It seems funny to me that in 2021, women are still expected to not enjoy sex. Not only are they not allowed to enjoy it, but they also can't even talk about it as openly as males can (massive eye-roll)! Why can’t women talk about sex, turn-ons and masturbation without it needing to be made a negative topic of conversation in the news or something that is deemed as inappropriate?
Zoe Sugg (aka Zoella) has been dropped from the GCSE Media Studies exam boards after posting an article titled, "The Best Sex Toys to Spice Up Your Life in 2021" to her website, Zoella.co.uk. Parents and teachers were quick to complain and see it as inappropriate, adult content that shouldn't be taught to GCSE age students. But as a nineteen year old female myself, who not long ago finished secondary school, I can tell you now that sex, wanking, porn and the likes were already an ongoing topic of conversation outside the classroom. So why can't we bring it inside the classroom and properly, safely educate young people on the topic?
Zoe Sugg is a 30-year-old woman who has been creating Youtube videos, blogs and vlogs for just over 10 years, so her content was bound to have grown up and matured with her. I don’t even see the issue with making young GCSE age students aware of the world that they are growing up in. Secondary school doesn’t teach you much about sex, you hear the basics, like wear protection otherwise you get STI’s or you have sex to make babies blah blah but let's be honest, that isn’t the whole truth. Even the notion of learning to put a condom on a cucumber creates an unrealistic, jokey association with the male penis. (Okay, this definitely isn't about men but sex and human anatomy isn't embarrassing!)
Maybe you don’t need to educate them on every single juicy thing that actually happens with sex and you don’t even need to talk about sex toys in-depth with these students, but allowing them to just see it for themselves isn’t harmful. Safely educating young people about the world of sex, in a safe environment also isn’t harmful, in fact, it is needed. Sex is a normal part of growing up and we can't deny that anymore. After all, they will find out about it sooner or later.
The deep-rooted sexism in society shows us how young boys and men aren't made to feel uncomfortable or ashamed when talking to their mates about the porn they watched at the weekend or the number of times they've wanked in a week, but for us females, it is inappropriate and strips our innocence... Women can masturbate too and it isn't just something that is used purely for the male gaze. Above all, it is our body, we can do as we please, when we please.
The taboo surrounding the female body, sex, pleasure and masturbation needs to change. These shamed views that are still circulated, develop into many females growing up with discomfort and embarrassment around such normal and natural topics. I read an Instagram comment underneath a post related to this news that said: “Women are more than walking reproductive organs.” And this couldn’t be more accurate. We need to be educating our young females in society, to prepare them for real life, to prepare them for real relationships and real experiences.
Zoella is doing a great job. Girls and women need to see more content about smear tests, periods and sex toys because we can't pretend like these things don't exist. Acting as if teenagers don't have sex or know what it is, is simply humourous to me.
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