american prude

I never thought of myself as a prude , I  would like to think of myself as  a somewhat open-minded individual. After a conversation with my husband I have found myself wondering is it me or is it a cultural difference?
  "Learn a new language and you learn a new way of thinking". I am beginning to see that learning Spanish is not just learning different words for  the same thought,but instead learning and having a completely different thought.
  Case in point I had always been slim in nature turning thirty turned my slim body into a curvier one (I'm not overweight by any means just not what I had always been and comfortable with) this god awful progression has made me a bit self conscious.So when my husband watches the Spanish channels it aroused in me feelings of yes jealousy, to see all these scantly clothed vivacious beautiful women right there in my living room with my husband looking at them.Nothing to me could be more intimidating short of one of the woman coming into my home in person.So I asked my husband why they had to dress that way was it some sort of job requirement? No sooner had the words to my own insecurities bellowed out of my mouth I felt this strange feeling....I felt like an American prude...I had become the embodiment of how other cultures describe the American culture.Stiff and dull and yes...prudish and even that word prude sounds dull and  horrible.
  As my husband struggled( I believe )to answer my question and still managed to keep me from feeling even more intimidated he was able to help me see  the above quote's validity. When you look at not the culture first but rather the Spanish language you can see how it influences the culture.Every word is either male or female... sex as my husband pointed out is embedded into the culture through the language.Thus the way the women in particular dress and carry themselves is not anything other than the their strong confidence in their own sexuality emanating from within.
 Understanding this however did not spontaneously erase my reluctantly admitted insecurities however.But as they say acceptance is the first step in recovery.That is precisely what I need to do recover my self confidence and become a stronger yes gulp more sensuous woman.I feel this is necessary. My husband perhaps unknowingly struck a very sensitive cord by telling me that if our girls were being raised in a more Latin culture they would be different as well.I am not Latina by blood but through marriage however my girls are Latina by blood .My oldest daughter I believe relates much more and to a deeper degree than even she may be aware of to her Latin inheritance.As a Gringa I am sorely at a disadvantage and though I can not nor would i want to change my own Italian heritage I do very much want to help my children embrace who and what they are and be comfortable with themselves.
Though my husband and I have always made it a point to help them to see people are people and not one race or ethnicity is better nor worse than another the world will look upon them and see them not just as girls (which that in itself is an obstacle) but as Latinas.So my intent is to try to understand as much as i can so that I can not only become a better woman but also a better mother to my girls.