1
00:00:00,320 --> 00:00:03,000
Speaker 1: Brought to you by the reinvented two thousand twelve Camray.

2
00:00:03,240 --> 00:00:10,000
Speaker 1: It's ready. Are you welcome to stuff Mom Never told you?

3
00:00:10,200 --> 00:00:17,520
Speaker 1: From house Stop works dot Com. Hello, and welcome to

4
00:00:17,560 --> 00:00:20,840
Speaker 1: the podcast. I'm Kristen and I'm Caroline. And today we

5
00:00:20,880 --> 00:00:24,560
Speaker 1: are talking about sex Said, and we are going to

6
00:00:24,680 --> 00:00:29,400
Speaker 1: cover the history of sex said, bringing things up to today.

7
00:00:29,480 --> 00:00:32,840
Speaker 1: And this is actually part one of a little two

8
00:00:32,920 --> 00:00:35,159
Speaker 1: partner that we're gonna do. There is a lot to

9
00:00:35,200 --> 00:00:38,720
Speaker 1: talk about. There's so much to talk about with sexual education,

10
00:00:39,360 --> 00:00:42,559
Speaker 1: as you can imagine. But to kick things off, what

11
00:00:42,720 --> 00:00:48,120
Speaker 1: really got our wheels turning about sex said was uh

12
00:00:48,120 --> 00:00:50,479
Speaker 1: story published in the New York Times magazine in the

13
00:00:50,560 --> 00:00:55,440
Speaker 1: November twenty edition, and it was a profile of this teacher,

14
00:00:55,680 --> 00:01:00,480
Speaker 1: al Vernakio's sexuality in Society class. And this was an

15
00:01:00,520 --> 00:01:03,800
Speaker 1: elective for high school seniors at a private school called

16
00:01:03,880 --> 00:01:09,720
Speaker 1: Friends Central School in a wealthy suburb of Philadelphia. And

17
00:01:09,840 --> 00:01:13,080
Speaker 1: the whole crux of the article was the fact that

18
00:01:13,480 --> 00:01:17,880
Speaker 1: it is one of the only sex said courses in

19
00:01:18,040 --> 00:01:21,720
Speaker 1: public and private high school education in the United States

20
00:01:21,959 --> 00:01:24,680
Speaker 1: that not only focuses on like how babies are made,

21
00:01:24,880 --> 00:01:29,440
Speaker 1: how to prevent STD contractions, and things like that, but

22
00:01:29,520 --> 00:01:32,920
Speaker 1: also focuses on the more pleasurable aspects of sex. It's

23
00:01:32,920 --> 00:01:36,840
Speaker 1: not just scare tactics. I thought it was really interesting because, Uh,

24
00:01:36,840 --> 00:01:40,679
Speaker 1: this teacher is really giving kids, um, not only an

25
00:01:40,680 --> 00:01:43,920
Speaker 1: outlet to discuss their insecurities and their worries and everything,

26
00:01:43,959 --> 00:01:48,760
Speaker 1: but really giving them straightforward information. And you just don't

27
00:01:48,800 --> 00:01:52,640
Speaker 1: hear about that very much about teachers either wanting to

28
00:01:52,880 --> 00:01:57,240
Speaker 1: or being able to provide such straightforward information. I mean,

29
00:01:57,320 --> 00:01:59,639
Speaker 1: kids really go to him as not only a teacher

30
00:01:59,680 --> 00:02:03,040
Speaker 1: but a counselor, right, Because on the one hand, there's

31
00:02:03,200 --> 00:02:08,919
Speaker 1: this societal fear of teen sexuality. Obviously, we have sex

32
00:02:08,960 --> 00:02:12,560
Speaker 1: said not only to um prevent teen pregnancies but also

33
00:02:12,680 --> 00:02:16,880
Speaker 1: to kind of delay sexual activity among teenagers. But at

34
00:02:16,880 --> 00:02:20,640
Speaker 1: the same time, there's so much fear of even broaching

35
00:02:20,680 --> 00:02:24,800
Speaker 1: the topic that a lot of times sex said can

36
00:02:24,840 --> 00:02:27,880
Speaker 1: just be an afterthought. I mean, I don't know about you, Caroline,

37
00:02:27,960 --> 00:02:34,000
Speaker 1: but um, in my high school experience, sex said consisted

38
00:02:34,040 --> 00:02:41,120
Speaker 1: of one class in biology, and it was basically at

39
00:02:41,160 --> 00:02:44,359
Speaker 1: one point my teacher very awkwardly saying, if you don't

40
00:02:44,360 --> 00:02:47,200
Speaker 1: want to, baby, don't have sex. I don't you know,

41
00:02:47,440 --> 00:02:50,600
Speaker 1: reading up for this podcast. I tried to remember any

42
00:02:50,639 --> 00:02:52,880
Speaker 1: sex said classes I had, and I can remember in

43
00:02:52,919 --> 00:02:58,519
Speaker 1: fourth grade, our teacher taught us about periods and tampons

44
00:02:58,600 --> 00:03:02,080
Speaker 1: and pads and all that stuff. And I remember somebody asking, well, like,

45
00:03:02,120 --> 00:03:04,040
Speaker 1: what about sex, and she's like, that's not what we're

46
00:03:04,040 --> 00:03:07,919
Speaker 1: here to talk about. And she did talk like that. Um.

47
00:03:08,000 --> 00:03:10,640
Speaker 1: And then in high school we had a big like

48
00:03:10,680 --> 00:03:14,840
Speaker 1: school wide assembly um where people with AIDS and HIV

49
00:03:14,960 --> 00:03:17,680
Speaker 1: came in and talked to us. But I don't remember

50
00:03:17,680 --> 00:03:21,680
Speaker 1: ever having like a formal sex said conversation. Yeah, not cool,

51
00:03:21,800 --> 00:03:26,400
Speaker 1: not so much of a comprehensive conversation. Yeah, before high school.

