Sexual education is a worldwide concern that intersects with various attitudes, values, and cultural norms. It is an area of life that has for many years been kept private, but now there is recognition that there is a need to support people, especially young people in modern societies. The way sexual education is taught and applied within institutions shapes the way we understand and approach human sexuality. Various societies have chosen various means to provide sexual education both at school and to the wider society. There is still much more development and support needed, however. We can begin to identify strategies for overcoming challenges in sex education, promoting healthier attitudes, and empowering individuals to make informed decisions about their own bodies and relationships. This book is organized into three sections. The first section focuses on issues in sexual education, such as sexual harassment, sexuality and relationship education and advocacy by people with disabilities, future challenges, and sex differences in physical attractiveness. The second section focuses on the means of sexual health education interventions, including the use of technology. The last section includes a chapter on sex education and the invisibility of intersex people in the curriculum.
Go to the bookEdited by Rogena Sterling
Most discussions of sex and gender development are discussed as science and expressed as a linear progression from birth as one step as biology develops of which the psychosocial self is built upon. Though biology is an important to a person’s being, including any modifications to it for a variety of reasons, it is not controlling of a person’s identity. At the same time, the concept that biology is a material that is malleable of which a person’s gender is constructed. A person can find in their inner psychological being their true self as male or female that may or may not reflect their assignment at birth. Neither of these tell story of life. A person’s sex/gender is a narrative becoming over time from pre-birth through their death. Becoming includes, when permitted, spiritual and cultural aspects in addition to biological, psychological, and social aspects. When understood within such a narrative, a person’s becoming (development) that reflects their identity as a gender-sex.
Part of the book: Human Sexuality