.sex ed 101.- Let’s Talk About Virginity, Baby August 16, 2008

.authored by something.of.substance.

DISCLAIMER: This piece contains explicit language and descriptions for educational purposes.

Having detailed menstruation and discussed various birth control options, I never thought about explicitly addressing the topics of virginity…or sex. I figured the premise was fairly straight-forward: if you haven’t had sexual intercourse, you were a virgin. However, as former President Bill Clinton found, defining “sex” takes some finesse. Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary defines sex (n). as:

a) “sexually motivated phenomena or behavior and b) sexual intercourse.”

Sexual intercourse is then defined as:

“a) heterosexual intercourse involving penetration of the vagina by the penis. or

b) intercourse (as anal or oral intercourse) that does not involve penetration of the vagina by the penis.”

Obviously, both of these terms require some generation translation to further relate them to what’s taking place in the basements and cars of America lately.

.Sex Ed 101.- so, you don’t want to get pregnant? July 30, 2008

.authored by something.of.substance.

Having sex? Cool with me. I’m not going to don the uniform of the morality police and provide unending lectures about how you should conduct your libido. That’s not my job. However, I would like to provide some very real and, it turns out, some very needed information about the mechanism of birth control in your life.

.Sex Ed 101.- Menstruation is your Period July 18, 2008

.authored by Something.of.Substance.

“No Child Left Behind” is resulting in many, many young adults remaining stranded on the side of the knowledge road. Cutesy analogies aside, the number of young adults- both male and female- who have no idea how reproduction works or what the true efficacy of condoms is amazes and appalls me. I simply cannot imagine how people are granted a high school diploma without understanding that condoms prevent STDs as well as pregnancy (and even then not all of the time) or that menstruation occurs when an egg fails to be fertilized.

Actually, when making this discovery I often even need to define “menstruation”.

As I’m telling some lost 20 year-old that her Period is the shedding of her uterine lining and having her stare blankly at me before stammering out: “But, WHY would my uterus want to leave me?”, I realize that Abstinence-Only education is failing to teach anyone either abstinence OR a safe way of life.