"Does this make my boobs look good?"

If you want to discover your inner-prude, just spend the summer with a blossoming teenager who is literally on the bridge between childhood and adulthood. My niece Taylor is rapidly moving toward her 16th birthday and like most teenage girls, is super-conscious about her body image. She's stunning, and like most young women, is her own worst critic. She sees all her "flaws" magnified exponentially in her own mind. So, when Donna shared a moment she had with Taylor, it brought tremendous comic relief.

Donna was preparing something in the kitchen and Taylor trotted downstairs to show off a new top she had just received and asked Donna, "Auntie, does this make my boobs look good?"

Now, although Donna is a HUGE flirt with her peers, she was raised in a Trinidadian household which was heavily influenced by British sensibilities and traditions like afternoon tea, and underscored with uninhibited Caribbean culture like Carnival. So, this innocent question posed by an American teenager sent her into a tailspin. She told me, "I'm feeling awkward looking at her chest, but she wants me to look at her chest, to tell her if her boobs look good." I think she played it off cool, by saying, "Sure." And then immediately averted eye-contact by busying herself with preparing dinner.

For Donna, this was where body image and internal homophobia met. Donna met Taylor when she was younger than Skye is now. She was four years old. Donna used to read to her during our visits to Maine. Any child who has experienced a story read by Donna knows that you never know what kind of accents and action she will bring to the table. So imagine Donna's plight as our now teenage niece posed that question to her lesbian aunt.

I've learned from spending time with Taylor that her attitude on GLBT issues is very progressive. To her, it's no big deal and many of her closest friends are gay or bisexual. I'm glad she's growing up during a time when that topic is no longer taboo. So, to Taylor, it was no big deal to ask that question. She said that she asks her mom questions like that all the time.

All I know is that my Trini wife's world was rocked. She's since recovered, but it's remarkable how aware we become about our subconscious gender conditioning and generation gaps. When gender and generations collide, it demonstrates how our Puritanical roots are still very much part of our moral compass.

I don't want to believe that the same rapid pace with which the past 11 years have passed for Taylor will repeat itself with Skye. I simply hope that God is kind in how soon we experience Skye trotting down the steps asking the same question Taylor asked. It will mean our baby has retreated to a special place in her own heart and the woman she was meant to be would be moments from appearing. So, I intend on savoring every moment between now and then.