S.E.X.: The All-You-Need-To-Know Progressive Sexuality Guide to Get You Through High School and College

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KinkyAnnamarie, June 2, 2012 (view all comments by KinkyAnnamarie)
I had good sex-ed books growing up, from what I remember. They were straight-forward, science based and once I got over the obligatory "eww gross!" reaction, they were really quite interesting. This book, however, outshines them all.

Let me get my one complaint out of the way: the subtitle. "The all-you-need-to-know progressive sexuality guide to get you through high school and college" alienates anyone who doesn't finish high school, doesn't plan to go to college, or pursues an alternative education and quite often these are the people who most need access to reliable information about their sexual health. In reading the book, I didn't find the content to reflect this bias which was a relief.

But back to the book itself. The author is the founder and owner of Scarleteen, probably the best web resource for teen sexuality. If anyone knows what teens actually want and need to know about sex and sexuality, she'd be the person. Right from the start she tells us that she won't be spending much time on discussing abstinence, backing that decision up with the following statistic: "…about 26 percent of young adults 'practicing abstinence' will become pregnant within one year." Instead she accepts that most young people will want and eventually have sex and tries to prepare them for that eventuality. Unlike may sex-ed books, she goes beyond just explaining how not to get pregnant or contract an STI - she actually talks about how to have GOOD sex. The discussion of safer sex includes the usual physically safer sex, but also emotionally safer sex.

There's a ton of good stuff in this book, including realistic descriptions of what you will experience in an OB/GYN appointment, how to use the various kinds of birth control (including cost and effectiveness), and what an abortion is actually like without all the scare tactics. There is also a recognition that teens don't always (or often) wait for a long-term relationship in order to have sex; many will have hook ups, one night stands or friends with benefits. Queer, genderqueer, and kinky teens will all find themselves represented here which is refreshing change of pace in the world of sex-ed.

Above all the author stresses communication: if you can't talk to your partner about what you want and need from a sexual encounter, you should probably rethink having sex with them at all. Will this prevent anyone who reads it from having bad sex? Probably not, but the more that message gets out there, the sooner they WILL start demanding what they need in their sexual lives, something that people of all ages will benefit from!

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L_schmidt, June 8, 2007 (view all comments by L_schmidt)
You know how they say that at really terrific concerts by really terrific performers, you (random audience member out of 10/100/10000) feel like s/he?s singing just to you? Because that?s how S.E.X.: The All-You-Need-To-Know Progressive Sexuality Guide to Get You Through High School and College by Heather Corinna reads to me; Corinna is the rock star singing out, and the show is all about me and my sexual health and well-being.

What does all-inclusive mean?
I remember Corinna stating this as an important goal of hers; I had anticipated a rolling chorus of s/he/it(s)-ism or the like. However, what I get is a feeling of being totally accepted for who I am, whether I?m waiting till marriage for sex or never hesitating when it just feels right. (Or that such binary labeling, the whole ?prude???slut? should be tossed out the window in the first place!) This makes me feel accepted and want to keep reading.

I hadn?t expected?
some really funny lines that pop up out of the blue, often metaphors to illustrate ideas and concepts. The book is written to inform in an engaging way, not to be some running gag or resort to bawdy humor? thankfully! S.E.X. is more informative rather than entertaining, although it?s certainly appealing. I think it?s just very accessible, written in a tone that?s about wanting people to understand without dumbing it down, taking the material and us readers seriously and maturely. It?s engaging and informative while being intelligently and approachably entertaining.

I?m not new to Scarleteen or Heather Corinna?s work.
When I first stumbled across the site a few years ago, I sat for hours clicking through the various articles and links. (That pink and yellow background feels mighty cozy!) So I already had the basics down pat and I can?t share a first impression full of ?a-ha!? moments (which I would have surely have had I read this material for the first time!) S.E.X. goes above and beyond the site in an economic b/w, earth-friendly (or so it seems) paper version. You get a lot of bang for your buck, and I?m putting my money where my mouth is by getting copies for friends and family in the mid-teen to mid-twenties range.

S.E.X. is quite handy to read?
you could go cover-to-cover or jump around chapters. In fact, that?s what makes the book so great for parents or youth group leaders looking to read the book first or along with their teens, copying a favorite chapter or two at the time. A huge emphasis in the book is communication, encouraging dialogues between parents and teens, with so many good discussion starters and pieces.

That said, S.E.X.: The All-You-Need-To-Know Progressive Sexuality Guide to Get You Through High School and College gets a standing ovation from me. While the book seems complete as can be, I?m also hoping for an encore one day in form of another book from Heather Corinna.

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Maggie20, June 7, 2007 (view all comments by Maggie20)
This book is honestly amazing. It adresses pretty much everything about sexuality and, this, in a way that is easy to understand. So everything you want to know about sexuality, you?ll find that in that book and easily too. The book is entitled S-E-X, but it?s so much more than just that, in fact, it covers a lot of other subjects that goes from body image to relationships.

The way it?s written, nothing seems too taboo of a subject, it?s written in a honest and sometimes also humoristic way that makes reading anything but long and boring.

Another thing that is cool about this book is that it talks to everyone out there : not just the heterosexual folks, not just the girls, not just the sexually active ones but everyone. So everyone can find themselves included while reading the book which makes it even more special and valuable given it?s not everywhere we can find books like that nowadays.

Really, I think it?s a book everyone, no matter who they are, no matter their gender or their orientation, should have by all means by their bedside.

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Product Details

ISBN:

9781600940101

Author:

Corinna, Heather

Publisher:

Marlowe & Company

Subject:

Sexuality

Subject:

HEA042000

Subject:

Sex

Subject:

Hygiene, sexual

Subject:

Health and Medicine-General

Edition Description:

Trade Paper

Publication Date:

20070431

Binding:

TRADE PAPER

Language:

English

Illustrations:

BandW illustrations

Pages:

352

Dimensions:

9.13 x 7 in 19 oz