Let’s talk about sex…

Pregnancy as a result of previous choices.

This poster was designed and published in De Maand van de Liefde (The Month of Love) for teens on Dutch ‘high schools’. It was made for the GGD Den Haag (Public Health Department of the city The Hague) to help in choices and conversations about love, sexuality and all kinds of topics involved. Starting from the question ‘Vind je iemand leuk?’ (Do you like somebody?) it guides you through choices (Leuk genoeg om te zoenen?/Do you like him or her enough to kiss?) and consequence of that choices.
Do you like to be in love? How do you tell somebody you like them? And when? How do you deal with rejection? How do you communicate what you want and don’t want, what you like and what you don’t like? How do you protect yourself from misunderstandings, diseases and unwanted pregnancies? What to do if you get a Sexually Transmitted Disease? Which birth control to use and why? Do you want to be a parent someday? How do you decide when? etc.

Concept, text and images are mine. If you like you can download it here and zoom in. It is BIG but if you print it on A3 it is still readable (it’s in Dutch, though)…

I realize this is a quite a daring project even for the Netherlands. It is not meant to stimulate young people to participate in sexual activity, it is made to explain that you can make all kinds of choices and that is is important to be clear about them. Saying NO is absolutely fine. If you choose to have sex, though, you should know that there are some risks involved for which you must protect yourself. But sex is not all risk and danger it should be nice, the way you like it. So have fun and be respectful!