52
00:03:26,760 --> 00:03:30,079
Speaker 1: My only sex said before that, since I was homeschooled,

53
00:03:30,080 --> 00:03:34,399
Speaker 1: as you know, was a delightful book called Almost twelve

54
00:03:34,960 --> 00:03:38,480
Speaker 1: that my mom gave me before I turned twelve. I

55
00:03:38,480 --> 00:03:43,880
Speaker 1: guess I was almost twelve, and uh, I remember seeing

56
00:03:44,400 --> 00:03:48,640
Speaker 1: the I think it had these sort of rudimentary illustrations

57
00:03:48,680 --> 00:03:53,480
Speaker 1: of the naked adult female no actual yeah, and I

58
00:03:53,520 --> 00:03:58,160
Speaker 1: was disgusted, like, whoa I need to put on a

59
00:03:58,280 --> 00:04:02,400
Speaker 1: dowel or something. And when I learned what intercourse was,

60
00:04:02,560 --> 00:04:04,560
Speaker 1: and the first thing I thought in my head was, well,

61
00:04:04,600 --> 00:04:08,920
Speaker 1: that is not for me, Well, so wait, was the

62
00:04:08,960 --> 00:04:12,800
Speaker 1: book just about like human anatomy or it was about

63
00:04:13,240 --> 00:04:18,680
Speaker 1: puberty and development? Taught me about menstruation, um and yes,

64
00:04:18,720 --> 00:04:22,479
Speaker 1: and then went into how how babies are made and

65
00:04:22,800 --> 00:04:25,640
Speaker 1: uh more of the some of the finer part points

66
00:04:25,640 --> 00:04:29,640
Speaker 1: of sexuality. It was, I will say, written from a

67
00:04:29,800 --> 00:04:34,240
Speaker 1: Christian perspective. Uh so there was there was some of

68
00:04:34,279 --> 00:04:38,200
Speaker 1: that dogma intertwined in it, but really the main thing

69
00:04:38,240 --> 00:04:42,520
Speaker 1: that I remember is are those sketches um being like

70
00:04:43,040 --> 00:04:46,200
Speaker 1: so much hair? Well, as we've already discussed in our

71
00:04:46,279 --> 00:04:49,600
Speaker 1: romance novel podcast, my sex I really came from reading

72
00:04:49,720 --> 00:04:53,560
Speaker 1: romance novels, which is terrible. Yeah, it's not a lot

73
00:04:53,560 --> 00:04:58,039
Speaker 1: of Lifetime movies and my older sisters Cosmos. Yeah, oh yeah,

74
00:04:58,160 --> 00:05:01,760
Speaker 1: well I guess I read like seventeen magazine, but I

75
00:05:01,800 --> 00:05:04,480
Speaker 1: don't think I've read Cosmo. I can't even read Cosmo now,

76
00:05:04,960 --> 00:05:08,440
Speaker 1: so gross to me now, I actually I don't think

77
00:05:08,440 --> 00:05:10,719
Speaker 1: it was until I was eighteen and I was sitting

78
00:05:10,720 --> 00:05:12,760
Speaker 1: on the couch watching TV with my mother and she

79
00:05:12,920 --> 00:05:16,080
Speaker 1: just looks at me and goes, do we need to

80
00:05:16,160 --> 00:05:21,360
Speaker 1: uh do we need to talk about anything? I said, No, No,

81
00:05:22,360 --> 00:05:24,520
Speaker 1: I don't know what you're about to say, but stop it.

82
00:05:24,560 --> 00:05:27,200
Speaker 1: But well, it's not surprising that, uh, you know, we

83
00:05:27,279 --> 00:05:31,240
Speaker 1: have similar experiences of learning more outside the classroom about

84
00:05:31,360 --> 00:05:34,960
Speaker 1: sex and reproduction than inside the classroom, because according to

85
00:05:35,040 --> 00:05:38,839
Speaker 1: statistics from the Gootmaker Institute, a majority of kids are

86
00:05:38,880 --> 00:05:43,320
Speaker 1: really relying on their parents, their peers, and media to

87
00:05:43,320 --> 00:05:48,000
Speaker 1: to teach them what is not necessarily being instructed in school.

88
00:05:48,400 --> 00:05:52,880
Speaker 1: But before we get to ahead of ourselves, let's talk

89
00:05:52,920 --> 00:05:55,400
Speaker 1: about the history of sex said in the United States,

90
00:05:55,440 --> 00:06:00,920
Speaker 1: because it is fascinating. It is fascinating. Um, early sex

91
00:06:01,160 --> 00:06:04,880
Speaker 1: ed and this isn't quotes. Early sex ad warned boys

92
00:06:04,920 --> 00:06:08,120
Speaker 1: and young men against masturbation unless they lose all of

93
00:06:08,160 --> 00:06:12,960
Speaker 1: their energy. Oh yeah, masculine energy. Yeah. We've mentioned Sylvester Graham,

94
00:06:13,680 --> 00:06:19,000
Speaker 1: inventor of the cracker, the Graham Cracker in the podcast

95
00:06:19,040 --> 00:06:22,240
Speaker 1: a number of times. UM, and he definitely plays a

96
00:06:22,360 --> 00:06:27,159
Speaker 1: role in this early anti masturbation movement. And just to

97
00:06:27,200 --> 00:06:32,080
Speaker 1: give you a sense of of why masturbation mail masturbation

98
00:06:32,160 --> 00:06:36,600
Speaker 1: was so feared, the Boston Medical and Surgical Journal steamed

99
00:06:36,600 --> 00:06:39,560
Speaker 1: publication that it was I'm sure in the mid eighteen

100
00:06:39,640 --> 00:06:44,800
Speaker 1: hundreds warned that ejaculation quote should be made but sparingly,

101
00:06:45,200 --> 00:06:49,320
Speaker 1: since sturdy manhood loses its energy and bends under too

102
00:06:49,360 --> 00:06:55,680
Speaker 1: frequent expenditure of this important secretion. That sounds clinical. All right,

103
00:06:55,800 --> 00:06:58,719
Speaker 1: so really well, early sex Said was all basically, hey,

104
00:06:58,960 --> 00:07:03,800
Speaker 1: guys should really not masturbate. Yeah, please don't, don't waste

105
00:07:03,839 --> 00:07:05,599
Speaker 1: your And obviously we didn't have to tell women that

106
00:07:05,720 --> 00:07:08,320
Speaker 1: because women don't know anything about their bodies and such.

