Finding a group of brave souls willing to discuss issues of child sexuality openly and honestly is not an easy task. These words, "child" and "sexuality," when uttered in the same breath, invariably frighten upstanding citizens who naturally want to protect children from abuse and exploitation. If the result isn't silence, it's the same-old uninspired, paranoid rhetoric that begets more of the same. It's no wonder we can't speak pointedly about kids, culture and sex -- we don't know how.      Novelist A. M. Homes, historian James Kincaid, author Judith Levine, radio host Michael Medved, screenwriter Stephen Schiff and high-school student Celine Texier-Rose have agreed -- after a gentle nudge or two from us -- to try to forge a new and useful dialogue in this, the second installation of the Nerve VoiceBox, our virtual roundtable. Along the way, social critic Naomi Wolf joins us briefly, author Noelle Oxenhandler examines the photographs of Sally Mann in a related essay, and Mann herself drops by to comment -- against her better judgement, she jokes -- on her own work. The conversations that result are vibrant, contentious and full of fresh perspectives on a historically stale topic. — Lorelei Sharkey Question 1: Are children inherently sexual beings?   9.18.98   A. M. Homes replies with a figurative "Duh"   James Kincaid sees child sexuality as part of the cultural machinery   Judith Levine takes nurture over nature   Michael Medved warns against sexualizing cheek-pinching   Stephen Schiff imagines sexuality without sex acts   Celine Texier-Rose says some adults like to rupture purity   Naomi Wolf decries a decadent culture's impulse to exploit Question 2: Most of you seem to agree that child sexuality is natural and normal on its own, but becomes problematic in the context of our culture. Do late-twentieth-century images (e.g. Calvin Klein ads, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Barbie, etc.), books (most famously, Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret, Forever and other books by Judy Blume), and films (Kids, the new Lolita, PG-rated movies with sex and nudity) involving child/adolescent sexuality promote or encourage kids to become sexually active before their time? Do they influence the rates of teen pregnancy and STDs, and the age at which kids lose their virginity today? Or, could it be argued that they promote positive sexual identities, comfort with one's own changing body, better gender/sexual relations and a freedom to ask questions?   9.21.98   A. M. Homes considers the question adolescent   James Kincaid refuses to pass the buck   Judith Levine calls for less sexist sex   Michael Medved answers with a "neither/nor"   Stephen Schiff espouses the forbidden fruit theory   Celine Texier-Rose says sex sells but Buffy kicks butt   Naomi Wolf exits stage right      9.23.98      A. M. Homes wants Naomi to keep talking      Judith Levine berates puddle-brained liberal laziness      Stephen Schiff calls Naomi's departure fuzzy-headed and bluenosed      9.29.98      James Kincaid believes Naomi is her own problem 9.28.98 Noelle Oxenhandler Considers Whether Sally Mann's Children Are Overexposed Question 3: Do you think work like that of photographers Sally Mann, Jock Sturges and/or David Hamilton is positive, innocuous or pernicious in its effect on the viewer? Do you think the photos were intended to be sexual or is this perception something our oversexed culture brings to them? (Please feel free to incorporate your reaction to Noelle Oxenhandler's essay, "Nole Me Tangere," in your answer.)   9.30.98   A. M. Homes finds the intimacy disturbing, not the nudity   James Kincaid blames the audience, not the artist, for pornography   Judith Levine fills Mann's photos with her own fantasies   Michael Medved cautions against art as provocation   Stephen Schiff suggests banning Sesame Street while we're at it   Celine Texier-Rose gets a good view from the fence   Special Guest Sally Mann breaks her own rules to read and write about her work Question 4: In the course of this discussion many of you have pointed out the rhetorical inadequacy of vague notions like artistic intention, media influence and child sexuality. At the same time some of you have identified general problems that presumably can be solved -- Naomi, in her valediction, noted the need to protect children's privacy; Judith Levine decried the predominance of sexist, ageist, violent images in the media; Michael Medved suggested that our popular culture seems perversely determined to rob its young of all shreds of innocence. Let's put semantics aside for this final question and enumerate the more specific modifications you would make to the way sex is presented in the public and private sectors, if you could change things as you wished, to make this country a better child-rearing environment ( . . . realizing, of course, that child-rearing is not the only purpose of our culture).   10.2.98   A. M. Homes thinks adults need to get their own lives   James Kincaid believes we're missing the whole point   Judith Levine touts egalitarianism, tolerance and pleasure   Michael Medved points a finger at the idiot box   Stephen Schiff sees the Starr Report as a teaching aid   Celine Texier-Rose says I'm okay, you're okay Readers lend their voices to the Box