Laugh to keep from crying with frustration.
“ This is what truly comprehensive sex ed could be. It’s not about teaching kids that sex is awesome (they’ve probably already gathered that) and it’s not about throwing some condoms at them and telling them to be safe–it’s about really speaking to how amazing/terrible/complicated/etc. sex can be and empowering young people to make the decisions that are best for them.
— In my fantasy world, everyone would take Mr. Vernacchio’s “Sexuality and Society” class.
“ Universal, comprehensive sex education is not a radical notion. But for students who have not yet received that knowledge, it just might make a radical difference.
— On the manufactured controversy over New York City’s new sex education mandate.
Meet Zoya Amirin, Indonesia’s only woman sex therapist, who just launched a new podcast to debunk common myths about sex and contraception in her country.
LOVE me some vintage STD posters.
Dear will.i.am,
Please leave me my condoms and get your baby wipes outta my house.
Love, Maya
“ Sometimes it’s easy to forget that sex-negativity—and the stigma around teen sexuality in particular—has real, direct effects on young people’s health. It’s not just about the pain of being slut-shamed, and the fear of being labeled “not normal,” and the many, many other ways our relationship to our sexuality is distorted by living in a culture that fears it. It also means that the teen birth rate in the U.S., even when at a record low, remains much higher than in Western Europe because we don’t do enough to encourage teen contraceptive use. It means that a 16-year-old faces disapproval and judgment when she makes the extremely responsible decision to get an effective, long-term form of birth control. And it means that some young people don’t feel like they can trust their doctors—people whose very job is to provide them with the information and tools needed to lead healthy lives in a confidential, non-judgmental way.
— Me at Feministing on a new study that suggests some young people lie about their sexual behavior and the need for better communication between doctors and their teen patients.
Your tax dollars hard at work teaching girls not to have too many ideas lest their princes be scared off! Amplify Your Voice has launched a video series of lessons from actual abstinence-only programs.