107
00:07:08,360 --> 00:07:11,440
Speaker 1: We're not interested in sex. Guys. Just eat these crackers,

108
00:07:12,200 --> 00:07:15,320
Speaker 1: you'll be fine, these very bland crackers, and do not

109
00:07:15,360 --> 00:07:19,960
Speaker 1: put marshmallows on them. But then we get progressive error

110
00:07:20,000 --> 00:07:24,280
Speaker 1: reformers like Julius Rosenberg who was the president of Sears

111
00:07:24,280 --> 00:07:27,160
Speaker 1: and Roebook and Charles Elliott who was the president of

112
00:07:27,200 --> 00:07:33,200
Speaker 1: Harvard University, who um, were these early social hygienists who

113
00:07:33,280 --> 00:07:37,040
Speaker 1: really wanted to get out the message about sex said

114
00:07:37,280 --> 00:07:41,200
Speaker 1: in order to stamp out venereal disease. Right. Yeah, it's

115
00:07:41,200 --> 00:07:44,680
Speaker 1: interesting to me that the sex Said movement, you know,

116
00:07:44,720 --> 00:07:49,400
Speaker 1: which is so controversial now, was not that controversial then.

117
00:07:49,440 --> 00:07:51,680
Speaker 1: It was all about, like, we have to make sure

118
00:07:51,920 --> 00:07:55,920
Speaker 1: society is clean, you know. It was more about preventing diseases,

119
00:07:55,920 --> 00:07:58,440
Speaker 1: which not that it's not now, but I mean, the

120
00:07:58,480 --> 00:08:01,640
Speaker 1: social Higie movement was not exactly liberal, right, I mean,

121
00:08:01,640 --> 00:08:03,560
Speaker 1: and it's kind of it's kind of a practical thing.

122
00:08:03,560 --> 00:08:05,800
Speaker 1: And today, um, I think you could argue that that

123
00:08:05,960 --> 00:08:09,800
Speaker 1: sex that is really more focused on team pregnancy prevention,

124
00:08:09,880 --> 00:08:13,600
Speaker 1: which is also important as well. But uh, right, back

125
00:08:13,680 --> 00:08:15,800
Speaker 1: back in the eighteen hundreds when it really got off

126
00:08:15,800 --> 00:08:21,640
Speaker 1: the ground, um, they were all about keeping keeping things clean. Um.

127
00:08:21,760 --> 00:08:26,600
Speaker 1: So in eighteen nine two, the National Education Association passes

128
00:08:26,600 --> 00:08:31,320
Speaker 1: a resolution that called for moral education in the schools. Right.

129
00:08:31,440 --> 00:08:35,880
Speaker 1: This came about, um, with the rise of urbanization and industrialization,

130
00:08:35,880 --> 00:08:38,920
Speaker 1: because all of a sudden you have people moving into

131
00:08:38,960 --> 00:08:43,080
Speaker 1: cities rapidly, you know, city population start booming. And I

132
00:08:43,120 --> 00:08:47,080
Speaker 1: like the example they used in that article of Um,

133
00:08:47,120 --> 00:08:49,959
Speaker 1: you know, little boys weren't on the farm watching cows

134
00:08:50,040 --> 00:08:54,160
Speaker 1: mate anymore, so they needed more instruction from outside of

135
00:08:54,200 --> 00:08:58,520
Speaker 1: the family. So, um, yeah, the the National Education Association

136
00:08:58,600 --> 00:09:02,920
Speaker 1: wanted to have moral education in schools. And then for

137
00:09:03,080 --> 00:09:07,280
Speaker 1: our listeners in Chicago right now, you need to give

138
00:09:07,320 --> 00:09:11,320
Speaker 1: your your city two thumbs up because in nineteen thirteen,

139
00:09:11,880 --> 00:09:14,679
Speaker 1: your fair town became the first major city to implement

140
00:09:14,760 --> 00:09:19,079
Speaker 1: sex ed for high schools. Until it was shut down

141
00:09:19,160 --> 00:09:23,480
Speaker 1: by the Catholic Church, right. Yeah, they campaigned strongly against

142
00:09:23,520 --> 00:09:27,880
Speaker 1: it and ended up having to force the superintendent to resign. Hey,

143
00:09:27,880 --> 00:09:30,400
Speaker 1: but you were still the first Chicago, don't you forget that.

144
00:09:31,720 --> 00:09:34,840
Speaker 1: But the thing that really gets the federal government behind

145
00:09:35,240 --> 00:09:40,640
Speaker 1: sex education efforts in the United States is World War

146
00:09:40,720 --> 00:09:49,920
Speaker 1: One and soldiers with syphilis. Yeah. The American Hygiene Association,

147
00:09:50,480 --> 00:09:52,840
Speaker 1: which was founded in nineteen fourteen as part of this

148
00:09:53,040 --> 00:09:56,720
Speaker 1: social purity movement that we talked about, helped teach soldiers

149
00:09:56,800 --> 00:10:00,480
Speaker 1: about sexual hygiene because it was just stuff like ganoiha

150
00:10:00,559 --> 00:10:03,840
Speaker 1: and syphilism. Media was just kind of running rampant. Yeah,

