Snog. Canoodle. Get It On.

We live in a sex-obsessed society.

Sex is used to sell everything from movies, bikes, burgers and songs all the way to...sex itself. Porn industry yes I am speaking directly to you!

But it's no secret that the endorphins released from coitus (and everthing leading to it) has such a powerful effect in numbing pain that individuals have been known to going over and beyond in a quest to continually feel that pleasant glow that good sex brings.

I have had the privilege of living in 3 quite distinct countries and cultures. And it is amazing how different the attitudes towards sex are in each of the three.

In Nigeria, sex is definitely NOT a dining table family discussion topic. Depending on what part of the country you love in... sorry live in... it could be a discussion behind closed doors with your mother, consisting of her telling you that even being touched by a boy now that your period has started would result immediately in pregnancy;

or it could be a biology lesson where you have the diagram of the uterus looking like a cow's head on the board and your teacher ignoring the chuckles and embarassed looks being passed around the classroom;

or it could even be the odd sex scene on TV and your dad diving behind the newspaper pretending not to be in the room and your mum finding an excuse for YOU not be in the room or simply just changing the channel.

Yep! Sex is something not explicitly discussed but you are supposed to somehow pick up and master on all your own. Or if it is discussed, it is in black and white terms. DO NOT ever try it before marriage!

Sweden now on the other hand, oh my goodness! One of the biggest culture shocks I got in Sverige was the knowledge that 16 year girls could invite their boyfriends over to stay the night IN THEIR PARENTS house!

There is the famous Scandinavian openness about nudity. Topless beaches abound and public saunas although possessing seperate changing rooms for males and females only ever have common saunas. This is not to say that the whole country is constantly engaged in mass orgies but there is a maturity of approach that recognizes that sex is a very natural human activity and as such should be treated as one.

Most couples you find in Sweden have lived together for several years and had one or more children before finally deciding to get married. And in addition to the usual reasons of ensuring that there is compatibility between 2 people, a female friend summed it all up by concluding, "Of course I want to sleep with him before I marry him, Who wants to end up with bad sex for the rest of their lives?"

And New Zealand? There is an amalgation of the two above I guess. There is this Puritan streak through the society that I think is a legacy of the Victorian and English roots of the population but being a truly Western Society has not been immune to the glamourization of sex. Not for nothing have NZ girls been found to have likely had more sexual partners that their counterparts in other OECD countries. Or that an annual event called "Boobs on Bikes" is such a crowd puller in the downtown Auckland district.

As a result of my upbringing, experiences and lessons of life, I guess you could say I have a fairly liberal attitude to sex. Although I am experienced enough to know that the best sex is gotten when it is between two people who truly are in love with each other and is a validation of a committed relationship. (my wife will be happy to hear this last one. Heh.)