{"product_id":"the-fight-for-sex-ed-isbn-9780807008065","title":"The Fight for Sex Ed","description":"\u003cb\u003eThe first comprehensive trade history of sex ed in American schools—and an impassioned call to reform sex ed into a powerful tool for reproductive justice and social equality\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe U.S. has some of the highest rates of STIs and teen pregnancies in the industrialized world. A comprehensive sex education curriculum—which teaches facts on contraception, prophylactics, consent, and STIs—has been available since the 90s. Yet the majority of states require that sex education stress abstinence, and 22 states do not require sex ed in public schools at all.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn \u003ci\u003eThe Fight for Sex Ed\u003c\/i\u003e, writer, advocate, and historian Margaret Myers shows us how we got here. While the earliest calls for sex ed came from a coalition of religious leaders and doctors at the turn of the century who sought to control the prevalence of STIs, the advent of antibiotics and modern condoms meant that abstinence was no longer good public health policy. The religious right, however, continued to frame it as such, using its impressive machinery to replace scientific facts with conservative Christian values.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBecause sex ed is not mandated at the federal level, these battles have played out locally throughout the decades: through rigged school boards, administrative oustings, court cases, unjust firings, scare tactics, and threats. Myers also shows how the religious right has worked to narrow the discourse around sex ed, often dictating the terms of debate almost entirely.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhat we teach young people has serious ramifications for reproductive justice, LGBTQ+ rights, gender equality, and public health. Sex education lies at the intersection of these hugely important cultural forces, yet it has been largely invisible. This book illuminates its potential—and its power.\u003ci\u003ePreface: Then and Now\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCHAPTER 1\u003cbr\u003eDr. Prince Morrow and the Birth of Sexual Health Advocacy in America\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCHAPTER 2\u003cbr\u003eElla Flagg Young and the First Sex Ed Lectures in American Public Schools\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCHAPTER 3\u003cbr\u003eFit to Fight: Syphilis and WWI\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCHAPTER 4\u003cbr\u003eThomas Parran and “The Next Great Plague to Go”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCHAPTER 5\u003cbr\u003eEllsworth Buck’s Drive to Educate New York City\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCHAPTER 6\u003cbr\u003eWorld War II\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCHAPTER 7\u003cbr\u003eThe Birth and Boycott of the Sex Ed Film\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCHAPTER 8\u003cbr\u003eSex Ed and Family Life Education in the 1950s\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCHAPTER 9\u003cbr\u003eThe First North American Conference on Church and Family\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCHAPTER 10\u003cbr\u003eThe Birth of SIECUS\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCHAPTER 11\u003cbr\u003eThe Religious Right Comes for SIECUS\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCHAPTER 12\u003cbr\u003eThe New Battles of the 1970s\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCHAPTER 13\u003cbr\u003eA Decade of Federal Action\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCHAPTER 14\u003cbr\u003eCurricula Wars\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCHAPTER 15\u003cbr\u003eAIDS\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCHAPTER 16\u003cbr\u003eThe Rise of Comprehensive Sex Ed\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCHAPTER 17\u003cbr\u003eThe A-H Definition\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCHAPTER 18\u003cbr\u003eTrump, Biden, and Today\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAFTERWORD\u003cbr\u003eThe Future of Sex Ed\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eAcknowledgments\u003cbr\u003eNotes\u003cbr\u003eIndex\u003c\/i\u003e“Journalist Myers debuts with a comprehensive and propulsive overview of the history of sex education . . . the result is not just an admiring look at generations of dedicated advocacy but a strong call for changes to how the truth is reported in America.”\u003cbr\u003e—\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“A comprehensive yet accessible volume that is invaluable for contextualizing the history of sex education in the United States.”\u003cbr\u003e—\u003ci\u003eLibrary Journal\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“This meticulously researched book, written with passion and wit, illuminates a history that is more vital than ever before.”\u003cbr\u003e—Emma Straub, author of \u003ci\u003eThis Time Tomorrow\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Myers has delivered an urgent, necessary, beautiful gift of a book at a moment in which we find ourselves desperate to devour it and to take its education with us into the fight for our lives and communities.”\u003cbr\u003e—Hannah Matthews, author of \u003ci\u003eYou or Someone You Love: Reflections from an Abortion Doula\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“A must-read for educators, parents, and anyone interested in the cultural forces that shape sexual health . . . \u003ci\u003eThe Fight for Sex Ed\u003c\/i\u003e reveals how far we’ve come, and yet how very far we’ve left to go.”\u003cbr\u003e—Jennifer A. Vencill, PhD, ABPP, CST, and coauthor of \u003ci\u003eDesire: An Inclusive Guide to Navigating Libido Differences in Relationships\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Margaret Myers uses careful research and crystal-clear prose to trace the endless loop of politics and denial that sex education in the United States has been stuck in for generations.”\u003cbr\u003e—Chelsea Conaboy, author of \u003ci\u003eMother Brain: How Neuroscience Is Rewriting the Story of Parenthood\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“A definitive history that treads lightly while delivering a punch.”\u003cbr\u003e—Stephanie Gorton, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Icon and the Idealist: Margaret Sanger, Mary Ware Dennett, and the Rivalry That Brought Birth Control to America\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“An essential read for those who care about truth, justice, and the well-being of our youth.”\u003cbr\u003e—Laura Pappano, author of \u003ci\u003eSchool Moms: Parent Activism, Partisan Politics, and the Battle for Public Education\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Let’s talk about sex, baby! Through gripping stories and sharp analysis, Myers highlights the activists fighting for truth, autonomy, and equity.”\u003cbr\u003e—Mira Ptacin, author of \u003ci\u003eThe In-Betweens: The Spiritualists, Mediums, and Legends of Camp Etna\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003eMargaret Grace Myers\u003c\/b\u003e is a writer, researcher, educator, and former bookseller based in Maine. Her writing has appeared in \u003ci\u003eThe Cut\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eLady Science\u003c\/i\u003e, and the \u003ci\u003eGotham Gazette\u003c\/i\u003e, among other publications. She holds a BA from Skidmore College, a Master of Theological Studies from Harvard Divinity School, and an MFA in Creative Nonfiction from Goucher College.","brand":"Beacon Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48233664413925,"sku":"NP9780807008065","price":29.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780807008065.jpg?v=1767739327","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/es\/products\/the-fight-for-sex-ed-isbn-9780807008065","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}