151
00:10:03,880 --> 00:10:08,079
Speaker 1: and his earliest nineteen eighteen Congress actually passed the Chamberlain Contact,

152
00:10:08,559 --> 00:10:12,880
Speaker 1: which allocated money to educate soldiers. And the first sex

153
00:10:12,920 --> 00:10:17,320
Speaker 1: said film in the United States was called Damaged Goods

154
00:10:17,800 --> 00:10:21,480
Speaker 1: and was about a guy was soldier actually, who gets

155
00:10:21,559 --> 00:10:26,760
Speaker 1: syphilis from contracts cephialis from a prostitute and then he

156
00:10:26,960 --> 00:10:32,199
Speaker 1: passes the syphilis along to the unborn fetus in his

157
00:10:32,880 --> 00:10:36,720
Speaker 1: newlywed wife's womb, and the baby then is born with

158
00:10:36,760 --> 00:10:40,800
Speaker 1: syphilis and dies, right, and the man kills himself. Gosh,

159
00:10:41,120 --> 00:10:44,360
Speaker 1: horrible ending. But yeah, at the time, one critic wrote

160
00:10:44,400 --> 00:10:48,080
Speaker 1: that boys should be made to watch it because um.

161
00:10:48,160 --> 00:10:51,120
Speaker 1: In nineteen a report from the U. S Department of

162
00:10:51,200 --> 00:10:54,000
Speaker 1: Labour's Children's Bureau suggested that soldiers would have been better

163
00:10:54,040 --> 00:10:57,200
Speaker 1: off if they had received sex instruction in school. So

164
00:10:57,920 --> 00:11:01,080
Speaker 1: very early on, you know, people are saying kids would

165
00:11:01,120 --> 00:11:03,679
Speaker 1: be better off, and especially when they become adults and

166
00:11:03,760 --> 00:11:08,200
Speaker 1: start becoming sexually active, if they knew this stuff beforehand. Right. Um.

167
00:11:08,320 --> 00:11:11,920
Speaker 1: And even though it seems like sex said in schools

168
00:11:11,920 --> 00:11:15,439
Speaker 1: has become it's more of a contemporary debate. By the

169
00:11:15,520 --> 00:11:20,640
Speaker 1: nineteen twenties of the U S school systems had programs

170
00:11:20,720 --> 00:11:26,200
Speaker 1: on social hygiene and sexuality. How granted, things like masturbation

171
00:11:26,360 --> 00:11:30,240
Speaker 1: was still very much frowned upon, uh, But nevertheless it

172
00:11:30,320 --> 00:11:33,559
Speaker 1: was starting to be taught gradually. And in the nineteen

173
00:11:33,600 --> 00:11:37,240
Speaker 1: thirties the U S Office of Education began to actually

174
00:11:37,280 --> 00:11:42,920
Speaker 1: train teachers to discuss human sexuality. And again that that

175
00:11:43,000 --> 00:11:45,600
Speaker 1: whole hygiene thing. And then in the nineteen fourties and

176
00:11:45,640 --> 00:11:49,280
Speaker 1: fifties we have the emergence of human sexuality courses offered

177
00:11:49,320 --> 00:11:52,760
Speaker 1: in colleges. Yeah, things really get rolling in the sixties

178
00:11:52,760 --> 00:11:56,040
Speaker 1: and seventies, though, Um, In nineteen sixty four, Mary caulder in,

179
00:11:56,080 --> 00:11:59,840
Speaker 1: the medical director at Planned Parenthood, founded the Sexuality Information

180
00:11:59,840 --> 00:12:03,240
Speaker 1: and Education Council of the United States, and four years later,

181
00:12:03,320 --> 00:12:06,120
Speaker 1: in nineteen sixty eight, the Office of Education that we

182
00:12:06,160 --> 00:12:08,480
Speaker 1: just mentioned gave n y U a grant to develop

183
00:12:08,520 --> 00:12:11,520
Speaker 1: graduate programs for training sex add teachers. Right, and the

184
00:12:11,559 --> 00:12:15,360
Speaker 1: founding of a Sexuality Information and Education Counsel of the

185
00:12:15,440 --> 00:12:19,360
Speaker 1: United States by a long title, was important because it

186
00:12:19,640 --> 00:12:24,199
Speaker 1: served as a more liberal counterbalance to the American American

187
00:12:24,320 --> 00:12:29,920
Speaker 1: Hygiene Association UM. And while UH it was pro abstinence,

188
00:12:30,160 --> 00:12:34,320
Speaker 1: it was really intended to open up sexual discussion to

189
00:12:34,440 --> 00:12:40,360
Speaker 1: foster more personal sexual responsibility. Basically UM that comprehensive sex

190
00:12:40,480 --> 00:12:44,920
Speaker 1: education that's often talked about today. And by the late

191
00:12:44,960 --> 00:12:47,960
Speaker 1: sixties early seventies, a lot of resistance is starting to

192
00:12:48,080 --> 00:12:52,280
Speaker 1: emerge UM to sex AID. It started to become kind

193
00:12:52,280 --> 00:12:55,880
Speaker 1: of a religious and political issue because religious conservatives start

194
00:12:55,960 --> 00:12:59,480
Speaker 1: to build a movement partially based on their opposition to

195
00:12:59,559 --> 00:13:01,520
Speaker 1: sex and deduction in school. So this is where we

196
00:13:01,520 --> 00:13:04,760
Speaker 1: see sort of the dawn of the current argument against

197
00:13:04,800 --> 00:13:09,079
Speaker 1: comprehensive sex in schools that is not just abstinence space

198
00:13:09,320 --> 00:13:11,280
Speaker 1: and the funny thing is though, and this is coming

199
00:13:11,360 --> 00:13:16,000
Speaker 1: from uh Talk about Sex by Janice m Irvine. Um.

