It’s been such a weird (infuriating?) month for sex-related news. Gwyneth Paltrow deciding to sell vibrators, claiming that hers is one you won’t have to be ashamed of (because apparently sex toys are embarrassing?). Georgia considering a bill that would mandate that doctors examine students’ “reproductive organs” in an effort to exclude trans girls from participating in school athletics. Three kids being expelled from their Catholic school because it was discovered that their mom was active on OnlyFans.
I know that our sexuality has always been policed and derided, but can we catch a break? Don’t more of us know better by now?
Instead of continuing to mutter crankily, I’ll get on with the news. Enjoy:
- Utah rejected a bill that would have mandated the teaching of consent in sex ed classes.
- The California Youth Partnership has released a new curriculum that purports to comply with the California Healthy Youth Act. But a legal assessment by the American Civil Liberties Union shows that the curriculum is not what it seems.
- In a bit of brighter news, in order to combat period poverty, schools will provide students with free menstrual products starting this coming June.
- None of this comes as a surprise to me, but a new study out of Montclair State University finds that sex education should start in kindergarten.
- There’s an article at Insider that shares tips on how to talk to your kids about sex, organized by age group. The tips are great but, at the same time, I like what Logan Levkoff has to say about throwing out the phrase “age appropriate.”
Action Items
- Sex Positive Families is offering a virtual workshop on Wednesday, March 10, 9 p.m. – 10:30 p.m. EST that will aid you in cultivating a consent-conscious home for your kids. Register quickly, though! There are only four spots left.
- Health Connected is offering a Teen Talk Middle School Workshop Series for kids ages 12-14. The workshop will take place for 60 minutes daily from March 22 – April 2, from 7 p.m. – 8 p.m. EST. Learn more here.
- You can buy a Make Your Own Vulva kit from This Is a Vulva and they look super cute. The kit comes with a booklet that also explains how to identify each part of your vulva in a mirror, that explains the diversity between vulvas, and that shares some crucial health advice.