Reviews for What to tell your child about sex

The average rating for What to tell your child about sex based on 2 reviews is 2.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2016-10-01 00:00:00 Andy McGovern Sanger starts this little volume off by speaking of the importance of sex education in preventing the spread of "venereal disease". She advocates for mothers to take up the task of teaching their children a healthy understanding of and attitude about sex. She says of this that we need to clear our minds of "prudishness, and to understand that the procreative act is natural, clean, and healthful; that all nature is beautified through it, and consequently that it is devoid of offensiveness." She carries on to suggest that schools should be aiding in this important education. All of this is quite delightful. It must be noted that Sanger had negative opinions about sex work and that she expresses these opinions in this volume right from the beginning. Sanger, in an age where the treatment of STIs often meant risky surgery and the prevention of them was not generally understood except beyond abstinence and monogamy, was overtly concerned with the risks of "promiscuity." But she also viewed sex work as a social problem related to the oppression of women. What is fascinating about her opinions is that she believes men ought to be as chaste as women of her time were expected to be. She talks about the lack of fairness in the double standards regarding sexual conduct and of how men spread diseases to their wives and children, leading to miscarriages in women and to birth defects in infants. She goes as far to suggest- "Every girl should look upon the man who indulges freely in the sexual relations without Social responsibility, as a prostitute far more degraded than the unfortunate girl who is compelled to sell her body to sustain life." Her pity for female sex workers may come across as patronizing by today's standards, but that she holds them up as working girls while blatantly criticizing men who engage in a double standard is undeniably charming. As an aside, Sanger also advocates that both men and women should be checked for disease and infection before eloping. Sanger does tell us though- "It is not my intention to thrust upon any one a special code of morals, or to inflict upon the readers my own ideals of morality." (Sanger, 10) Some of her explanations about female reproductive health are now a little outdated, but what pleasantly surprised me is that she discusses things that are still the subject of confusion or controversy today. One such example is her discourse about the hymen. She endeavors to entirely dismiss the notion of a hymen proving "virginity." Yet another is her attempt to dispel squeamishness and disgust over menstruation - "Some of the old biblical ideas instilling into the man's mind, that a woman is unclean at this time has been the cause of much hardship and many sneers endured by a woman during these periods." (Sanger, 32) She carries on to say, "It is all nonsense and wrong, and it is time women should band together in one great sisterhood to protect one another from being slowly drained and exhausted of their powers of motherhood for the benefit of their exploiters." (Sanger, 33)

Review # 2 was written on 2019-06-16 00:00:00 Valerie Gray What Every Girl Should Know: Margaret Sanger’s Journey by J.Albert Mann, 228 pages. Atheneum (Simon), 2019 $19 Language: G (0 swears); Mature Content: PG (dating/kissing); Violence: G. BUYING ADVISORY: HS AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE This is a fictionalized account of Margaret Sangers childhood and teen years. Her father was outspoken in his views, which included the right of everyone to vote. She idolized him, though he did little to support the family. Her mother, on the other hand, works non-stop to not only care for their ever growing family, but neighbors in need as well, and with a health condition. Because their family is so large, everyone must work incredibly hard (except for father). Margaret does get to attend school but experiences how life is when there are so many children in a low income situation. She wants to be a doctor but eventually starts nurse training and becomes a speaker for women’s reproductive rights, and eventually the founder of planned parenthood (though the book doesn’t cover that part of her life). My favorite part of this book was the ending historical notes, which clear up a lot of misconceptions about Margaret and racist comments that were mis-attributed to her. Much of her teen and childhood years were made up of repetitive hard work helping take care of the large family she was born into. I felt like I would have rather read a few chapters about that, and the rest of the book be about her adult life. Although this book is very well written, its just too much of the same over and over. While Margaret did evolve over the course of the book, I am not sure a high school reader would stick with this, its like reading someone doing chore after chore, I was tired after a few chapters. Reviewer: Stephanie MLS & Author