200
00:13:16,080 --> 00:13:19,040
Speaker 1: And even though we have the sexual Revolution that's going

201
00:13:19,080 --> 00:13:21,880
Speaker 1: on in the nineteen sixties, and maybe in our minds

202
00:13:21,880 --> 00:13:24,000
Speaker 1: there's a perception that all of a sudden, kids are

203
00:13:24,040 --> 00:13:27,319
Speaker 1: having having intercourse outside of marriage for the first time,

204
00:13:27,640 --> 00:13:31,280
Speaker 1: that's really not the case. It wasn't so much that

205
00:13:31,840 --> 00:13:36,760
Speaker 1: the sexual Revolution caused an uptick in sexual activity, um,

206
00:13:36,840 --> 00:13:39,520
Speaker 1: because it was the same amount of premarital sex happening

207
00:13:39,520 --> 00:13:42,080
Speaker 1: as it was in the nineteen twenties, but more of

208
00:13:42,320 --> 00:13:46,240
Speaker 1: a changing attitude. And it was really that attitude and

209
00:13:46,440 --> 00:13:52,760
Speaker 1: greater openness about sexuality that caused that initial polarization saying,

210
00:13:52,920 --> 00:13:56,960
Speaker 1: oh wow, okay, what's what's happened, what's happening to our society?

211
00:13:57,160 --> 00:13:58,880
Speaker 1: And of course you have the emergence of the birth

212
00:13:58,880 --> 00:14:02,040
Speaker 1: control pill and the shifting and the gender roles, and

213
00:14:02,080 --> 00:14:06,560
Speaker 1: all of a sudden everything is kind of topsy turvy. Um.

214
00:14:06,920 --> 00:14:10,160
Speaker 1: So it's kind of funny that, uh, during the sexual Revolution,

215
00:14:10,200 --> 00:14:14,719
Speaker 1: we have that first pushback against sex said or comprehensive

216
00:14:14,760 --> 00:14:18,640
Speaker 1: sex said, Yeah, there, I mean there were strong opinions

217
00:14:18,640 --> 00:14:24,880
Speaker 1: against it. Uh, some groups called sex said communist indoctrination. Um,

218
00:14:24,920 --> 00:14:28,040
Speaker 1: there were rumors about sex said instructors encouraging students to

219
00:14:28,080 --> 00:14:30,760
Speaker 1: be homosexual, or even stripping or having sex in front

220
00:14:30,760 --> 00:14:33,840
Speaker 1: of the class, which I'm not sure where they're getting

221
00:14:33,840 --> 00:14:36,840
Speaker 1: this stuff. Um and yeah. And so as a result,

222
00:14:36,880 --> 00:14:39,720
Speaker 1: parent groups start protesting. Although I do think we've got

223
00:14:39,720 --> 00:14:43,640
Speaker 1: to point out in regard to the religious push behind

224
00:14:43,800 --> 00:14:47,120
Speaker 1: or against, I should say the religious push against sex

225
00:14:47,160 --> 00:14:50,880
Speaker 1: said was that in the nineteen sixties there was also

226
00:14:51,280 --> 00:14:56,760
Speaker 1: a new morality movement among some mainstream Christians that was

227
00:14:56,800 --> 00:15:01,920
Speaker 1: actually in favor of healthier disco worse about sexuality. So

228
00:15:01,920 --> 00:15:05,840
Speaker 1: when we talk about politics and religion and it stands

229
00:15:05,880 --> 00:15:09,160
Speaker 1: on sex said, Um, you know, we don't want to

230
00:15:09,160 --> 00:15:11,560
Speaker 1: make a blanket statement saying that, well, you know, anyone

231
00:15:11,600 --> 00:15:14,880
Speaker 1: who goes to churches sex said, But this is just

232
00:15:14,960 --> 00:15:20,200
Speaker 1: the time when those forces really begin to emerge. Right.

233
00:15:20,760 --> 00:15:23,800
Speaker 1: And then in the eighties, the AIDS and HIV pandemic

234
00:15:24,200 --> 00:15:27,600
Speaker 1: really gets bad, breaks out, and it strengthens the position

235
00:15:27,680 --> 00:15:30,240
Speaker 1: of sex said proponents because they're saying, look, we obviously

236
00:15:30,400 --> 00:15:35,080
Speaker 1: can't ignore what's happening. We've got to keep our kids safe. Uh.

237
00:15:35,120 --> 00:15:39,720
Speaker 1: And then in the ninety nineties, AIDS education has become

238
00:15:39,840 --> 00:15:44,160
Speaker 1: standard in schools, but at this time too, abstinence only

239
00:15:44,280 --> 00:15:49,320
Speaker 1: education rhetoric is now becoming part of not only political conversation,

240
00:15:49,360 --> 00:15:53,960
Speaker 1: but now seeping into the mainstream. Right. Yeah, at this point,

241
00:15:54,000 --> 00:15:56,480
Speaker 1: you know, everybody's realizing, Okay, we have to have some

242
00:15:56,520 --> 00:16:00,160
Speaker 1: sort of discussion about sex and protecting yourself. And so

243
00:16:00,280 --> 00:16:03,880
Speaker 1: conservative launched this movement to rebrand sex aid as abstinence

244
00:16:04,120 --> 00:16:08,160
Speaker 1: only education, to sort of rebrand it, give it their

245
00:16:08,160 --> 00:16:11,400
Speaker 1: own spin and say, hey, look there's alternatives to talking

246
00:16:11,400 --> 00:16:14,600
Speaker 1: about sex and STDs. We can just tell our kids, look,

247
00:16:14,680 --> 00:16:17,160
Speaker 1: just don't do it right, And it was I think

248
00:16:17,280 --> 00:16:21,680
Speaker 1: values based education is another, uh, the way that it's

249
00:16:21,720 --> 00:16:26,440
Speaker 1: often labeled and in n this is really significant because

250
00:16:26,480 --> 00:16:30,280
Speaker 1: at this point, um sex said is all about obviously

