Julie Anne D. Tapit-Vital
Originally published in The Valiant Vol.1 No.16
June-December 2016
Being a self-confessed bookworm, it was such a delight
whenever I share ideas in a particular book which I find engaging.
I have just read this thought-provoking book entitled “Sex
for Beginners” by Errol Selkirk (1988). As stated in its back flap, it is not
just another ‘how-to’ manual. (Perhaps it is just one way of the authors to
catch the attention of its potential readers.)
Allow me to count some reasons why I considered this book a
page-turner one: first, it discussed how the view on sexuality evolved from a
particular milieu to another; second, it provided information as to how the
well-known personalities in their respective fields such as Sigmund Freud
(psychologist), Kate Millet (feminist), Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin
(revolutionary theorists) view human sexuality; third, it emphasized the
varying gender roles in the society; and lastly (but more importantly), it
tackled how the dominant groups in a society used sex to further repress and
oppress the people, women in particular.
I was the most enthusiastic, excited story teller after
reading a few chapters of that book. So there I was, re-echoing what I have
read to my most supportive listener—my mother. But this time, I was quite
“caught unprepared” with her reactions.
I would not delve deeper on the details of the conversation.
The point, however, is that she turned out to be quite conservative and
negative about the rather liberating ideas on human sexuality that I
shared.
That particular incident has made me REALLY realize that sex
education/gender education should be included in the school curriculum. I have
heard many stories of children being shunned by their conservative parents
whenever they try to inquire about matters concerning human sexuality. It never
occurred to me that I will also experience such scenario. If children and young
teenagers won’t be able to rely on the home to seek answers to their endless
queries on human sexuality and gender, where else should they go to? What if
parents themselves, even before hearing their children air their inquiries,
have already established a barrier on the issue? Eventually, these children
will turn to other people (more often than not, their peers) who know little
about this important issue. And this poses even greater danger for our
children.
In my opinion, we cannot “sugarcoat” these bitter truths
about sexuality, inequality, etc. Sex is
almost always used to oppress women. Needless to say, it is part of the
feminist work to expose these truths, no matter how awful it may become,
because it IS the truth, and it IS happening.
During my three-year stint as fourth year teacher in Camp
Crame High School, I have also encountered cases of teenage pregnancies. Some
of my students are already mothers at a very young age. Studying has never been
more difficult for them because of child rearing responsibilities that are
almost always left to, women nonetheless.
There are attempts made by the Department of Education to
"soften" the idea of "sex education"--they replaced it with
a more "politically-correct" term GENDER EDUCATION, but to no avail.
Sex education/gender education still isn't included in the curriculum.
What we don’t know never keeps us safe, it just keeps us in
denial.
