Is sex education sexist?

[GothAnneGeddes]

This is a thread about a thread, sorry. It discussed having a sexual health clinic in a high school.

Now, I believe young people have the right to know about their bodies and that includes the reproductive system, contraception, myth busting etc.

However, sometimes, I feel that with the assumption that "they're all doing it anyway" and preventing STIs and pregnancy being the primary concern, it just seems to be more about making girl sexually available for boys and men at ever younger ages, rather then helping girls have healthy relationships when they are ready.

And no, I am not old, or a prude.

Would be interested in knowing what others think.

Just to add, that terms such as old or prudish are used when people question anything about sex, sets off my alarm.

I think that having good provisions for preventing pregnancy and disease means it is easier for teenage girls to think about the emotional side of things, knowing that the physical side is already taken care of IYSWIM.

Nobody seems to want to talk about girls masturbating......

Hmm. I don't have teenagers myself (thank god) so might not be up to date on this, but isn't the same sort of advice given to both sexes? Obviously if all the onus is on girls to be 'careful' then thats not great, but if both are being told to be responsible then thats seems positive to me.

I think it is only sexist if you are assuming that the girls aren't equally as sexually curious as the boys. And if contraception is beign taught as somethign girls need to worry about.

Abstinence education is usually mcuh more sexist as it usually really plays to the idea of women as gate keepers of everyone's virginity.

raven I never talked about it but I did spend my teenage years perfecting my art...

I don't know if it's sexist because I have no idea what angle is used in schools in teaching sex education.

If they are giving exactly the same advice to girls and boys, then chances are they're whitewashing issues of consent, coercion and rape.

Sexual mores mean that boys and girls face different dilemmas and different situations; so to be giving them the same advice, would be missing something IMO.

I agree with the premise of the OP that if the primary concern is to make it easier and safer for girls to have sex they don't really want, then that is a Bad Thing; but I'm not sure if that is what's going on. I suspect that some schools are doing brilliant jobs at addressing healthy relationships and issues of sexual exploitation and abuse and others are piss-poor (the finding that a third of all teenage girls experience sexual assault at school shows that some schools are fucking abysmal re sexual relations). But I have no factual basis for that, it's just an assumption and I'm happy to be contradicted by someone who has some decent figures.

Yes, giving them the basic biological facts is one thing, but what about attitudes and expectations? If they somehow come away with the idea that "everyone does it and if you don't you're a freak" then it might really be detrimental to girls. But then again, if somehow the kids learn about good sex being between people who actively want it, and who respect each other, that could really be the most valuable part.