251
00:16:30,320 --> 00:16:37,800
Speaker 1: related to federal funding. Is a significant year in the

252
00:16:38,160 --> 00:16:41,920
Speaker 1: development of absence only education or the proliferation of it

253
00:16:42,280 --> 00:16:46,760
Speaker 1: in public schools in the US, because it is provisions

254
00:16:46,800 --> 00:16:51,240
Speaker 1: for it are included in the nine Welfare Reform Act,

255
00:16:51,760 --> 00:16:55,040
Speaker 1: and really from that point on, the federal funding and

256
00:16:55,120 --> 00:17:02,200
Speaker 1: programming promoting abstinence only until marriage grows, until we have

257
00:17:02,440 --> 00:17:07,480
Speaker 1: until the Obama administration comes in right. And in December

258
00:17:07,520 --> 00:17:11,360
Speaker 1: two thousand nine, Congress replaced the community based abstinence education

259
00:17:11,400 --> 00:17:15,080
Speaker 1: program with a teen pregnancy prevention program to support evidence

260
00:17:15,119 --> 00:17:19,359
Speaker 1: based interventions and others other programs that demonstrated promise. So

261
00:17:19,960 --> 00:17:23,480
Speaker 1: they're moving away a little bit, not obviously, not totally,

262
00:17:23,680 --> 00:17:27,360
Speaker 1: but they're moving away, UM, from just the purely abstinence

263
00:17:27,520 --> 00:17:32,560
Speaker 1: based classes to some that are like, hey, okay, sex happens. Now.

264
00:17:32,560 --> 00:17:35,720
Speaker 1: When it comes to all of these UM, these federal programs,

265
00:17:35,720 --> 00:17:38,760
Speaker 1: because currently, at least for the fiscal year two thousand ten,

266
00:17:38,800 --> 00:17:42,560
Speaker 1: there were three main federal programs four teens and sex

267
00:17:42,600 --> 00:17:45,840
Speaker 1: said in the United States. And when it comes to

268
00:17:45,880 --> 00:17:50,240
Speaker 1: these programs, it's incredible to me how much money we

269
00:17:51,040 --> 00:17:58,000
Speaker 1: UM collectively pour into UH team pregnancy prevention, preventing STD contraction,

270
00:17:58,160 --> 00:18:01,560
Speaker 1: increasing condom use to the tune of a hundred and

271
00:18:01,640 --> 00:18:05,080
Speaker 1: fourteen point five million dollars for that two thousand nine

272
00:18:05,119 --> 00:18:08,240
Speaker 1: program that you just mentioned, Caroline UM. A lot of

273
00:18:08,240 --> 00:18:13,320
Speaker 1: these abstinence only education programs totaled up to around hundred

274
00:18:13,359 --> 00:18:17,760
Speaker 1: and seventy million dollars plus, I believe, and UH, when

275
00:18:17,760 --> 00:18:21,359
Speaker 1: you put it in context, the fact that we have

276
00:18:21,480 --> 00:18:27,159
Speaker 1: invested so much and Yet, according to the Gootmacker Institute,

277
00:18:27,200 --> 00:18:30,160
Speaker 1: teams in the US UM have one of the highest

278
00:18:30,240 --> 00:18:33,320
Speaker 1: team pregnancy rates in the developed world, more than twice

279
00:18:33,359 --> 00:18:37,080
Speaker 1: as much as Canada or Sweden. You gotta ask yourself

280
00:18:37,760 --> 00:18:40,600
Speaker 1: what is going on here? And it's not that we're

281
00:18:40,600 --> 00:18:43,200
Speaker 1: having more sex. There is a study that found that

282
00:18:43,240 --> 00:18:45,399
Speaker 1: teams in the US are having the same amount of

283
00:18:45,440 --> 00:18:50,080
Speaker 1: sex as kids in Canada, England, France and Sweden. But

284
00:18:50,280 --> 00:18:54,959
Speaker 1: still we're contracting more STDs and we're having more, um

285
00:18:55,119 --> 00:18:58,959
Speaker 1: more babies, right. I mean, I think it's the conversation

286
00:18:59,040 --> 00:19:02,760
Speaker 1: has to change. I mean, maybe none of our methods

287
00:19:02,760 --> 00:19:06,440
Speaker 1: are really working about talking about sex or not having

288
00:19:06,480 --> 00:19:09,800
Speaker 1: sex with our kids. You know, maybe it's idealistic to

289
00:19:09,840 --> 00:19:12,359
Speaker 1: say that maybe we can have better conversations at home,

290
00:19:12,760 --> 00:19:15,119
Speaker 1: or that we've learned everything we need at school. But

291
00:19:15,240 --> 00:19:17,480
Speaker 1: right now, I just feel like so many people disagree

292
00:19:17,480 --> 00:19:19,800
Speaker 1: about what should be taught or whether anything should be

293
00:19:19,840 --> 00:19:22,760
Speaker 1: taught at all, that it's sort of it's sort of

294
00:19:22,760 --> 00:19:24,800
Speaker 1: ineffective at the moment. And you have to take into

295
00:19:24,800 --> 00:19:27,639
Speaker 1: account that because there are there's so many many different

296
00:19:27,640 --> 00:19:32,560
Speaker 1: types of federal funding for a number of different kinds

297
00:19:32,680 --> 00:19:37,399
Speaker 1: of programs, in elementary, middle and high school. It's not

298
00:19:37,440 --> 00:19:40,520
Speaker 1: just one. Every single public school does not have the

299
00:19:40,680 --> 00:19:45,040
Speaker 1: same type of sex education curriculum. It can be hard

300
00:19:45,080 --> 00:19:49,480
Speaker 1: to even establish benchmarks for whether or not something is

301
00:19:49,600 --> 00:19:54,280
Speaker 1: effective because everybody's doing things a little bit differently from

302
00:19:54,480 --> 00:19:58,199
Speaker 1: one end. With the the New York magazine profile on

303
00:19:58,240 --> 00:20:02,119
Speaker 1: the Sexuality and Society course, you know, emphasizes the you know,

304
00:20:02,200 --> 00:20:06,320
Speaker 1: more honest, pleasurable, comprehensive approach to you know, places like

305
00:20:06,359 --> 00:20:09,920
Speaker 1: my high school where it was you know, fifteen minutes

306
00:20:09,920 --> 00:20:15,160
Speaker 1: in a biology class, right, and and things change. Um.

