What about me?”
This is a question many girls ask themselves in response to their secondary sex education.
An article published by University of Kansas researcher Charlene Muehlenhard and former KU researcher Zoë Peterson found that “sex education in the public school system seldom acknowledged girls’ sexual desire. Instead, sex education presented discourses of sexuality as violence, victimization, and immorality.”
It’s hard to believe with sex being everywhere in our daily lives that only 19 states and the District of Columbia require state mandated sex education . Of those 19 states, seven have to stress abstinence.
Even if girls are fortunate enough to be in a state where sex education is taught, the likelihood of their desires being addressed is rare if not unheard of.
According to the article by KU researchers, girls often reported wanting to have sex but saying no because of the negatives feelings they felt toward sex. Could this be because sex was taught to them as “immorality”?
“There have been several times when I wanted to have sex but didn’t because of the outside pressures of how a ‘lady’ should act. Having sex exhibits a lack of self-control, which is definitely an ‘unacceptable’ perception of women,” Alicia Pratt-Baker, Sacramento, Calif. junior, said.
We constantly see the portrayal of sexualized women in the media yet how are women supposed to be sexual and be a lady? In several popular songs the male artists boast “I want a lady in the street but a freak in the bed,” such as in Usher’s song “Yeah.”
Is it possible to have sex with a “lady” or is she supposed to be a “freak”? Society has made sex into something dirty, which is why many women have reported feeling bad after they have sex because they are supposed to have control and not give into their desires.
If the public schools address these issues before girls get out of high school they might be better prepared for these sexual situations when they arise. Experience may not necessarily be the best situation for learning in this case.
Some KU women think their high school health classes ill-prepared them for the real world.
“Most of my sex education came from my own interests and other people,” RaeAnn Anderson, Circleville sophomore, said.
In Amy Oldehoeft’s sex education class in rural northeastern Kansas she doesn’t get too into specifics. She said she talks about sex in the context of it’s best to wait until you’re married or in a committed relationship. She does talk about the consequences such as diseases and pregnancy. Oldehoeft’s students also take home a doll that is supposed to simulate a real baby so the students can get some sort of grasp on what it might be like.
HPV, which causes a majority of cervical cancer cases, has been an important topic for her classes this year.
Oldehoeft had one concerned parent speak with her after Oldehoeft discussed Gardasil, the vaccination for HPV.
“The parent’s daughter wanted the vaccination, but she didn’t want people to think she was a promiscuous girl. The next day I made a point to let everyone know that having the vaccination in no way means you’re promiscuous. It is unfortunate women are afraid to get vaccinations that can potential save their life because some people look down on women who want to protect themselves,” Oldehoeft said.
In the Lawrence Public School system things are run a little differently. Eighth grade is the last year the students can take sex education for a semester course, unless the students opt to take a Family and Consumer Science class in high school.
Lynda Allen, director for math and sciences of the Lawrence Public schools said in Lawrence eighth graders are taught one basic message about sex: you shouldn’t be doing it.
“If we taught eighth graders about desires and why we feel a certain way, a lot of parents would be in an uproar. Basically the parents run the show. We have some parents who want the school to do everything and others who don’t want the schools to say anything at all. It’s our job to find the middle ground,” Allen said.
A study by the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation looked into what is being
taught and what the parents want taught in sex education classes.
“What comes across in this study is that parents look to schools to prepare their children for real life. Their concerns are practical, not political,” Tina Hoff, director of public health information and communications for the Kaiser Family Foundation, said.
Another study by the Guttmacher Institute found that in the last 12 years there has been a decline in formal instruction for birth control among both men and women and their has been more instruction in abstinence only.
“We are getting sent messages from society all over the place. Women are supposed to be on birth control if they’re having sex. Well, I ask, why isn’t their birth control for men? There’s science, and why hasn’t anything been done? I’m tired of being expected to say no,” Anderson said.
