July 13th, 2011

Recommended Reading #55: Sex and Societal Authority



      “Can America’s Attitude Towards Sex Get Any Worse? (Or, What Happened When My Son Said ‘Breast’ in Pre-School)” by Tinamarie Bernard (Sex and Culture, Sex Education, Youth, Parenting) 7/8/11

This article speaks of a gamut of societally-perceived authority figures, from parents to teachers to policy makers. In short, the piece speaks to the astonishing projection, ignorance, and squeamishness with which such authority figures commonly deal with speaking to or children’s exposure to information about sexuality. It seems to me worth remembering/recognizing that as parents/caregivers/educators/simply adults, we are often seen as authority figures and do have a lot of potential influence over children’s understanding of sexuality—their own and as a subject—and sexual development. I certainly appreciate the offering I interpret here that speaking openly with youth about sexuality and being available to do so seem some of the most important antidotes available for encouraging and developing healthy sexuality in a less-than-so society.

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      “Consent in the Doctor’s Office” by Susan Miranda (Memoir, Health and Body, the Medical Field) 7/11/11

Doctors/health care practitioners are another set of professionals it seems to me have historically been regarded as authority figures in this culture. I found this personal account a powerful exposition on, as the title suggests, consent in the doctor’s office and the author’s perspective of the implications thereof and her own experience, both past and current.

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      “Sex and the Supremes” by Timothy Egan (Politics, Law, Public Policy, Sex and Culture) 7/7/11

The only thing I don’t like about this article is the statement that “the United States of America will always make an exception for sex” [bold mine]. Just because the Supreme Court has done so historically and certainly seemed to do so recently in the case about which this article was written does not to me mean it will “always” be that way. (We know not what the future holds.) And thank goodness…I intensely appreciate everything else this article offers. I appreciate the recognition of the First Amendment considerations around the case—indeed, I don’t necessarily disagree with the verdict itself; I simply find what the author of this article maintains a very important line of consideration. Our societal issues around sexuality—which, in short, seem to me to manifest right now as our tending to act perpetually pubescent and, to use the author’s word, “skittish” around the topic—seem to reach all the way to the highest law of the land in the U.S.; to me, the importance of our recognition of this seems paramount, especially if we as a culture want to evolve beyond it.

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