I’m annoyed at our sex-phobic culture a lot of the time, for a lot of reasons, but today it’s specifically because we consider it taboo to talk about sex outside of a few limited contexts. When is it okay to talk about sex? Presumably with one’s partner(s) – though in the mainstream culture it’s assumed […]
Sex Education
Knowing Our Bodies Means Better Public Policies (The Case for Sex Ed Part 9)
After taking a brief hiatus (moving in the middle of the semester is fun!) my blog post series making a case for sex education is back. In this post, I’d like to talk about the widespread ignorance and disgust around bodies – especially women’s bodies – that could easily be remedied by universal evidence-based sex education. […]
In Nonconcordant Arousal Lies Freedom (The Case for Sex Ed Part 8)
New to this blog post series? Check out the rest of my blog posts making a case for sex education for all. Okay, let’s say you have acquired some basic knowledge about sex (no thanks to the efforts of those trying to keep young people in the dark). You’ve probably learned that hard penis and wet vagina = […]
Woodhull’s Sexual Freedom Summit 2015: Best Conference Ever
I go to a lot of conferences. The conference presentations section of my CV is a bit ridiculous, and lately, as I’ve been attending more conferences in the sexuality field, I haven’t even been presenting that much, but rather going to soak it all in. So, I’ve experienced tons of conferences. But Woodhull’s Sexual Freedom […]
Teaching Relationships Empowers Everyone (The Case for Sex Ed Part 7)
In this installment of my The Case for Sex Ed blog post series, I’m going to address how teaching the basics of equitable relationships as part of a sex education curriculum can improve the lives of teens and everyone. When we talk about relationships there’s a tendency to assume that we mean sexual and/or romantic […]
My SAR Experience (Told In Memes)
I recently had the opportunity to take a SAR – that is, a Sexual Attitude Reassessment. It’s generally a 10-12 hour-long workshop wherein an instructor guides the class through a series of sexual images and topics. The point is to prepare sexuality professionals (sex educators, counselors, and therapists) for all the varied sexual practices we’ll […]
We Could Reduce STI Stigma & Improve Public Health…But We’re Not (The Case for Sex Ed Part 6)
Defining stigma, and then discussing its associations with sexuality, are important steps in furthering sexual health. This is number 6 in my “The Case for Sex Ed” blog post series; click here to check out the rest. In Bruce Link and Jo Phelan’s article, “On Stigma and Its Public Health Implications,” they describe the ways in […]
How Abstinence-Only Sex Ed Erases Consent (The Case for Sex Ed Part 5)
We’re now onto part 5 of my blog series The Case for Sex Ed! You can read parts 1, 2, 3, and 4 here. RoleReboot blogger Lynn Beisner beat me to the theme of this post with her post On Josh Duggar And Why It’s Time To Do Away With Abstinence-Only Sex Education. But there are […]
In Order to Fix Professional Boundaries, We Must Revolutionize the Meaning of Sex
I think about professional boundaries a lot. This is in large part because I occupy a number of professions: scholar, adjunct professor, sex educator, dance instructor, dance performer, and freelance writer, to name a few. I see a lot of people in a lot of different contexts (some of them even social!) and I like […]
We Need to Disentangle Gender From Sex (The Case for Sex Ed Part 4)
Welcome to my blog post series making a case for sex education (you can catch up and read part 1 here, part 2 here, and part 3 here). In this post I’ll analyze how concepts of gender and sexual activity intertwine in contemporary American culture, and how accurate sex education can help.* Since I just […]