I don't remember a whole lot about "The Talk" as a child, but since my mother was a nurse at the time, I remember there being a sex ed book left on my desk as a child with a note, suggesting I ask whatever questions I needed to after I read it: an empathetic touch on her part, with a bit of enforced self-evaluation added in. As for my father, he didn't play much of a role in my sex ed as a child, but he was integral in helping me start a Gay/Straight Alliance as a teenager, since he is a lawyer and knew the legal ins and outs of the process. As a teenager, it was a very empowering act for me and one that my father played the largest role in for me growing up and subsequently, becoming a sex educator.As part of a recent study examining family�influences on adolescent sexual risk, Dr. Katherine Hutchinson, an associate professor at the NYU College of Nursing, asked a representative sample of approximately 250 women, aged 19 to 21, what impact their fathers had on their sex education. The women who were surveyed suggested that if their fathers were able to relay information to them regarding what men think and the male perspective on sex, the women themselves might be more able to speak to their own partners regarding sex more fluently. While few reported having many conversations with their fathers about sex, they were inclined to think that their ability to speak intimately with partners might have been enhanced by some sex ed talk with their fathers.What you think? Would you have liked to talk to your own father (or male parental figure) about what you could expect in your dating life? Do you think it would have helped you?And for fathers who are interested in considering more how they might be able to speak informatively to their daughters, check out the Parenting section of our Moms in Babeland site, where our sex educators as well as guest bloggers lend their advice to a variety of sex ed situations, at different stages of a child's life.