I’m sure anyone in the process of
becoming a Sexuality Education is familiar with these responses: “What can you do with that?”
“People actually study
that?” Or, my personal favorite, a simple smirk that seems to imply the smirker
knows our sexual preferences and that we would like to engage in those
practices with them and as soon as possible. But it is not just the general public that seems confounded
by our fascination with and passion for teaching sexuality. Fellow teachers or health professionals
are guilty of finding our subject matter distasteful or inappropriate.
Though I’ve only just begun, I can
already see that teaching Human Sexuality is an unusual experience. The subject matter can be anything from
taboo to terrifying, loving to loathsome.
Because of the intense emotions people hold around sexuality, the
responses we receive are not always positive. While some people may find what we do wonderful and
necessary, many do not. Many people
will insist we are breaking moral codes by encouraging promiscuity. Many people will not believe what we
say. Many people will not take us
seriously.
Even as students, while we are
working away to become the best educators we can be, we encounter these
hurdles.
So, how do students of human
sexuality carve out a space for themselves in our evermore sex-negative
society? Everyone has a different
strategy. Our professors have
chosen the academic route (a route which, I must admit, is constantly tugging
at my lapels). This route aims to
legitimize sexuality as a field of study and offers the distinction of degrees
to prove one’s knowledge. Others
choose to make their way by community education. This can take the form of a job in a school or creating a
business focusing on sexuality education for the greater community or adult
education. This serves to push the
system outward from the inside in the hope of creating more space for sex
positivity. And yet others work
with sex toys or in kink communities, helping those just getting started or
encouraging those who have already begun.
Clearly this answers the question of what one might do with such a degree (the simple answer: anything you damn well please!).
Unfortunately,
each of these routes will still encounter disbelief or disregard. One of the most effective methods for
jumping over or sidling around these hurdles has to be humor. Humor is proven to be an effective
education tool, engaging students and lightening the mood in the tense
situations that often occur around sexuality (Tauber & Mester, 2007). The thousand page sex manual/opus, The
Guide to Getting It On, successfully uses humor to encourage and set at ease
those who might otherwise be unwilling to consider some of the sex practices
introduced in the book. Megan
Andelloux, a well-known sexuality educator working from the Providence area,
often uses humor in her successful presentations. A professor at our very own Widener University (you know who
you are!) is known for their over-the-top humor to engage and interact with
students.
I
have yet to master the great art of humor, perhaps because I have yet to master
even the basics of the art of education.
My concern, however, is that even with the proper use of humor, some
might see that as a way to mask discomfort or simply use it as further proof
that sexuality is not a ‘real’ field of study. I suspect it is something I will employ regardless of the
risk of devaluation or disreverence.
So,
how can I (or you) be taken seriously as a Sexuality Educator? I don’t have an answer. But, I do know that continuing to
study, practice and expand our field will encourage our society to rework its
values. As our field grows it will
become more and more difficult to pigeonhole us into one measly framework.
Tauber, R. T., & Mester, C. S.
(2007). Acting lessons for teachers: using performance skills in the
classroom. (2nd ed.).
London, England: Praeger Publishers
Joannides, P. G. (2009). The guide to
getting it on. (6th
ed.). Goofy Foot Press.
