Sex Ed Shouldn't Suck!
What happened to Sex Ed Podcast?
Hi friends! Remember this? It’s been a bit since we’ve been in your inbox, but we can’t express how excited we are to be back. We’ve been on a break from the podcast since July, but we’ve been busy preparing lots of exciting new stuff for you.
First things first, you may have noticed some changes, mainly: we have a new name! Sex Ed Podcast was a great name for our podcast to get started the first two seasons, but as we were planning season 3, we realized that the name Sex Ed Podcast didn’t fully encapsulate what our podcast is about. Our main message is to show how harmful bad sex education can be through personal anecdotes and interviews with experts. With that in mind, our new name for the podcast is Sex Ed Shouldn’t Suck. And with the new name, comes a new logo. The design is in its final stages so keep your eyes peeled! 🍭
Second, the podcast is coming back for season 3 starting January 7, 2022, and we’re doing episodes every Friday. Just a little over one more month!
Finally, we want to hype you up a little bit because we have some really cool stuff planned. Merch? Did I hear someone say merch? We can’t spill too many more details right now, but soon you’ll be able to proudly rep Sex Ed Shouldn’t Suck to all your friends and family.
This Month on the Sex Ed Shouldn’t Suck
We’re still on our break between seasons—although between us, we have most definitely not been relaxing. We’ve been busy recording, editing, and planning out a bunch of cool new stuff for the podcast! If you miss our voices and want to give us a listen in the meantime, why not go revisit some of our best episodes?
Quick reminder that in this newsletter, we’re linking to the episodes on our website, but they’re also available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
Season 2 Episode 13: The OG Ethical Slut with Dossie Easton
Did you know we talked to renowned sex educator and author of The Ethical Slut, Dossie Easton? She is a treasure trove of wonderful stories and useful advice, so why not give it another listen?
Season 1 Episode 5: softcoreporn.gov with Bill
Woah, season 1! While we love all of our guests from season 1, there’s a special place in our hearts for Bill. In this episode, we talk about what it’s like to grow up queer in Missouri and learning about sex through porn.
Season 2 Episode 4: Pornhub Doesn't Care with Kate Isaacs
Speaking of learning about sex through porn, our discussion with Kate Isaacs on the evils of PornHub is not one to miss. From stories of image-based sexual abuse to learning about the Not Your Porn campaign, this episode is packed with information that might just make you think about your own porn consumption habits.
Season 2 Episode 16: LGBTQ+ Inclusive Sex Education Is Good for Everyone
In this episode, we talked about all the ways that queer-inclusive sex ed would benefit all people. At the end of the episode, we mentioned we would donate $1 to the Gay Lesbian Straight Education Network (GLSEN) for every listen we received within a month. We’re proud to announce that we were able to make a $120 donation to the organization!
Related Reading
From the Sex Ed Shouldn’t Suck
This month, Kaylee wrote a special blog post, Me, Myself, and Birth Control, about her experience with birth control in honor of #ThxBirthControl on November 17th. Her journey has been one of ups and downs, full of lies, coercion, and intrigue. Okay, it’s not that exciting, but hopefully it can provide some insight into how young people are rarely empowered to make their own decisions around reproductive health. Whether it’s abstinence or birth control pills that are pushed, both are wrong.
What we need is to provide young people with all of the information: the methods, the accuracy, the cost, the health concerns, and whatever else—then let them make their own informed decisions. We’re thankful as fuck for birth control, but we’re even more thankful for organizations like BedSider and Planned Parenthood that provide comprehensive information on contraceptives to anyone who needs it. That’s a short version of the article, but you should still go read it and let us know what you think 💕
Pssst! It’s almost Christmas, which means you have to spend money on your friends and family so they remember that you love them. Why not buy your gifts from our Bookshop.org page? You’ll find lots of fascinating books about sex, sexuality, and more. Plus, your purchase not only supports local bookstores, but also our podcast!
