it?
- We must understand the anus doesn’t equal to homosexuality; it’s an erogenous zone like any other. However, if a husband tells his wife “I’d like to invite Johnny to share our bed”, that’s a very different situation. Generally, a heterosexual man would invite a woman. If he invites a man, the first thing I’ll suppose is that he wants to have a homosexual encounter.

- Can transvestism be classified as a problem?
- Of course: the definition isn’t completely developed. Our identity is a conviction, a strong emotionality belief that guides the destinations of our orientation. From our identity of men we can be orientated to other men and be homosexual, or else to women and be heterosexual. Our appearance is one thing; who we’re orientated to, another. The transvestites everyone knows are male prostitutes and their customers are men who also have problems, because they lie to themselves by having homosexual intercourse because they like the transvestite’s appearance.

- Would cross-dressers be included in fetishism as a category?
- Cross-dressers go from one category into another very easily. Fetishism is a very wide division. One type of fetishism is related to wearing the opposite sex’s clothing. Transvestism is called “opposite-sex clothing fetishism”. Some people are ear fetishists. (For more information on cross-dressing, see this Opinión Sur Joven article).

Different versions

When the church is mentioned, Dr. K talks about “ideological terrorism”. Why? “The word ‘abortion’ paralyzes everything. But (the Argentine law) will be passed one day. Just like it happened with divorce”, he explains.

- Are there enough awareness campaigns in Argentina?
- We do have campaigns, but they’re never enough because it’s an educational problem. Patients are victims of illiteracy. In an ideal world, parents should be properly informed, even to say “I don’t know”. So that they can guide their children. A lot of consequent problems would be avoided.

- Is misinformation present in all social classes?
- It’s everywhere. Middle and high classes have access to books and brag that they know, but myths are heard everywhere. By all ages and social classes.

- What’s the most advanced country in terms of sexual education?
- In Sweden, Barbie dolls are sold with a kit including a condom. Those girls, who already at six have that little box with a condom, will not be surprised at fifteen and will know boys have to use it. That example shows that some Nordic countries are perfectly prepared.

- Is it appropriate for them to have that information at such a young age?
- We have to prepare them if we want to fight against sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). There’s still a lot to do.