Peppermint Patty: A Mint or a Vagina

Abstract

Sex education is a subject that all adolescents inevitably encounter. Abstinence-only and comprehensive sex educations are the two core foundational curricula that are being taught to most high school students in the United States. On the surface, both of these methodologies teach conflicting information about sex which perpetuates gender inequality and rape culture. Abstinence-only programs’ emphasis on women’s purity stigmatizes teens through heterosexual normative teachings and misleads teens and young people on the logistics of sexual health. Conversely, comprehensive sex education does not teach “real” sex education because it includes very basic understandings of human sexuality rather than teaching about men’s and women’s sexuality equally. Analyzing the flaws in both teachings can be a step forward in decreasing adolescences’ pregnancy rates, Sexually Transmitted Diseases, rape culture, and gender inequality.