Thanks, Birth Control
If you’re interested in reading more about birth control, you can check out Power to Decide. They’re the ones that started #ThxBirthControl day and their website has a ton of information on birth control access, like why it’s important, how it can be improved, etc. Also check out their Power to Decide’s 9 Favorite Moments from #ThxBirthControl Day blog post because it’s cute.
By the way, did you know that today is Giving Tuesday? If you want to find a way to give that can also help some of the 19.5 million people without access to birth control, consider signing up for The Pill Club. On November 30th, they’re donating $10 to Bedsider for every new customer. Or, you can donate to Bedsider directly and help them expand their birth control network.
There’s also this blog post by Dani, the founder of Thyme Is Honey, about going off birth control that Kaylee found pretty relatable. She also thinks birth control is a good thing and definitely should exist, but emphasizes that she thinks there needs to be more education around cycle tracking, as well as what birth control pills do to the body. In her post, she provides a lot of resources around birth control, hormones, and natural cycles.
All in all, whether we’re choosing pills, implants, cycle tracking, or whatever else, we’re so grateful that birth control is something we can openly talk about and make decisions on. That being said, that most definitely isn’t the case for everyone around the world. Over 19 million people in the US live in contraceptive deserts and must travel large distances to get the reproductive healthcare they need. We’ve come a long way in 2021, but there’s still a ways to go.
Sex Ed in the News & Culture
Education
First, please be aware that this is by no means a comprehensive list of all sex education policy updates that have happened since the last newsletter. Lots happens in the realm of sex ed policy every day. This is merely my attempt to cover any big updates around the world (but mostly the US).
Over the last few months, a few states have made some big moves when it comes to sex education content and policy.
The governor of Illinois, Gov. J.B. Pritzker, just signed the Keeping Youth Safe and Healthy Act into law. This bill, sponsored by the ACLU, helps provide comprehensive sex education to students K-12 at age-appropriate levels. The hope is that this new curriculum will help students understand consent, safety, anatomy, sexual health, identity, inclusivity, and more. You can read more about what the bill entails in this adorable zine made by students and ACLU members.
Nebraska is one of those states that does not require any sex education to be taught in schools, or if it is taught, abstinence must be stressed. Earlier this year, a group of people began working on a new draft of sex education policy that would mandate comprehensive and LGBTQ+ inclusive sex education be taught. Unfortunately, differing opinions about what should be covered for gender and sexual identities, plus disagreements on what is age-appropriate, seems to have stopped all work on the bill. Nebraska’s Board of Education paused all discussion of updating the standards, appearing to blame the pandemic, though some (kinda conservative) sources say that behind-the-scenes emails, drama, and politics were the real killer.
Hey, don’t be sad. We missed some good sex ed news a few months ago, so we’ll fill you in now. In April, Gov. Kay Ivey in Alabama signed HB385, Updating Sex Education, into law that helped to provide comprehensive and inclusive sex ed to young people in Alabama. You can read more about it here.
In Georgia, House of Representatives State Rep. Dr. Jasmine Clark, filed a bill requiring consent education to be added to all sex ed curriculum. She hopes that by teaching young people what consent is, they will be able to identify when something is nonconsensual and act on that information. If the bill passes, the Georgia Board of Education will need to develop and begin teaching consent education by 2023.
The Texas State Board of Education approved a text book for middle schoolers to use in sex education curriculum that highlights information about birth control in addition to abstinence. It’s a small win and Texas still has a loooooooong way to go, but we’ll take it.
Entertainment
We’re not the only entertainment that sex education-related that has a new season 3! Netflix’s Sex Education returned this year with their new season and it was fantastic. If you haven’t watched the show yet, we highly recommend checking it out. Yes, it can be a tad cheesy at times, but it’s endearing. Plus, watching characters navigate sexual identities, relationships, and sexual health in a way that’s diverse, inclusive, and not shame-based is so empowering to see.
Sneak Peak: December
While the podcast isn’t coming back until January 2022, there’s still lots of exciting things happening in the sexy podcast realm. We’re very stoked to announce that our friend, Tim—from the podcast Sex Ed with Tim—is going to be our first guest of season 3! If you want to get to know Tim in meantime, check out his podcast and support him on Patreon!
