Read more
Teaching Moral Sex is the first comprehensive study of the role of religion in the history of public sex education in the United States from the late nineteenth century to the early twenty-first. Far from being a barrier to sex education, Kristy Slominski demonstrates, religion has been deeply embedded in the history of sex education, and its legacy has shaped the terms of current debates.
List of contents
- Abbreviations
- Archival Collections
- Introduction: Liberal Protestants and the Sex Education Movement
- I. Medical Men, Moralists, and the Roots of Sex Education
- II. Moral Education about Sex in the YMCA and Military
- III. Church, Sex, and "Judeo-Christian" Family Life Education
- IV. The New Morality of Comprehensive Sexuality Education
- V. Abstinence-Only and the Struggle to Define Sex Education
- Epilogue: The Swinging Pendulum of Sex Education
- References
About the author
Kristy L. Slominski is Assistant Professor of Religion, Science, and Health at the University of Arizona. She received her Ph.D. in Religious Studies from the University of California, Santa Barbara, specializing in North American Religions with a Feminist Studies emphasis. Her research focuses on the interaction of religion, sexuality, and health sciences in U.S. history. Before joining the faculty at the University of Arizona, she taught at the University of Mississippi and served on the Board of Directors for the American Academy of Religion.
Summary
Teaching Moral Sex is the first comprehensive study of the role of religion in the history of public sex education in the United States from the late nineteenth century to the early twenty-first. Far from being a barrier to sex education, Kristy Slominski demonstrates, religion has been deeply embedded in the history of sex education, and its legacy has shaped the terms of current debates.
Additional text
Teaching Moral Sex provides a fascinating excavation of the role of liberal religious actors in the creation of sex education US. Through a detailed historical account, Slominski uncovers the mutual work of medical experts, scientists, educators, and liberal religious leaders who sought to promote sexual awareness within a specific moral framework. The result is a critique of a dominant narrative that erroneously equates public sex education with secularism while highlighting the role of liberal religious leaders — for better and worse — in shaping public health and public education. Thoroughly researched, this book is a significant addition to the growing scholarship on religion and sexuality in the United States.
