Comments on: Real Sex Education Gets a Chance

By: Cara

Cara — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 21:01:18 +0000

Haha, yeah. The whole concept of “thrusting” during intercourse did not come to my awareness until I was 14 going on 15. I totally thought that was how you did it — stuck it in and chilled, and somehow that was going to feel really good or whatever.

Which is amusing. But the definitely not amusing part is that the person who clued me in was my boyfriend, who went onto sexually abuse me. And he regularly used my ignorance about all things sexual to humiliate and coerce me into various sexual acts.

By: AshKW

AshKW — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 20:40:53 +0000

I am so excited, and I have to say, the post from Victoria about the program showing masturbation as being healthy, as well as the images of differently abled people…I’m going to start crying from joy here. I’m also thrilled about the images of what sex actually looks like. When I lost my virginity, my boyfriend and I had no frigging clue what we were supposed to do. He penetrated and we just stayed like that for a minute, trying to figure out what to do next; it was pretty hilarious, in hindsight. *Sniffles*

By: Dorian

Dorian — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 12:27:22 +0000

OWL really is wonderful. While I am not now UU, I was part of a congregation in Winnipeg, Manitoba for two or three years, and I did take the OWL program in each of those. As Victoria said, there’s definitely emphasis on consent, as well as a million other things. It’s been a couple of years now since I was in the program, so my memory is foggy, but I remember it as a very positive experience.

By: Cara

Cara — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 13:56:03 +0000

Thanks for sharing, Victoria! I’m so glad that you got to go through that experience . . . it sounds absolutely wonderful. I wish that I’d had it, and hope that more people will someday. And of course, I’m also really thrilled to hear that there seems to have been an in depth discussion of enthusiastic consent. Great stuff!

By: Victoria

Victoria — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 08:03:54 +0000

I am an eighteen year old Unitarian Universalist who took OWL in my grade eight year. To answer your inquiry, in my programming (and all of the OWL curricula hopefully…they have grades K-1, grades 4-6, grades 7-9, grades 10-12, young adults (ages 18-35), and adults) there was absolutely and definitely an emphasis on consent. I remember discussing it in the context of healthy relationships and in the context of any physicality, including sexual intercourse.

If I had to name the top three parts of OWL that have informed my life and sex life that I seriously doubt I would have ever learned anywhere else, especially in an institution, they would be:
#1) Being sexual is nothing to be guilty or ashamed about. Sexual desire can be and some folks think intrinsically is a part of being human. And it can feel pretty good, too! (Being Ex-Mormon this lesson was extremely important for me and anti an internalization I had formed and was combating)
#2) When engaging in (consensual) heterosexual (and yes we talked about a diversity of ‘sexes’ and sexualities) sex (oral, anal, or vaginal), one must always have a condom and some method of birth control. We learned about all the different options for condoms (male, female, other options) and methods of birth control, their side effects, and how they help to prevent pregnancy and STIs.
#3) Masturbation is okay too! We specifically discussed female masturbation and how it is seen as a taboo in society. And the event all people my age who went through grade 7-9 OWL bond over: the slideshow! We all watched a slideshow which had drawn illustrations of different people masturbating. And again with diversity of images…I remember that was the first time I thought about differently abled peoples and sex.

Grade 7-9 is the most common and well-known OWL programming in UU congregations though I’ve heard the other curricula is also great. There are so many other lessons and understandings I gained from OWL though, those are just the big three in my experience.

By: Kissmypineapple

Kissmypineapple — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 20:58:19 +0000

Wouldn’t that be nice! While it still isn’t enough, and while it’s still really small, I’m so relieved, excited, and just…happy that this is going on. Movements have to start somewhere, and this is really fantastic.

By: Lemur

Lemur — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 19:50:40 +0000

Can we give THAT some government funding and teach it in schools, instead of “women are like crock pots, men are like microwaves”? Puh-lease? Can one part of American life be based on logic from now on?