Sex Ed

Sex Education ⚤ #

As you probably know, sex education at American public schools is narrowly focused on basic anatomy. My parents, for whatever reason, did not provide much supplemental information. The unstated sentiment was that I should figure it out for myself. On one hand, the minimum competencies are mostly innate. My daughter was born in 2004. On the other hand, such a rich area of behavioral affordances prompts much more detailed exploration.

Annotated bibliography #

History #

British primatologist Richard Wrangham argues that humans have domesticated themselves by a process of self-selection similar to the selective breeding of foxes described by Dmitry Belyayev. Perhaps this theory sheds light on the origin of patriarchy.
Feb 25, 2023 Interview

A stunning lemons to lemonade story: Based on the non-fiction book The Honest Courtesan by Margaret Rosenthal, the 1998 film follows Veronica Franco, a courtesan in sixteenth-century Venice who becomes a hero to her city, but later becomes the target of an inquisition by the Church for witchcraft.

Despite some fictional elements, Hysteria 2011 is a charming alternate history of the vibrator.

The invention of the polygraph inspired a remarkable film, Professor Marston & the Wonder Women 2017.

Thomas Maier wrote a history of the first scientific investigation of human sexuality. The associated miniseries, Masters of Sex 2013, incorporates some fictional elements that well complement the extraordinary story.

Science #

Hill, S. (2019). This is your brain on birth control: The surprising science of women, hormones, and the law of unintended consequences. Penguin.
Nov 21, 2022 Interview ♀

Hooven, C. (2021). T: The story of testosterone, the hormone that dominates and divides us. Henry Holt and Company.
Oct 27, 2022 Interview ♂

https://iomfoundation.org/

Contemporary Feminism vs. Dignity #

Harrington, M. (2023). Feminism Against Progress. Regnery Publishing.
Mar 2, 2023 Interview

This important book is unfortunately written in a conversational stream-of-consciousness style with complex sentence constructions. Here is a simplified summary.
  • Part One examines the history of feminism from the 1600s to around 1950. This information isn’t all that important. You can skip this part and get most of the arguments. In my mind, this part is mostly a flex by the author to show that she has done her homework.
  • Part Two describes the three areas that have been disrupted by disembedding, disembodiment, atomization, and marketization.
    • The relationship between men and women
    • The relationship between mother and child, “the devouring mother”
    • The relationship between mind and body, “meat lego gnosticism”
  • Part Three suggests some ways to address the aforementioned problems.
    • Commit to marriage and take advantage of work-from-home compatible jobs to better share the responsibility of caring for family members.
    • Don’t blindly favor androgynous associations. Embodied sex can make a difference. Examples of where biological sex segregation is appropriate include Boy/Girl Scouts, small military units, and prisons. Examples where sex segregation is usually inappropriate include elite executive golf clubs and corporate boards of directors.
    • Abstain from hormonal birth control. That is not to argue against all types of family planning, but to reject casual, no-consequence sexual encounters.

Clark-Flory, T. (2021). Want Me: A Sex Writer’s Journey into the Heart of Desire. Penguin Books.

Emba, C. (2022). Rethinking Sex: A Provocation. Sentinel.

Tools for Healthy Relationships #

Menakem, R. (2023). Monsters in Love: Why Your Partner Sometimes Drives You Crazy - And What You Can Do About It. Central Recovery Press.

Excellent, except for Chapter 37 “Healthy Monsters and Healing Relationships.” Instead, I recommend my pages on health and exercise.
May 16, 2023 Interview

Check out Orgasmic Meditation!

Parenting #

It’s simple: Do you own work. If you’re in a great state of mind then you can improvise great solutions to any parenting challenge.

Not too intellectual, erotic, disgusting, tragic #

I don’t consider myself much of a connoisseur, but no treatment of sex is complete without such a specimen: Love 2015

Summary #

Anasyrma

Credit: Lucy Churchill

Honor and elevate. Don’t degrade and cheapen. Ladies first.

Notes #

  1. See Scott Carney’s The Monk who F*cked Everything: a Brief History of Print Capital from Tibet to Modern America ↩︎

Calendar September 27, 2023