Although apparently there is more disinhibition in sexual matters, the truth is that many people do not have quality information about it.
When talking about sexual illiteracy, what is done is an allegory to the notorious lack of information about sexuality that afflicts some people. In this case, it is not just a simple lack of knowledge, but this ignorance can lead to great mistakes in life .
In today’s world there is a paradox: sex is talked about everywhere and the subject is suggested at all hours; at the same time, there is great sexual illiteracy. Knowing about sexuality implies much more than handling basic and superficial information about the subject.
“ From and through our desires, we can establish new modalities of relationships, new loving modalities and new forms of creation. Sex is not a fatality, no; it is a possibility of creative life ”.
Sexual illiteracy limits, excludes, and promotes submission to the interests of others . It also feeds taboos, increases fears and prevents the enjoyment of full sexuality. Added to this is the fact that such ignorance has the potential to generate irresponsible behavior.
Sexual illiteracy
Ideally, sex education begins at home, is reinforced at school, and is expanded through books and analysis of personal experiences. However, this rarely happens. Most commonly, information about sexuality is acquired incompletely and from unreliable sources.
Friends or peers are often the main source of information. Knowledge is acquired in a fragmented and incomplete way, as well as out of context. Simply put, it is often limited or misrepresented information.
Added to this is the fact that sexuality is not just an issue associated with biology, but also involves a strong psychosocial and affective component . In the information corner, what is usually acquired is a set of unconnected data associated exclusively with intercourse, in very basic terms and without involving eroticism.
Thus, a person forms a distorted and partial idea of what his sexuality means . He also does not know how to fully enjoy it, nor how to preserve his physical and psychological health within the framework of sexual relations. This often leads to difficulties or limitations.
Why is sex education important?
Sexual illiteracy begins with ignorance of one’s own body . Many times it is not even known how to name the parts of the genital and reproductive apparatus. Nor is it clear how the different organs that comprise it operate and what role they play.
Ignorance also leads to prevention or apprehension to self-explore or masturbate . Many people reach adulthood and have sex without having identified what gives them pleasure and what doesn’t.
The exercise of sexuality is not limited to intercourse, but has psychological, affective, reproductive, health, social, educational, economic and even political implications. Within the framework of sex, autonomy is affirmed or denied , while a place is assumed in front of power.
Sex education allows a person to decide more freely about their body and their desire . It also contributes to having a more responsible sexuality, preventing sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted pregnancies. Likewise, it protects from harmful behaviors, since it helps to recognize the conditions of abuse.
Taboo, prejudice and education
Education, in all areas, helps break down taboos and prejudices . The latter are a burden and also a form of blindness. They even limit the possibility of talking about it and even thinking about it. They generate inhibitions that do not make a person more modest or ethical, but basically repressed. This does not contribute to the maturation of sexuality.
A person who is clear about sexual issues can also build more satisfying and stable relationships . Likewise, she is more prepared to make sex an affective, playful and imaginative space that provides her with a rewarding and renewing experience.
If there is sexual illiteracy, it is very possible that a person experiences their sexuality as something that is lived from within, but that comes from outside . A field in which he never feels completely comfortable and in which there are many doubts and gaps that cannot be resolved.
Human sexuality is an enriching dimension, which provides physical and mental health . Overcoming sexual illiteracy is necessary to increase the control one has over one’s life. It is also a source of maturity and greater happiness.