307
00:20:15,200 --> 00:20:18,000
Speaker 1: There was a Dallas Morning News article in November that

308
00:20:18,119 --> 00:20:20,760
Speaker 1: said that Texas has decided for the past two years

309
00:20:20,800 --> 00:20:24,920
Speaker 1: not to apply for funds from the PREP program, which

310
00:20:25,000 --> 00:20:29,320
Speaker 1: is it was um created by Congress through the healthcare

311
00:20:29,359 --> 00:20:33,879
Speaker 1: reform in March, and it it pursues a more um

312
00:20:33,920 --> 00:20:39,440
Speaker 1: evidence based, comprehensive approach and so anyway, but they're declining

313
00:20:39,440 --> 00:20:42,840
Speaker 1: the funds for that program. But they've actually seen a

314
00:20:42,920 --> 00:20:47,280
Speaker 1: surge in school districts teaching abstinence plus education. So there's

315
00:20:47,280 --> 00:20:50,200
Speaker 1: been this huge surge up from three point six percent

316
00:20:50,280 --> 00:20:52,920
Speaker 1: of districts teaching this stuff to uh more than a

317
00:20:53,040 --> 00:20:56,880
Speaker 1: quarter well, and around ten states to date are now

318
00:20:56,960 --> 00:21:03,000
Speaker 1: turning down funds for the abstinence only education program. So

319
00:21:03,520 --> 00:21:05,840
Speaker 1: you know, states are are picking and choosing, and then

320
00:21:05,920 --> 00:21:10,720
Speaker 1: you have the public versus private approaches. Uh So, Yeah,

321
00:21:10,840 --> 00:21:13,639
Speaker 1: the the picture of sex education in the United States

322
00:21:13,720 --> 00:21:17,000
Speaker 1: is um, you know, kind of kind of understandably muddied.

323
00:21:17,680 --> 00:21:19,960
Speaker 1: It's kind of sketchy. It is a little sketchy, and

324
00:21:20,080 --> 00:21:24,240
Speaker 1: that's why in the next episode will hopefully clarify things

325
00:21:24,600 --> 00:21:27,360
Speaker 1: a little bit and talk about what exactly the difference

326
00:21:27,480 --> 00:21:31,160
Speaker 1: is between absinence only education, what those kids are learning

327
00:21:31,440 --> 00:21:35,600
Speaker 1: and more comprehensive sex education, and whether or not it's

328
00:21:35,640 --> 00:21:38,600
Speaker 1: making any difference our kids doing it less? Are they

329
00:21:38,600 --> 00:21:42,440
Speaker 1: getting pregnant less? Are they contracting fewer STDs? Do they

330
00:21:42,480 --> 00:21:46,159
Speaker 1: know where they where? They even learning about sex? Is

331
00:21:46,160 --> 00:21:50,320
Speaker 1: it all Cosmo or the Internet? A lot of it's porn,

332
00:21:50,600 --> 00:21:53,480
Speaker 1: Not to be a spoiler or anything. Yeah, So on

333
00:21:53,600 --> 00:21:55,240
Speaker 1: that note, I think that I think porn is a

334
00:21:55,240 --> 00:21:59,560
Speaker 1: good note to uh So, tune in to the next

335
00:21:59,600 --> 00:22:02,959
Speaker 1: episode where we will talk about whether or not absinence

336
00:22:03,040 --> 00:22:07,600
Speaker 1: only education is effective and uh maybe wait, what we

337
00:22:07,640 --> 00:22:10,280
Speaker 1: can do to catch up with the rest of the

338
00:22:10,320 --> 00:22:14,560
Speaker 1: developed world. So in the meantime, if you have any

339
00:22:14,560 --> 00:22:18,320
Speaker 1: thoughts to send our way about your experience with sex sex,

340
00:22:18,440 --> 00:22:22,280
Speaker 1: I'm very curious to know, um what people learned out

341
00:22:22,320 --> 00:22:24,119
Speaker 1: there about the birds and the bees, How how you

342
00:22:24,160 --> 00:22:26,679
Speaker 1: figured out what was going on? Send us an email

343
00:22:26,800 --> 00:22:29,520
Speaker 1: mom stuff at how stuff works dot com, or put

344
00:22:29,560 --> 00:22:33,520
Speaker 1: something up on Facebook and start a conversation. And I

345
00:22:33,680 --> 00:22:37,119
Speaker 1: have an email here from Drew and this is in

346
00:22:37,200 --> 00:22:42,639
Speaker 1: response to our episode on whether mail bisexuality exists. He writes,

347
00:22:43,040 --> 00:22:45,800
Speaker 1: I consider myself a bisexual mail and have been given

348
00:22:45,840 --> 00:22:49,680
Speaker 1: the gay straight or lying before, but mostly from gay men.

349
00:22:50,040 --> 00:22:52,679
Speaker 1: They typically assume that I'm having trouble coming out of

350
00:22:52,680 --> 00:22:54,719
Speaker 1: the closet and then try to help me face it.

