Peer Pressure and Sex- Chalo 23

My friends were constantly asking me if we were having sex.

I have experienced peer pressure at different points in my life and I think I can say that I handled these situations fairly well. I managed to get out of doing things that I was not comfortable doing without making my friends feel like I was not fully part of the friend group. Things like getting back home late, attending late-night parties and sneaking out of home were some of the things I would not do because I respected the boundaries that my parents had set. The thing that I struggled with was the sex conversation because I had a girlfriend and she was ready to have sex and I was not. My girlfriend never pressured me to have sex; she just said that she was ready for it whenever I was ready. However, my friends were constantly asking me if we were having sex.

Sticking to my resolve

I always dodged that question because it felt embarrassing that I was not having sex. All my friends were actually sexually active and when we hang out, these talks came up. Sometimes it was about how the condoms were over and someone had to go and buy, or about who should be carrying condoms and which ones are better. One thing about my friends is that they used protection because we were all taught the importance of this.

The breaking point

I started to feel tired of hearing these stories and being the odd one out. I’m not sure why this specific area bothered me since missing a house party didn’t bother me. I met up with my girlfriend one weekend and told her that I was ready to have sex with her, even though I was lying. We had sex anyway, but I was low-key nervous. Some concerns I had were; “what if the condom burst? what if I don’t perform as expected?” Everything went well despite having sex because of peer pressure from my friends, I did not feel that much regret.

The Conflict after giving in to peer pressure

The use of a condom gave my girlfriend and me peace since we were on the same page about getting pregnant or contracting infections, even though none of us had engaged in any other sexual activity before. However, I felt like the experience would have been better if I was fully ready. I wasn’t comfortable sharing that I had had sex to my friends, and I left them to believe that I was the only one who wasn’t sexually active. The idea that I had given in peer pressure and confirmed it to my friends didn’t sit well with me. Through my experience, I would recommend that individuals should choose to have sex when they are ready, not out of peer pressure.