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A review by debi_g
Girls & Sex: Navigating the Complicated New Landscape by Peggy Orenstein
4.0
Infuriating, frightening, puzzling, and, by the end, mildly inspiring.
I feel a great sorrow for the girls who were interviewed--for how little autonomy they exert, for how little pleasure they derive (and how much guilt, regret, and pain), for how frequently they are treated poorly, and how infrequently their gestures, feelings, and intentions are reciprocated.
Most shocking? It's hard to choose. Maybe the blasé revelation that, for girls, "good" sex refers only to an absence or limited amount of pain.
The author's interview on Fresh Air is a good way to ease into this dispiriting book.
As usual, education could remedy so much, but according to this book, only 14 states require the information disseminated in sex ed courses to be medically accurate, and those states don't even enforce the law. Many states still offer no instruction beyond obfuscational biological rudimentaries. No wonder (and what a shame) kids "learn" from porn, an industry that sets up all sorts of misconceptions and absurd expectations.
While I'm being honest, I might as well add that everything I read about "Greek Life" disturbs and disgusts me.
I waffled about whether I should post this review, since some students follow me, but what's wrong with a reportorial book?
I feel a great sorrow for the girls who were interviewed--for how little autonomy they exert, for how little pleasure they derive (and how much guilt, regret, and pain), for how frequently they are treated poorly, and how infrequently their gestures, feelings, and intentions are reciprocated.
Most shocking? It's hard to choose. Maybe the blasé revelation that, for girls, "good" sex refers only to an absence or limited amount of pain.
The author's interview on Fresh Air is a good way to ease into this dispiriting book.
As usual, education could remedy so much, but according to this book, only 14 states require the information disseminated in sex ed courses to be medically accurate, and those states don't even enforce the law. Many states still offer no instruction beyond obfuscational biological rudimentaries. No wonder (and what a shame) kids "learn" from porn, an industry that sets up all sorts of misconceptions and absurd expectations.
While I'm being honest, I might as well add that everything I read about "Greek Life" disturbs and disgusts me.
I waffled about whether I should post this review, since some students follow me, but what's wrong with a reportorial book?