351
00:22:55,320 --> 00:22:58,480
Speaker 1: As far as dating, it is very difficult to find

352
00:22:58,480 --> 00:23:02,200
Speaker 1: that right partner. I prefer a woman partner, mostly because

353
00:23:02,240 --> 00:23:05,439
Speaker 1: I prefer them physically, but finding a woman partner that

354
00:23:05,560 --> 00:23:09,680
Speaker 1: is open to you being by is extremely difficult. Many women,

355
00:23:09,720 --> 00:23:13,000
Speaker 1: whether they are by or not themselves, are uncomfortable and

356
00:23:13,080 --> 00:23:16,159
Speaker 1: sometimes disgusted at the thought of a by man, but

357
00:23:16,280 --> 00:23:19,040
Speaker 1: they do exist. My partner and I have now been

358
00:23:19,040 --> 00:23:22,200
Speaker 1: together for six years and she loves that I'm by

359
00:23:22,240 --> 00:23:24,240
Speaker 1: and it has opened up the possibility for us to

360
00:23:24,280 --> 00:23:28,920
Speaker 1: have a boyfriend or girlfriend too if we choose. This

361
00:23:29,080 --> 00:23:33,280
Speaker 1: is from Shane is also about our Bisexual Gentleman podcast.

362
00:23:33,680 --> 00:23:36,399
Speaker 1: He says, as a bisexual man myself, having just turned

363
00:23:36,440 --> 00:23:39,280
Speaker 1: forty and having both male, having had both male and

364
00:23:39,320 --> 00:23:41,960
Speaker 1: female relationships in my life to date, I have had

365
00:23:42,000 --> 00:23:45,120
Speaker 1: this very discussion with friends, girlfriends, partners, and family more

366
00:23:45,160 --> 00:23:47,560
Speaker 1: times than I could count as a general rule. I'm

367
00:23:47,560 --> 00:23:50,280
Speaker 1: pretty open about my sexuality, and as you rightly pointed out,

368
00:23:50,320 --> 00:23:52,520
Speaker 1: there some days I am clearly more into men or

369
00:23:52,520 --> 00:23:55,320
Speaker 1: women than others. To be frank though, I thought that

370
00:23:55,400 --> 00:23:57,000
Speaker 1: was just me, and I was intrigued to hear that

371
00:23:57,040 --> 00:23:59,560
Speaker 1: it is not so unusual in a time when being

372
00:23:59,560 --> 00:24:02,920
Speaker 1: a female bisexual is almost the in thing. My last

373
00:24:02,960 --> 00:24:05,760
Speaker 1: three female partners, including my current and ex wives, have

374
00:24:05,920 --> 00:24:09,639
Speaker 1: all had same sex relationships, though interestingly, all have found

375
00:24:09,640 --> 00:24:13,240
Speaker 1: my fascination with men bordering on unbearable. I think that

376
00:24:13,280 --> 00:24:16,240
Speaker 1: most of that attitude comes from insecurity. Though men are

377
00:24:16,280 --> 00:24:19,280
Speaker 1: confident that even if their female partner was or has

378
00:24:19,320 --> 00:24:21,880
Speaker 1: had a trist with another woman, they would come back

379
00:24:21,880 --> 00:24:24,600
Speaker 1: to them. I wonder if women believe the same. Maybe

380
00:24:24,600 --> 00:24:27,720
Speaker 1: a gay relationship is more competition than their egos can handle,

381
00:24:28,000 --> 00:24:31,600
Speaker 1: and acceptance is about ego after all. My other conclusion

382
00:24:31,640 --> 00:24:33,919
Speaker 1: is that men are generally less concerned about their partners

383
00:24:33,960 --> 00:24:36,239
Speaker 1: cheating on them than women are. Is it possible that

384
00:24:36,320 --> 00:24:38,919
Speaker 1: any competition, be it male or female, is considered in

385
00:24:39,000 --> 00:24:41,960
Speaker 1: hostile terms to a female just a thought rather than

386
00:24:41,960 --> 00:24:46,080
Speaker 1: a statement? Thank you, Shane. That is an interesting theory shape,

387
00:24:46,080 --> 00:24:50,040
Speaker 1: and it makes me think about our episode on jealousy,

388
00:24:50,240 --> 00:24:53,120
Speaker 1: because the thing is a lot of times men tend

389
00:24:53,160 --> 00:24:58,080
Speaker 1: to be more jealous of a physical infidelity than looks

390
00:24:58,119 --> 00:25:02,240
Speaker 1: quote unquote emotional cheating. So oh no, Shane, I think

391
00:25:02,280 --> 00:25:05,959
Speaker 1: that pokes a hole in your theory. But anyway, if

392
00:25:06,000 --> 00:25:08,159
Speaker 1: you get an email to send us mom stuff at

393
00:25:08,200 --> 00:25:10,640
Speaker 1: how stuff Works dot com is the place to do it,

394
00:25:11,080 --> 00:25:13,320
Speaker 1: or head over to Facebook, send us a comment, let

395
00:25:13,400 --> 00:25:16,280
Speaker 1: us know what you think, and follow us on Twitter

396
00:25:16,840 --> 00:25:21,119
Speaker 1: at mom Stuff Podcast. And again, you can check out

397
00:25:21,119 --> 00:25:23,680
Speaker 1: our blog during the week, It's stuff Mom Never told

398
00:25:23,680 --> 00:25:29,840
Speaker 1: You at how Stuff Works dot com. Be sure to

399
00:25:29,920 --> 00:25:32,720
Speaker 1: check out our new video podcast, Stuff from the Future.

400
00:25:33,040 --> 00:25:35,360
Speaker 1: Join how Stuff Work staff as we explore the most

401
00:25:35,359 --> 00:25:39,720
Speaker 1: promising and perplexing possibilities of tomorrow the house Stuff Works

402
00:25:39,720 --> 00:25:45,240
Speaker 1: i frone app has a ride. Download it today on iTunes,

403
00:25:47,760 --> 00:25:50,359
Speaker 1: Brought to you by the reinvented two thousand twelve camera.

404
00:25:50,680 --> 00:25:51,880
Speaker 1: It's ready, are you