What I learned:
The biggest thing I learned from this book was how uncomfortable we as americans are with sex and anything involving sex. We think that if preach abstinence and try to scare people out of having sex then it won’t happen, or if we ban all sexual content then the world will be a better place and there will be less rapes, less domestic abuse, and people will stop having sex before marriage. As much we try to separate religion from state when it comes to sex religion comes into play big time. Religion is the main reason why we see premarital sex as wrong. Its the reason why we view it as a bad thing and it’s why we shame people for doing something that is complete normal and okay to do. Like Klein said in the book “It’s a public
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Another thing I learned from this book was how we spend so much time preaching abstinence that we forget to each about how to stay safe if people do decide to have sex. We believe that the only way to stay safe is to be abstinent, and by doing that it blinds us to the reality that sex is going to happen no matter how hard you preach it. It would be more effective and more realistic if we educated, talked openly, and asked questions about sex. How else are we going to learn and stay safe if we don’t educate each other about sex? We blame so many things for why people have sex and why bad things happen, the internet being one of the most common things people like to blame. If it weren’t for the porn on the internet then we probably wouldn’t be as advance as we are today. Some of the main reasons for the internet was to make porn more easily accessible and more private. Because of this people were able to talk on chat rooms about sex and people were able to Email each other and flirt in private. Now a days people use the internet to do non-sexual activities like play games, shopping, research, and numerous other things, this all because of things that were …show more content…
These programs build up these expectations for parents that are completely unrealistic and not to mention unfair to kids. It’s unfair to kids because they can’t openly ask their parents questions because they are trained to think that sex is wrong and they shouldn’t be curious about it. I find this valuable because it makes me realize that my parents never had any sex talks with me or answered any of my questions, they just said “you shouldn’t be doing that”, “you 're too young to be worrying about that”. They thought that after that there job was done and they were parents of the year, they assumed that I had been taught the importance of being abstinence so I didn’t need to know anything else about sex. That section of the book made me realize how important it is for parents to be open about talking about sex where there kids and as painful as it is for parents to think about, they should never assume their kids aren’t sexually active. Parents should have “the talk” with their kids regardless of
"Comprehensive Sex Education Is Inappropriate and Harmful." Do Abstinence Programs Work? Ed. Christina Fisanick. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2010. At Issue.
Pepper Schwartz opens Why is Everyone Afraid of Sex? with "In spite of the visibility of sex in the media and popular culture, despite a widespread acceptance of a variety of sexual practices, Americans still hold a deep-rooted fear of sex." (252) Schwartz then goes on to explain the surprising, but obvious truth. American society portrays a sexual attitude, but is actually hiding a fear of the activity. Schwartz does a great job of showing both sides of this argument. She mentions how sex seems to no longer be a completely taboo thing within the media and society today. Within television, magazines, articles, movies, etc, sexual themes are all over the place. Another factor is that premarital sex is becoming more and more acceptable these
It may surprise people how much of the information in abstinence-only curricula is inaccurate. More than 80% of the abstinence-only curricula used by over two-thirds of Special Programs of Regional and National Significance Community-Based Abstinence Education (SPRANS) grantees contain false, misleading, or distorted information about reproductive health ("What the Research Shows”). According to a 2004 study by the Government Reform Committee Staff, out of the thirteen most commonly used abstinence-only education curricula, only two are completely accurate. The other eleven, used by sixty-nine organizations in twenty-five states, contain medical inaccuracies, treat gender stereotypes as facts, blur religion and science, and contain outright
The relationship between sex and gender can be argued in many different lights. All of which complicated lights. Each individual beholds a sexual identity and a gender identity, with the argument of perceiving these identities however way they wish to perceive them. However, the impact of gender on our identities and on our bodies and how they play out is often taken for granted in various ways. Gender issues continue to be a hugely important topic within contemporary modern society. I intend to help the reader understand that femininities and masculinities is a social constructed concept and whether the binary categories of “male” and “female” are adequate concepts for understanding and organising contemporary social life with discussing the experiences of individuals and groups who have resisted these labels and forged new identities.
The controversy of whether sex education should be taught in schools has been a lingering argument for years. Opposing sides are so firm on their position that they will not consider those whose opinions counter their own, making it difficult to come up with a solution. Those who are against the teaching of sex education in school feel that they should be the ones educating their children about sex and that sex should be abstained from until marriage. On the other hand, people who support sexual education programs believe their children will learn the importance of contraception, learn how to have sex through the teachings of a professional, and how they can help open up better relationships with their parents.
Sexuality is shaped by gender because gender in itself is a social construct. Sex is based on genetics, on whether or not you have a XX chromosome or a XY chromosome. Gender on the other hand is socially constructed. It’s how we perceive each other. For example, girls have long hair and wear pink but boys have short hair and are to be tough. Sexuality is further shaped by this because with gender, the world has only really ever had two categories, female and male, when really there could be more or there could be less.
Pardini, Priscilla. (2002). Federal Law Mandates 'Abstinence-Only' Sex Ed Fundamentalists Pushed Stealth Legislation. Retrieved on April 27 from
There has been a heated debate over the years on whether sex education should be taught at schools instead of abstinence-only. Many believe that talking about sex in the classroom raises the initiation of such behavior, and by stressing discipline, self-control, and self-respect, advocates argue, abstinence-only programs build character in students. Others believe that ignoring the subject keeps teens in the dark which leads them to make unsafe decisions when they become sexually active. In order to fix this problem schools should teach Sex Education, but emphasize that abstinence is the only 100 percent effective way to prevent pregnancy or sexually transmitted diseases.
