I mentioned in last month's spotlight that, several years ago, I volunteered for the Center for Sex Education and got myself a free pass to the National Sex Ed Conference, which was amazing. Well, in addition to crossing paths with Tanya M. Bass, I also attended a session with sexuality educator Al Vernacchio. Vernacchio was speaking about a framework he uses in which he … [Read more...] about Sex Educator Spotlight: Al Vernacchio
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Full Disclosure: Sex Ed in the News | Feb. 2021
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 … [Read more...] about Full Disclosure: Sex Ed in the News | Feb. 2021
Sex Educator Spotlight: Tanya M. Bass
It feels like forever ago (though it can't have been that long) but, once upon a time, I volunteer blogged for the Center for Sex Education and, as thanks, they allowed me to come to the National Sex Ed Conference in Atlantic City. This conference was a revelation for me. While there, I crossed paths with Tanya M. Bass, but I was so new to that space that I think I spent … [Read more...] about Sex Educator Spotlight: Tanya M. Bass
Full Disclosure: Sex Ed in the News | Jan. 2021
Welp. We survived the first month of 2021. Hooray? Unfortunately, it didn't go as smoothly as many of us had hoped, as our outgoing president encouraged white supremacists to attempt an overthrow of the government. To be quite honest, I was nervous as hell on Inauguration Day, holding my breath in the expectation of further outbreaks of violence and hate. Still, some things … [Read more...] about Full Disclosure: Sex Ed in the News | Jan. 2021
How to Normalize Talking to Your Kids About Periods
I don’t remember much about my first menstruation, beyond the fact that I wasn’t sure if I was menstruating or dying. I was 13 by that point, so I already knew that periods were a thing. School had prepared us for that much, at least. But I suspected that vaginas could bleed for other reasons, too. Terrifying reasons. How was I to know whether the blood staining my … [Read more...] about How to Normalize Talking to Your Kids About Periods
Sex Educator Spotlight: Anne Hodder-Shipp
In the year of our overlords, 2020, I started spending more time on Instagram. And because I was actively working toward the launch of Guerrilla Sex Ed, I became more intentional about following more sexuality educators. Which is where I came across Anne Hodder-Shipp and her business baby, Everyone Deserves Sex Ed (EDSE), an organization providing sex educator certification, … [Read more...] about Sex Educator Spotlight: Anne Hodder-Shipp
Full Disclosure: Sex Ed in the News | Dec. 2020
As I write this, people across the world are preparing to say sayonara to 2020, many of them deliriously excited and relieved, thinking of the past year as a literal dumpster fire they can watch burn down to so much ash and blow away on the cold winter breeze. Reset: 2021. Am I right? But many others of us know — or are just beginning to comprehend — that the events of 2020 … [Read more...] about Full Disclosure: Sex Ed in the News | Dec. 2020
Kick-Ass Sex Educators Who Are Way More Than Just Their Instagram Feeds
In 2019, a pair of laws were passed: the Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act (FOSTA) and the Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act (SESTA). They were passed with the intention of making it easier to fight sex trafficking online. Under these laws, websites are responsible if third-party accounts post ads for prostitution on their platforms. Sites have responded to this new … [Read more...] about Kick-Ass Sex Educators Who Are Way More Than Just Their Instagram Feeds
Sex Educator Spotlight: Twanna A. Hines
Deep in the depths of time, when I was but a lowly intern at Nerve (R.I.P.), I came to know Twanna A. Hines. And by "know," I mean that I read the hell out of her work, as she had just started to write for Nerve's Blog-a-Log column. In the years since, we've circled around each other, both of us writing for now-defunct publications like New York Press and The Frisky, each … [Read more...] about Sex Educator Spotlight: Twanna A. Hines
How Abstinence-Only Sex Ed Reinforces Rape Culture
The fight for comprehensive and inclusive sexuality education gathered unprecedented momentum in the past decade. As campus sexual assault gained greater visibility, colleges and universities began implementing consent education programs to teach incoming freshmen about the importance of affirmative consent. At the K-12 level, Texas’ board of education agreed to revamp … [Read more...] about How Abstinence-Only Sex Ed Reinforces Rape Culture