How Sexually Literate Are You? 

The ongoing quest for literacy is lifelong process. Literacy used to be the cornerstone of all education: the ability to read and write. Today the concept of literacy also includes familiarity with a vast network of information that one must appreciate to be competent in a rapidly changing, technological world. Literacy is having the knowledge to understand what we read and what people are saying beyond the meaning of the words. It is comprehension, getting to the point, understanding the context, and giving meaning to the implications. Today people are “computer-literate,” “culturally literate”—but have you ever heard of sexual literacy?

To be sexually literate is to have the basic sexual knowledge and skills to thrive in a modern world. It includes knowledge about sex and sexuality as well as the ability to use ideas derived from different perspectives, tolerance for ambiguity, and an understanding of different methodologies used to study human behavior. And it also helps to understand the process of scientific investigation, the way historians study history, how poets and novelists create, and how clinicians and therapists approach their clients.

Being sexually literate would help each of us find answers to many challenging questions. What constitutes male and female? What is the physiology of sexual arousal and orgasm? What social relationships are woven around male and female roles? What is the relationship between intimacy and sex, between sex and love? Between sex and parenting? How can I satisfy my partner? And a grim question: What is meant by “safer sex”?

Advanced technology poses some tangled sexual questions, too. Some of them have thorny implications for public policy and ethics: Should doctors test to determine the sex of a fetus. Should insurance companies be allowed to test for AIDS antibodies? Do we need a federal law to protect AIDS victims from discrimination? What are the causes of infertility? Is there a heredity basis for homosexuality?

Moral and religious issues concerning sexuality are pressing as well. Some important examples are the relationship of spirituality to sexuality, birth control, extramarital sexual intercourse, and the teenage pregnancy problem. And do you believe that parents should be the primary providers of sex education or that schools should share some of the responsibility?

All these questions demand investigation. Becoming sexually literate today is a matter of life of death, joy or despair, intimacy or separateness. Irresponsible sex behavior reduces future opportunities in life. It is your responsibility to be informed.

For example, recent surveys indicate that education about AIDS has been very helpful in teaching people about the deadly disease. However, although most U.S. adults and teenagers understand that AIDS is transmitted by sexual intercourse, needles, and pregnancy, many still mistakenly think they can catch the virus from a public toilet, mosquito bites, or donating blood.

Change is usually slow; sexual literacy helps step up the pace. A person who is sexually literate:

• Makes a habit of basing judgement on fact
• Is willing to change an opinion on the basis of new evidence
• Searches for the truth without prejudice
• Understands cause-and-effect relationships

You can enhance your sexual literacy by choosing one or more of the following avenues:

• Enroll in a human sexuality course at your nearest university or college. When taught by a competent, well-trained instructor, such courses can be enlightening, entertaining and intellectually challenging. Check the reputation of the course and the instructor by talking to faculty and students at the institution of your choice. Study a copy of a syllabus. If you are easily offended by explicitly talk or films, check out another course, but take a course! For nonstudents, many campuses have special open university or continuing education programs enabling you to enroll in one course at a time, at low cost.
  
  
• Attend public lectures and presentations on sexual topics. These are frequently and abundantly available, often at a very nominal admission fee. Announcements of these lectures are easily obtainable in the “Lectures” column of the Sunday entertainment section, by checking your local library’s billboard and by requesting to be put on the mailing list of your local college, church or synagogue, and medical or psychological association.
  
  
• Write and get information from scientific and professional societies dedicated to the advancement of sexual knowledge. These societies often publish journals with recent sex findings and newsletters that describe educational programs.
  
  
• Read an up-to-date, accurate, and indepth textbook on human sexuality. Many good texts are available. You can purchase them at a college or university bookstore, special-order them through a neighborhood bookstore, check out the public library, or borrow from a friend. Inquire as to the quality of a textbook by talking with an instructor who teaches human sexuality or students who have used the book. Determine the credentials and reputation of the authors, examine the comprehensiveness of the table of contents, and choose a text with a complete glossary of terms, including slang terms.

Finally, ask yourself: How can I make informed decisions about my sexual behavior in the increasingly complex world of science and technology? How do I establish long-term, loving, and secure relationships? One answer—enhance your sexual literacy!

For thirty years, Dr. Bernard Goldstein was a fixture on the San Francisco State University campus. He chaired the Department of Physiology and Behavioral Biology, served on both the Academic Senate at SFSU and the State Academic Senate, and sat on the CSU Board of Trustees. To his many students and to sexuality researchers and advocates, Dr. Goldstein is perhaps best known as founder of the university’s human sexuality class, one of the first in the nation, and co-founder of the Human Sexuality Studies Program.