The late 1960s to early 1980s saw the first fave of organized sexual education opposition. (Pardini, Priscilla) These opposers aimed to criticize any form of sex ed being taught in schools.(Pardini, Priscilla) “Sex education programs were described by the Christian Crusade and other conservative groups as ‘smut" and ‘raw sex”.(Pardini, Priscilla) Some “far right” leaders argued that sexual education resulted in an increase in teen sexual activity.(Pardini, Priscilla)
The traditional biological understandings of sex and gender create a binary concept mainly in the Western culture by having two strictly fixed options of male or female. This binary notion of gender and sex was put to the test by both Anne Fausto-Sterling and Oyeronke Oyewumi. Sterling argues that rather than just two separate ends, biological gender occurs across a continuum of possibilities. This spectrum of anatomical deviation by itself should be enough to disregard the simplistic notion of only two genders. Oyewumi acknowledges that there is a binary in a Western culture, but does not agree that this idea is universal. She goes on to say that biological determinism in the west is the "conception that biology provides the rationale for the organization of the social world...thus cultural logic is bio-logic". (Oyewumi 2006:544) The critiques by these two authors will provide an understanding of why gender and sex do not only have a binary definition.
The first time I learned about sex was in middle school, in an after school program that was run by a strict Catholic leader, who also ran a center in my town that was exclusively pro-life, but provided health check ups for pregnant women. I did not know at the time that this program was extremely biased, and only preached abstinence. I remember the instructor telling us a story about when she had sex in high school with a guy who she still sees sometimes, and their sexual encounter remained so prevalent in her memory, that it completely ruined any interaction they could have afterwards. I remember thinking how embarrassing that must be, because sex in this program was made to seem like it was something to be ashamed of. My sister also was
Many times as we go to the movie theater, listen to a song on the radio, or read a book, we are inundated with sexual themes and innuendos. It’s on billboards, commercials, and even in our daily conversations as we innocently joke about little Jane having her first boyfriend in kindergarten. Everywhere we look, we are barraged by sexual themes when what we need most are educational programs to deter young people from situations that they are ill prepared to deal with. The lack of educational programs can be affected by many factors. Maybe it’s a lack of funding for these type programs in our public school systems, or maybe they’re avoided due to religious or personal beliefs surrounding the subject. Many parents subscribe to the theories that they have taught abstinence, and that should be good enough, or that they want to educate the child concerning these matters as a family, and that it shouldn’t be taught in school. The truth is that sexually toned conversations can be hard to have at home, where there is often a judgmental undertone or a perceived punishment if the young person expresses an interest in birth control. According to the Centers for Disease Control, “46.8% of high school students admitted that they had ever had sex”, and “40.9% admitted that they did not use a condom the last time they had sex”. (Center for Disease Control) Many teenagers believe the common myth that
Rates of sexually transmitted disease and teen pregnancy are higher in the United States than in any other domesticated country. Not surprising since American culture has brought sex to the forefront over the last few decades. The need for comprehensive sex education in schools can teach children that the romanticized relationships and sexual interactions in the media aren’t showing the whole story. For children with ...
In today’s society, many individuals are aware of the issue of teenage pregnancy and the high rate of sexually transmitted diseases among the youth. One can simply turn on their television and become quickly aware of the popular, yet controversial, discussion of teenage sexual activity in the United States through the news and shows like Teen Mom and 16 and Pregnant. Almost ever, discussion about teenagers and their sexual activity refers back to Sex Education in the public school system. Many individuals would consider Sex Education to be the source and/or solution to the problems that occur as a result of sexually active teenagers in the United States. For many decades, Sex Education has been taught in public schools but also has been a topic of controversy. Proponents of Abstinence-Only Education argue that Traditional Sex Education should not just focus on teaching students about contraceptives and how to use them, but instead it should also help students develop and acquire the virtues of prudence and temperance, and teach students the importance of abstinence and the emotional risk that comes along with being sexually active at such a young age. Other people like to argue that Traditional Sex Education should be taught in schools because they believe that informing students about how to be safe when participating in sexual acts is very important. Abstinence-Only Education is the best form of Sex Education for students and should be taught in the public school system because it teaches students the importance of abstaining from sex along with helping them develop or acquire the virtues of prudence and temperance.
As a child we are told that we can be anything we want. We are told that if we wanted to be a fireman, policeman or astronaut, we can become it. We are told that if we have the passion and desire for something, we will achieve it. But what if I wanted the freedom to express myself to the utmost? We are told we have the right to be anything we want, but ourselves. When I was a child I wanted to take guitar classes, but my mother put me in figure skating classes because it was the girly thing to do and I had no say because I was merely a child. When I realized I liked the same sex in middle school I had no voice because I was a child who was exploring her sexuality. Age eighteen and I still have no say because I’m still a child who is confused. I knew that my voice would be silenced and I was going against the norm of society. The church says gays are an abomination. The government says gays aren't allowed to marry. Every day on the news there another image of a gay student who committed suicide due to bullying. I wasn't allowed to be myself because I knew being gay was not looked upon lightly by others. I hid myself from my friends and most importantly my parents due to the fear of society constriction against me. I was strong enough not to end up on the news but the right to be myself was taken away.